ISO: Florence Hotel Recommendations

I’m going to be in Florence with the wife for two nights first weekend of May and need to book a hotel. We want to be in centro storico. Any suggestions?

Having done some cursory research this weekend seems to be a popular one (Four Seasons is $1200+ per night!, which is crazy IMO). Some of the places I have my eye on and are within budget (<$500 per night, which is still a punch in the face) are Hotel Helvetia & Bristol, Hotel Lungarno, Relais Santa Croce, Gallery Art hotel, NH Porta Rossa, Continentale & Palazzo Vecchietti - any thoughts (thumbs up or down) on any these would be appreciated as would recommendations on others.


Grazie!

had good luck last 2 or 3 visits with the savoy (rocco forte) on the piazza della republica. central location and a cool hotel with a couple of coffee places/bars in the square (gilli is the one i like)
fwiw, last visit was @ 5 years ago

If you are thinking 4 Seasons territory I have no suggestions.

However, a number of years ago, we stayed at the Hotel Morandi – a very small place in a perfect neighborhood – and found it charming, comfortable, friendly and really perfect for our needs. The owners were Brit expats who had been living in Florence for decades and knew every nook and cranny. I would not hesitate to stay there again.

The site: http://hotelmorandi.it/

We stayed in the room that is on slide #2, I think. Had french doors opening onto a small little patio. Just lovely

Over the past 10 years, my wife and I have stayed five times at the Palazzo Niccolini al Duomo (Palazzo Niccolini al Duomo | Historic Palace Florence | Official Site). The Niccolini family, who own the Palazzo adjacent to the Piazza al Duomo, has created a 9 room hotel that occupies parts of three floors of the Palazzo. Breakfast service, no restaurant. The rooms are decorated with original frescoes and period furniture. It is a wonderful place to stay and should be within your budget, depending on your room choice.

I also stayed at the Savoy (like Mark) and really enjoyed it. Great location and the rooms were nice and modern.

I have stayed at the Continental twice and enjoyed it very much. Great location.

Mark K, Mark R & Brian,

Some great suggestions thank you; unfortunately both the Savoy ($750+) and Niccolini ($550+) are out of budget (see what I mean about a bad time to go!).

Please keep them coming!

Hi Jim,
Thanks, this is great to know. How recently have you stayed there?
Cheers,
Arif

Hey!

Whoops, yes, thank you Neal, I like this place. Looks great and very reasonably priced, just was wanting less of a B&B and more of a hotel - we’ll be at a B&B in the countryside after and wife wants a hotel in Florence.

Both trips were about 10 years ago. I know they have done at least one remodelling since then. Friends stayed there recently and loved it.

Arif- two summers ago we stayed at Il Guelfo Bianco and enjoyed it; centrally located, affiliated with the bar next door so we could charge drinks to our room and enjoy them on the hotel’s patio.

Priced in the $300s vs the $500s for the Palazzo Vecchietti, for example. a quick study at Tripadvisors.com shows PV as the 2nd best specialty accomodation in Florence and the IGB the 9th best hotel.

Firenze is my favourite city in the world to visit, I have visited half a dozen times since 1999. I like clean, characterful, 2-3 star hotels, centrally located in the centro storico, so handy to the sights.

In Firenze I normally stay at Hotel Due Fontane on the nicest square in Florence, between the Duomo and San Marco (so, handy):

http://www.leduefontane.it/uk/indexhome.htm

(I haven’t checked its rating on trip advisor but have always found it good. Three star.). If you stay ask for a room facing the square.

I have also stayed at, and liked, Hotel Porta Rossa, a grand old hotel, one of the oldest in Italy. Central, not far from the Palazzo Vecchio. Four star, so probably more expensive:

Another probably cheaper three star option my mother stayed at last year is:

http://www.delletelehotel.com/

She swears by it, it is close to the railway station, safe and clean.

Have a great time!

Howard

We are staying in Florence 3 nights in May and rented a nice apartment right near the Duomo. We used Waytostay.com, but we’ve used Flipkey in the past, too.

We’ve found that the convenience of having a kitchen and a bedroom make even a stay of a few days better than a hotel, especially if traveling with kids. Our 10 days in Paris in October in an apartment was outstanding. We are looking forward to the same in Venice and Florence.

Check this place out. Have stayed there several times. In my view, it’s hard to beat for the combination of charm, location, convenience, price, amenities, and the rooftop terrace overlooking the Duomo and the Florence skyline.

I stayed at Albergotto Hotel in 2009. Nice hotel, but no view. It was reasonably priced too.

Doing a quick search, it seems like it changed to Room Mate Isabella, or maybe just the name?

It’s ranked pretty high on trip advisor.

Stayed at this placed 29 years ago. It was very nice. Looks like it still is:

Great garden in the back, right on the river and close to the Ponte Vecchio.

We stayed at the Westin St. Regis (their Excelsior property is across the street). Did it on points and then got an upgrade to some crazy ass suite. It was truly sweet. Nice, old school grand hotel. They are showing rates from 375Euro.

Although I haven’t been there in a while, my wife and I absolutely loved the Lungarno. We had a room with a balcony that overlooked the Arno. I took a couple of postcard quality pictures from that balcony.

Likewise.