Ozziez

This is a continuation of “Panic! My Italian holiday plans have gone awry”.

For anyone who doesn’t know yet, we are a family of five from Australia who are spending 4 weeks in Europe and 2 weeks in the UK from 2nd December onwards this year. We originally had a 10 day tour of Italy booked in the middle of this holiday, which was cancelled by the tour company 2 days ago.

With the help of many helpful Fodorites (see the thread titled “Panic! My Italian holiday plans have gone awry”), I have succeeded in booking an apartment in Rome for the first 5 days of the Italian leg of our holiday.

I am feeling much calmer!

Now I have managed to comprehensively research Florence accommodation and have had replies from hotels and apartments regarding availability.

We will be taking the train from Rome to Florence on Monday 15th December and want to stay in Florence for the nights of 15th, 16th and 17th December. While we are in Florence we would like to show our children (17, 12 and 10 years old) as many of the famous sights as possible, as well as doing a half-day side trip to Pisa. We like to do as much of our sightseeing as possible by walking as we feel we see the most that way. It is important to us that our accommodation isn’t in a very noisy spot after about 10pm at night as we want everyone to get a good night’s sleep.

Just thought I would mention that Hotel Casci appears to be closed while we are in Florence (after reading numerous trip reports, I know that this is a favourite of many Fodorites).

I would be most grateful for any input regarding the following four options I have short-listed.

1. Residenza il Villino at Via della Pergola, 53. http://www.ilvillino.it/
2. Hotel Orto De Medici at Via San Gallo, 30. http://www.ortodeimedici.it/
3. Hotel Davanza at Via Porta Rossa, 5. http://www.hoteldavanzati.it/index.php?lang=eng
4. Casini apartments. I don’t know the exact address of this apartment but it is described as being on the third floor of an ancient Florentine building, only a few steps from the Cathedral, Giotto's tower, Saint Lawrence Church and Medici Chapels. http://www.sleepinginflorence.com/ca...t_florence.htm

Thank you all so much!

Tere

Though Florence is a very easy city to walk and it's rather small, I would choose the Hotel Orto De Medici or the Hotel Davanza at Via Porta . They have the best central locations and are nicer.

The Casini apartments are in a 3rd floor, without lift. I suppose you will have to teke your luggage up and after a day touring Florence, climbing to a 3rd floor for me would be very unpleasant.

That's just my opinion. Good luck!

Ozziez

Thanks for the feedback Tere. Based on what you've said, I have decided to cross the Casini apartment off my list. I have also decided against Hotel Davanza as they have come back to me to say that the accommodation I wanted is already booked for one of the nights we need.

So now I just need to decide whether to go with Residenza il Villino or Hotel Orto De Medici.

Residenza il Villino is offering us 2 ground floor rooms. I have read on TripAdvisor that some of the ground floor rooms are noisy due to traffic noise - has anyone had personal experience of this?

swisshiker

Hello Ozziez

We stayed at the Il Villino a few years ago. Very pleasant. Our room was up a flight of stairs, not on the ground floor.

The only time I remember noise being an issue was from people coming and going, up and down the stairs to their rooms (heels clanking on the stairs, loud talking).

The hotel is actually set in the back of the building. You go thru the main door and then an iron gate, thru a courtyard.

The street out front is not a big wide street. During the day there are scooters and cars, but we heard absolutely nothing at night.

We have also stayed in the San Lorenzo apartment, renting thru www.rentflorencecity.com. It was only a one-bedroom. However, their Santa Croce apartment is a two-bedroom. Though I have no information re the Santa Croce, I will say that our experience with our rental was very pleasant. Another nice thing is their apartments can be rented for less than a week.

Good luck.
Happy travels!

Ozziez

Thank you for all the feedback Swisshiker. Really useful to know what a place is like from someone who has actually stayed there. Most appreciated!

Leely2

I give a slight edge to the Orta de Medici in terms of location; I have stayed nearby but even a little farther out. I also stayed near il Villino once, at Morandi alla Crocetta. A good location too but for some reason it felt more dead/less interesting than when I stayed near san Gallo.

But I haven't stayed at either hotel. I'm just commenting on the locations.

Have a wonderful trip. Florence is small so don't worry too much about walking.

ChanB

Last winter my family of 6 stayed at the Florence Ciompi Apartments on Via Pietrapianna in the Santa Croce area. We stayed in the Michelangelo apartment. It was perfect, perfect, perfect!

We booked through InItaly.com

Good luck.

ChanB

Hello again...

I just checked the In Italy website and it appears they have availability the dates you are looking.
The link below should take you right to the price and availability section of the website.

http://www.initaly.com/info/apts/cio...pdet.htm#price

Ozziez

Thank you very much for all your help everyone.

Swisshiker, the Santa Croce apartment does look gorgeous. Not surprisingly, it is already booked.

ChanB, the apartments you are recommending also look wonderful. Thank you so much for telling me about them and for going to the trouble to check out their availability. Unfortunately I have just finished sending a fax to Residenza il Villino to confirm our booking. Perhaps next time!

MademoiselleFifi

We stayed at an apartment on Via della Pergola and liked the area very much. Walking distance to many sights and an easy bus ride to others.

Ozziez

Hi MademoiselleFifi - thank you for your feedback about the area. It is a relief to know that the area where I have booked is good for walking to sights and catching buses to others.

Just a little extra explanation for ChanB. I hope you don't think I am ungrateful for the suggestions you gave me (or that you aren't wondering why I posted this thread on the 16th and then hurriedly made up my mind on the 17th). I had already made similar enquiries in 2 other threads but they were getting a bit long and didn't have my exact requirement listed in the title so I wasn't getting a response. Therefore I reposted last night in an attempt to get a bit of feedback because I have to go back into hospital soon and thus am under pressure to get the accommodation finalised. I really do think that the apartments you stayed in look beautiful and I would recommend others to have a look at them.

ChanB

Oh Ozziez...I don't think you are ungrateful at all. I cannot imagine having your tour cancelled last minute and scrambling to get everything in order...that's why I looked into the Ciompi Apts so quickly. I didn't want to recommend something that wasn't even an option. I am so happy you were able to find something good that works for your family. Have a wonderful vacation.

I hope all goes well with your hospital stay. You must be going nutty right now.

Thanks for being so concerned.
Chan