Fabulous Florence Location?
 

I am heading to Florence in June...any suggestions as to the BEST location to stay? I will be there for four nights. While I am there, I will be touring the usual sites and also day tripping to Sienna.

We stayed at Antica Torre Tornabuoni (www.tornabuoni1.com) in Room 503. It has its own terrace and fabulous views of the Duomo and the Arno. It is also within easy walking distance of everything and on the most fashionable street for shopping in Florence. Antica Torre Tornabuomi is a very small hotel (12 rooms), so there is no restaurant, but the breakfasts (served on the rooftop) are wonderful. I think we paid about 200 Euros a night.

We stayed in an apartment between San Lorenzo and the Duomo and felt the area was perfect. We were close to all of the sights and had plenty of dining options. We'd stay there again.

So, I guess I am safe with a hotel near the Duomo? Any other neighborhoods suggested?

Darling, if you stay in Centro make sure your hotel's window are double glazed. There is nothing worse than trying to sleep without listening to speeding Vespas on the street.

I like the Oltrarno location, especially the neighborhood of Santo Spirito for this reason. It is a short walk to all the major sites, but in a quiet, residential location. Maybe someone can recommend a hotel?

I usually stay at Savoy in Repubblica, but the location is bad because of all the tourists in the piazza. I hate crowds.

I stayed at Hotel Allesandra last July and we really enjoyed it. It was quite reasonable and had AC...very important in the summer.
http://www.hotelalessandra.com

We have just made reservations at the Tourist House Liberty, in the Double Jr. Suite. We are staying in early Sept. for 3 nights, and are paying 120E per night. The place was recommended to me by a few folks at another chat room.

However, I have heard from a recent honeymooner that the Antica Torre de via Tornabuoni is a fabulousplace . If you can afford it, I would be all over that!

We have stayed in two places in Florence. The first was the Albergo Firenze, a one star hotel about two blocks south of the Duomo. The other was a two bedroom apartment we rented from Rentvillas.com. Both places were in the pedestrian zone, which I recommend because it is quieter (though you'll still hear folks coming home from bars, etc. in the wee hours), and because it is within 5 minutes walk to Duomo, Uffizi, and Ponte Vecchio. We really liked staying at places where it was an easy walk back for lunch, etc.