We are planning on staying at the La Scalleta hotel in Florence and was wondering if anyone has stayed there recently and how their coffee was at breakfast? Do they offer cappuccino freshly made? Or is their coffee out of a machine that dispenses everything from hot chocolate to tea? How was your overall stay? We are expecting to stay for six nights. Any restaurant suggestions close to the hotel?
Thanks
I have never stayed there, so this is a theoretical answer. I am with you on those multi-species machines, although I have gotten good coffee from machines that are coffee-only.
A machine is easy to install, so even if they did not use the horrible machine last year, they might start using it by the time you get there. You could ask the hotel beforehand, ask for a fresh cappuccino at breakfast, or have an alternate drink and get your cappuccino at a bar nearby.
Edit: I just checked their listing on booking.com and there is a photo of two cappuccini on a tray, with a foam design and cocoa, so it looks like they can make it.
I can't comment on that specific hotel as I've never been there but I have stayed at places with those self serve multidrink machines. I've noticed that many of them have a traditional style machine too. You just have to ask for it. The last time I saw this was in London this year.
It's "La scaletta".
I've been there for a night, but not used their breakfast. They have the best view on their roof top bar/restaurant, so I took advantage of that at dinner. I recommend the place. If they make good espresso I don't know, but there are lots of bars below on via guicciardini/piazza pitti area where you can have it for one euro at the counter.
In that area they have Mamma Gina (on Borgo San Jacopo) which I like, also Le Volpi e L'uva. But there are loads of restaurants that are good.
I want to second Rocket's point. At Italian hotel breakfasts, even if you see a multidrink machine or urn full of coffee, you can often ask for cappuccino to be made for you. They won't usually post a sign or offer it spontaneously, but will usually make it if you ask. I don't drink coffee, but a friend does, and he was miserable at Italian hotel breakfasts until he learned this.
We have stayed at La Scaletta many times since 2001 and thoroughly enjoy our stays. The coffee is much better than it was but it is the multi choice coffee machine. The view from the terraces is fantastic and the dinners we've had were all superb. I have stayed at other hotels or B&Bs in Florence but La Scaletta is my favorite! The staff are wonderful!
Thanks for all of your replies. I have never liked any of the coffee produced by those machines. I hope they will be able to make my wife's cappuccino and my macchiato for us. Disappointed that they have those stupid machines in the first place for their clients.
I just returned from Florence, staying at La Scaletta for five nights. It is a great hotel with very helpful and polite staff. That, for me, is at least half of its value. Otherwise, the room was very clean (Boboli Garden view), the terrace views are outstanding with a 360 of the city. You'll hear church bells each morning, which was delightful. The restaurant closed early this year due to heavy rain in the region. I cannot speak to the breakfast since we didn't take advantage of the complimentary breakfast that was offered as a one time thing. However, I did take a look at it and it was fine. Meats, cheeses, pastries, eggs, juices, coffee. I wouldn't judge a hotel based on its breakfast or coffee, as I would want something lighter (except the day I had a Crouques Madame!) and we found an excellent place for "on the road" coffee described below. I also like to dine with locals, not tourists like me! The hotel also has instant coffee and tea in the room. We typically got started with that then coffee on the run. The breakfast doesn't start until 7:30 am and we were typically on our way to do something by then, so basically, the timing of that meal didn't work well for us.
Restaurants we ate at (based on this hotel's recommendations) were all on the Oltrarno side, which IMHO are the best.
4 Leoni - good for lunch & dinner
O' Munaciello - excellent course dinner - fine grilled octopus
13 Gobbi - good, very popular, known for the bistecca (Florentine steak) I am not a fan of this type of meat but others are - the place was packed by 8:00 pm.
ditta Artigianale - coffee, pastries, hearty breakfast after 9 am; a two minute walk from the hotel
The hotel will make dinner reservations for you upon request. They are also happy to call tour companies and set that up for you as well. We did a day tour to Pisa/Lucca on our last day. We also used the 72 euro/72 hr/72 museum Firenze pass. We got our money's worth out of it too. In a way it's good, as it provides incentive to see as many museums as you have the stamina to see; on the other hand, it can be pretty tiring. Timing of museums in terms of both day and time are essential.
If I am in Florence again, this is the only place I will stay. Its location is very, very good and the staff is awesome!
