Hotel in Florence

Our RS tour group stayed in the Hotel Silla on the south bank of the Arno (Otrarno), It was a short walk across the bridge to the Santa Croce area and a little farther to the Uffizi, Duomo and other sights. Several good restaurants near the hotel, and its breakfast was excellent. The lobby is upstairs but there's an elevator. Also a nice terrace overlooking a park with the river beyond. I was happy with it and I think others were too. I'm sure there are many other good choices.

Hotel Casci. Have stayed there at least 5 times. Perfect location. Not sure if it's "simple" enough for you. Check their website: hotelcasci.com. Also on booking.com. Have also stayed at Hotel Colomba, in the same block of Via Cavour as Hotel Casci, and liked Colomba a lot. Smaller, better priced. Also on booking.com. Ask for a "quiet room" as some of the rooms are off the main reception area and some are down a hall, but actually all seemed "quiet" and very clean. Very nice young people running it.

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1) Specifics of even similar questions can be different, and it can be hard to follow two "conversations" at once.

2) When you start a thread, you will be notified any time you get a response. So, it's better if you're notified about answers to your question, and the original poster is notified about responses to theirs.

We stayed at the Hotel Pendini and loved it! Very centrally located and we could walk everywhere. A ten minute walk from the train station and just a few blocks from the Duomo. We could see the top of the Duomo from our small balcony. Breakfast was excellent and the front desk was very helpful.

Depending on how "simple" you want, we have been pleased with Hotel Dali near the Duomo -- rooms with en-suite or bath-down-the-hall, no breakfast but numerous coffee bars nearby. Very helpful owners and staff.

Hotel Balesteri, on the Arno. Very NICE

We stayed at Hotel Davanzati when we were in Florence just a week ago. It had a great location, close to everything and the staff was very friendly and helpful but I don’t know that I’d call it “simple”.

I am currently staying at Hotel Torre Guelfa in Florence. Very close to Ponte Vecchio and Uffizi. Air conditioned.

We just left the Corno Mezzanine apartment that I found on Booking.com. Loved having our own kitchen and room to spread out. Fabulous location. Friendly, helpful hosts.