Where to stay in Florence??Help!

When we were in Florence last November visiting our daughter who was studying abroad, we stayed at
La Contessina. It had been recommended by the program director from NCSU and we found it to be very nice. It is very private, off the street and set up like a loft. Has a kitchen for a small fee per day but a very good complimentary breakfast is served each day. The owners were very nice as well as the other staff members. We would stay there again as its location was good for us. Our FAVORITE restaurant in Florence is actually 4 or 5 doors from La Contessina. It is called Nerone's. We ate there 4 times. Very reasonably priced and the food was DELICIOUS. Even if you don't stay at La Contessina, do try to get to Nerone's one night for dinner. Have a good trip. Susan, Raleigh, NC

I stayed at Il Bargellino a few weeks ago.

It's relatively close to the train station. We walked everywhere in the city we needed to go (except Piazzale Michelangelo - we took a bus). They have a nice terrace, where we spent many evenings mingling with the other guests (mostly American) & drinking vino.

I'll definitely stay there again on future visits.

HOTEL IL BARGELLINO
VIA GUELFA 87
50129 FLORENCE, ITALY

www.ilbargellino.com

hi,

I stayed at the Hotel Torre Guelfa...the hotel is amazingly charming, offers breakfast daily, and even has the tallest privately owened tower in Florence complete with a wine bar at the top....very romantic and great for views of the entire city. Plus its location is right across the street from a local wine store which comes in handy!! Good luck!
www.hoteltorreguelfa.com

We just left Villa Bonelli 5 days ago. It's in Fiesole, a surburb of Florence with easy 20 minute bus ride of Duomo. It's quiet and good value.

We absolutely loved Hotel David. Check it out on Tripadvisor, since everything that I would say is better said (repeatedly!) there. We especially loved it because we had a car, and it has a private lot, but we would stay there again, without hesitation, even without a car.

Just to give a contrary opinion of Hotel Torre Guelfa, we stayed there with a RS tour and while it was fine, I felt that it would have been overpriced had we actually been paying the standard room rate. We didn't have a bad experience by any means, but I wasn't overly impressed. The view from the tower is spectacular, however.

We stayed at the Soggiorno Battistero. Very convienient, located across from the Duomo, owner's wife is American, light breakfast served in room. Only thing is that it's 4 floors up with no elevator, but that wasn't a big deal to us.
http://www.soggiornobattistero.it/

Peggy--I didn't read your previous posting so not sure how many nights you are needing accommodations for but we enjoy renting apartments on our travels. I have rented an apartment in Florence for 5 nights for this July from www.vrbo.com apt. Have also rented an apartment in Venice for 6 nights. We stayed in one of Hotel Campiello's apts. in 2007 and enjoyed it. They are beautiful and located a few minutes from San Marco. Staying in another one of their apts. again but came close to renting an apt. in Venice through www.truly-venice.com I corresponded with Daniela and she was very professional and replied to my e-mails very promptly. You don't necessarily need to stay for an entire week either. Buon Viaggio!!

Liz is probably right about Hotel Torre Guelfa price-wise (Liz does have great judgment and taste, as does her dad). But the hotel was delightful and the view from the roof holds some of our best photos of Florence. After our tour we held to our budget by staying at Casa Santo Nome di Gesu in the Oltrarno. The price was right, and the neighborhood was steeped in real local living. It gave us a good morning walk to visit the sites across the Arno. The dome of San Frediano was directly out our window framing every Firenze morning. I've started painting again.

Peggy,

My family of four stayed at the Gran Hotel Adriatico (Best Western). We were able to walk to the hotel from SMN very easily. The hotel itself was very nice, though the location seemed a bit far from the attractions (maybe I'm lazy!) and we wound up taking a taxi pretty often (for 4 people, the rides were usually 10E wherever we went, not bad in my opinion). But the rooms are very clean, the staff helpful, and all those wonderful things.

Ashley

We stayed at Hotel Martelli, which is in a great location on the main street that runs from the train station and santa maria nouvella church to the duomo. It was a nice hotel although we were put next to the breakfast room that was loud in the morning.

We are just finishing up a two week stay in Italy with a home base in Florence. We rented a great apartment from Gianna at: [email protected]. Gianna has several apartments with about half of them in a building on San Lorenzo a half block from San Lorenzo church a block from the Duomo. We walked everywhere. The train station is 4 blocks away. Having an apartment worked out for my daughter and me because we could fix a breakfast at home and have separate bedrooms, a washing machine and peace and quiet at night. We took the train to Venice and just brought what we needed for 3 days and left the rest at the apt.

Hi Peggy,
It would help to know your price range and the time of year you'll be travelling. Personally we always stay at Hotel Dali. Clean charming rooms, fantastic location and delightful owners. Casa Nome Jesu is also a good choice as is the Oblate sisters convent around the corner from the Dali on Borgo Pinti. If you are going later this summer you should consider using a place with ac. The Dali has ceiling fans but no ac. The Dali also has a lift.

Hi Peggy - I, too, stayed at Hotel Torre Gulfa 2 years ago while in Florence. I would agree with the others that it's a bit overpriced but the tower view is amazing. Just to note, their elevator broke during my stay, so it's a trek going up and down 4 fights of stairs. Good luck!

I like to stay at Hotel Casci (www.hotelcasci.com)

You're from my hometown!

We stayed at Hotel Allesandra as recommended by RS. It was beautiful! Pink marble bath, beautiful view of the Arno. Nice breakfast, helpful front desk. I believe there was a a lift up 3 flights and then you walked up two. We really loved it. Go Skippers!