Florence and Venice Italy Hotels

We stayed at a wonderful hotel in Venice by the Rialto Bridge, the Hotel Al Ponte Antico. It is the only hotel on Grand Canal with a private terrace, which is a great place to have morning breakfast and a pre dinner drink. This is an expensive hotel, but worth the money for the great experience.

Venice: Hotel Olimpia
Florence: Hotel Albani Firenze

2015 for us. Both were within reasonable walking distance of train station or airport shuttle bus stop. For us that was pretty important, especially in Venice. We flew in to Venice and we did not want to deal with transporting bags by vaporetto while jetlagged. Both are classy hotels and had great breakfast buffet. We still talk about the coffee seven years later.

Wow! I am enjoying the suggestions!

Paul B., the Hotel Al Ponte Antic is not bad for 300/night! Oyster also had decent review of this place!

I stayed at the Hotel Duomo in Florence, I loved it....great location I could eat my breakfast out on the upstairs balcony and look over/prac. touch the Duomo....although it was in a busy spot, the hotel itself was very quiet inside, it's on the 3rd through 5th floors I believe (not sure) and there's an elevator as well as AC and a very good breakfast! staff is wonderful too....in Venice I stayed at Gio&Gio, a small guesthouse and I had the queen suite (there are only 3 rooms) so it's very quiet!, my room had a balcony overlooking a canal! and was a 5-10 minute walk from St. Mark's Square....the breakfast was the best!! I loved it!

Is the hotel Duomo also called Hotel Duomo Firenze?

I think location is important. I like a very nice hotel and a view. In Venice, we stayed at the Palazzo Giovanelli Hotel. Definitely not a Rick Steves hotel. Not a lot of Americans there and in an uncrowded area. We had a wonderful room overlooking the Grand Canal and it was very close to a vaporetto stop. It was quiet, modern and seemed central enough.

In Florence, on our first trip in 2019, we were at Plaza Lucchesi Hotel in the San Croce area. It wasn't quite the room-with-a-view that I wanted, wrong side of the river, but it was beautiful. We had a small deck with a view of the basilica. So nice. The breakfast was wonderful. I'm not sure about A/C because that spring Florence was very chilly. Last May, we stayed farther north on the river close to the US Embassy at the Kraft Hotel. Kind of a leafy, residential neighborhood and quiet. Lovely rooftop breakfast/cocktail/restaurant place with a view of the Duomo. A bit distant from the main attractions but nice with a little balcony. It was peaceful and uncrowded but overall, we like the San Croce area better.

We did RS Heart of Italy tour this year and in Florence we stayed at Hotel Torre Guelfa. It had a rooftop bar/observation deck that was to die for. Great view. The place has an elevator. Our room was nice but the bathroom was small. Great location. Good air conditioning.

We went to Venice on our own. We stayed at the Hotel San Marco which was just a few blocks from St. Mark's square. The only downside was the staircase from the front door to the lobby. The staff was great, the room was nice etc. They did not serve breakfast but the front door opened onto a square and one of the other businesses on the square was a cafe that served breakfast.

We just book a place to n Venice called Resadenza Riva Alto. It looks perfect and the price is excellent. It is 16th c but looks to have modern conveniences except an elevator. It does have ac. And reviews say it is quiet.
Reviews were excellent. We are going in a couple of weeks. We will let you know how it goes.

Currently staying at Hotel Torre Guelfa in Florence. I don’t recommend it. Street noise all night, worn rooms, 69 stairs to access my second floor room (I counted). There are other hotels nearby with the same good location.