Florence Hotels - Antica Torre, De La Ville, Degli Orafi, or ???

Hi all - I posted a few weeks ago about flights to Florence, and booked the airfare this morning! Thanks so much for the advice! As suggested, we are flying from Houston to Florence via Frankfurt. Our itinerary so far is as follows:

- Thursday, Aug 5 - depart Houston
- Friday, Aug 6 - arrive in Frankfurt. Four hour layover. Arrive at Florence airport around 5:30pm. Pick up rental car and drive to Montepulciano (I know - this will be a yucky day, but for various reasons, this is how it ended up). Check into Locanda San Francesco, grab dinner and collapse!
- Saturday, Aug 7 - Tues, Aug 10 - explore Montepulciano, and the southern part of Tuscany. Day trips to Montalcino, Sienna, etc. Will flesh this out more as the time approaches.
- Wed, Aug 11 - drive to Florence (stopping along the way, maybe through Chianti), return car
- Thursday, Aug 12 - explore Florence (not sure what yet, probably mostly shopping, since we've been to Florence before, and have seen many of the sights)
- Fri, Aug 13 - early morning flight to Frankfurt, then onto Houston

I am now trying to narrow down hotels in Florence. This will be our 15th wedding anniversary, so we want to stay somewhere nice (4 star range), but I am overwelmed with the choices!

Our first priority is to stay somewhere with great air conditioning, as it will be very hot in August. We also would prefer a hotel that is as quiet as possible, so thin walls and/or lots of street noise are negatives. Also, since we'll only be in Florence for such a short time, we want to stay somewhere that is close to the city center. I know the second two priorities are somewhat conflicting. Views from the room and size of room are less important, though always nice.

I have looked on Venere.com, Trip Advisor, and this forum, and narrowed it down to these hotels:

- Antica Torre di Via Tornabuoni
- Hotel De La Ville
- Hotel Monna Lisa
- Degli Orafi
- Pierre Florence
- Berchielli

Any and all feedback on these would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.

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LJ on Nov 12, 09 at 04:53 PM

I know both the Pierre and Antica Torre di Via T: both are very good indeed.

The Pierre is larger and better for things like room service, if that is important to you. I am not a A/C sensitive person so won't comment on that, but Trip Advisor seems to give both the thumbs up for A/C (at those prices, I should darn well hope so!)

I prefer the locale of the Antica Torre...but that's just me: is it just one night?

Have no personal experience of the others.
tdk320n on Nov 12, 09 at 05:12 PM

I have stayed at the Hotel De La Ville several times. I really like the hotel and the location is fabulous.They have a very comfortable bar area in the back of the lobby which is a very pleasant place for a before or after drink.They have rooms which overlook the street. if you decide on this hotel request a room in the back.
Have a great trip
tower on Nov 12, 09 at 06:42 PM

The Stones of Texas:
The Degli Orafi was built on the spot where the old Quisisanna E Vechio was located, prior to the notoriuous Uffizi bombing...collateral damage closed down the old Quisisanna. In 1993, two months before the senseless terrorist act, we lucked out by requesting the "Room with a View" and getting it! The rate at the time was $110 w/bkfst. It was one great experience. I'm sure the new Degli Orafi has preserved the "room"...but I'll assume the rate is stratospheric. We just returned from Florence last week, but stayed in a very nice three-star (Hotel La Residenza on upscale Via Tornabuoni)....the location of the Degli Orafi is excellent. Unfortunately, the Ponte Vecchio is undergoing some major two-story construction and looks like hell from all vantage points.

Stu T.
tower on Nov 12, 09 at 07:06 PM

"Room With a View", 1993...(for best viewing, click on magnifying glass icon and move mouse around)...now part of The Degli Orafi...I checked on the rates ..."Room with a View" is now €450 ($675)

http://picasaweb.google.com/stuarttower/FiesoleAndFlorence#

Stu

CStoneTX on Nov 13, 09 at 01:14 PM

Thanks for the feedback. My husband and I have decided on the Antica Torre - it was both of our second choice (I really like the Degli Orafi, but he preferred the Monna Lisa). So, we compromised, and went with the Antica Torre.

One more decision down, tons more to go!

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Florence Hotels - Antica Torre, De La Ville, Degli Orafi, or ???

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