B&B in Florence and Venice for 5

I’ve booked mom-and-pop places on vrbo and booking.com. I would start there and see if anything pops up in your price range. Be aware that a “bedroom” is any room with a bed, even a sofa bed. So if a place is advertised as a 2br, it most likely only has one real bedroom plus a sofa bed in the living room.

Edited to add: once you identify available options via booking.com, you can still book directly with the hotel/apartment’s website. Often you get a slightly better deal.

Thanks for the heads up about the "bed" rooms. I guess I'll probably end up using a popular search engine to book a room. I just don't totally trust them as the price almost doubles sometimes from the price they show, and I don't like that they take half of the booking fee. I checked out a few recommendations directly though hotel sites that I saw in other Italy forums that looked great. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any place that would book 5 in one room.

We have had the need to book doubles and triples or family rooms from hotels in Florence and Venice that didn’t seem to have such rooms available. We would contact the hotel directly and ask for a family room or double and triple near one another. I would give them the ages of the children. Some small hotels have access to apartments or family rooms that don’t show up in their hotel inventory. It might be good to send a similarly worded email to a few in each city to see what might be available. Give them your details and dates and ask for a quote.

For Florence, I can highly recommend Canto degli Scali. Here is the review of the B&B https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy-reviews/hotel-review-canto-degli-scali-florence. They also have apartments and welcome children.

For Venice, I can also high recommend Truly Venice. in 2018, we rented a 3-bedroom flat for 6 people. This agency was a dream to work with. They helped arrange water taxi for our arrival, met us at the apartment which was well appointed. When we went back in 2023, i would have rented from them again, but my husband preferred a hotel.

Thank you both :).

Hello evaughny, and welcome to the boards!

Rick's recommendations are aimed at smaller, locally run places and he often cites when places have family rooms or options for family travelers. I recommend guidebooks for a bunch or reasons but reliable places to stay and eat are probably worth the price alone.

If I'm going to a town with no recommendations I will use Booking.com (or similar) for insight but always book through the actual hotel or BnB website rather than an outside booking site. I have noticed that some places have turned over their booking to booking.com and if their "reservation" button takes me to Booking.com but that's a different thing.

In Florence Relais & Maison Grand Tour https://www.florencegrandtour.com/ has several larger rooms and an upstairs suite that might work for you.

Have a great trip!
=Tod

Thank you. I appreciate the recommendations! Gone are the days of my Let's Go Travel Guidebooks lol. I like Rick Steves for the same reasons you do :).

Some of the monastery stays have rooms for 5. We stayed here in Florence. Cab drover said it was the best lication in town . Casa per Ferie …Borgo Pinti. www.monasterystays.com

I also stay in monastery stays, last year in Salzburg, this year in Florence and Rome. Use monasterystays.com for research but book directly with the monastery. I got cheaper rates at one and better cancellation policies at all.
If two of your kids are old enough to share a room, maybe get two rooms (two bathrooms). Monasteries seem to all be configured with single beds but I’m not sure since I travel solo.

You might try bed-and-breakfast.it for listings.

https://www.bed-and-breakfast.it/it/

https://www.bed-and-breakfast.it/en/

I found a nice little B&B in Puglia on booking.com, googled the name of the place and found their own website, and booked there. The booking engine was the website I linked above.

I just tried a search for a place for 2 adults and 3 children in Florence for random dates in April. It cam up with 147 options.

hey hey evaughny
welcome to the forum
lot’s of changes since the 90’s till now. past couple years an “explosion” of travelers everywhere. prices are over the top on all aspects, cities/towns so crowded & busy, attractions booked months in advance, long lines & waits/upset and rude people/pushing & shoving. many restaurants are booked in advance. doesn’t seem to be an “off season” anymore. things to think about.
when is this trip, what is budget in euros, what are your kids ages, how many nights in each city, are you doing multi-city flights “arrive one city and depart from other” (no backtracking), check-in hotels/bnb is usually 3-4pm check-out 10-11am. will each have luggage and can manage them on their own?
some platforms/hotels/bnb’s have closed or verged, some charge crazy fees, check cancellation policies. the cities/towns have laws/regulations/safety issues why there is a limit to guests. being dishonest about accomodations numbers can cause issues of owners being fined which they won’t blink an eye “squeezing your 5th person” in room, they will fine you and/or deny your room & may charge you
hotels/bnb's/apts will ask/want copies or both for passports of all persons staying in room/rooms
look for places that will hold your family.
I’ve used trip advisor couple years ago for couple vacation rentals with no problem, booking.com a few times. people that place reviews have used them, no problem.
cross-pollinate.com
booking.com
on left side are filters you can check to what fits you
if a bnb, can you get two rooms, 1 parent/2 kids and 1 parent/1 kid, look for family rooms/adjoining rooms
hotelguerrato.com
albergomarin.it
both in Venice and rooms/apts for 5
max apartmentsflorence.it
casa rabatti florence italy
hope you found something for your family
aloha

Thank you everyone for sharing your knowledge and experiences! The kids will be 16, 14 and 9. It's not ideal, but we'll be traveling in late June, early July. So far, I'm thinking we'll spend 3 nights in Rome (already booked), 3 nights in Ischia (staying with my husband's family) and I'm trying to figure out the rest of the trip. I'm thinking that we should take the train from Naples up to Florence for 2 nights and then Venice for 2 nights before heading over to Croatia for the last week of our trip. We're lucky enough to have friends who summer with family in Croatia, so we'll be crashing with them. So, I'm mainly seeking advice for the Florence/Venice leg. Any small towns near those locations where we can maybe just make a day trip into the cities to try and avoid some of the summer crowds and prices? I love hearing about your favorite places to stay, as I'm so out of international travel practice. Thanks again!!