Florence Hotel
 

My husband and I will be visiting our sone and daughter-in-law in Naples this September. We will be in Florence for two days and will then take the "train" to Zurich . Is anyone familiar with hotels in Florence that are very close to the train station?? Any/all recommendations please. <BR>

The Grand Hotel Baglioni is within walking distance of the train station in Florence and is a quite nice old fashioned hotel with double glazing. It has a lovely roof top restaurant for lunch or dinner. Very closeby is Santa Maria Novella, a lovely church.

Two years ago we stayed in a wonderful little hotel two blocks from the train station called Hotel Mario. The hotel is on the second floor of a building and our room was great--it was spotlessly clean, had a small but good bathroom, a great bed and beautiful tiling. Mario's staff were great and they offered a great restaurant. We had a really nice stay at the hotel and can highly recommend it!

You really dont want to be too close to the station its not such a nice part of town. We are just back from a stay at the hotel Helvetia and Bristol which is only a 2 minute walk from the central piazza's. We got a taxi to the station which took around 4 minutes and cost £5 $8

Debbie, <BR> <BR>I was in Florence in April and stayed at the Hotel Il Perseo about 5 to 7 minute walk from the train station and right near the Duomo (next block), so it's very centrally located. We had a large room and large bathroom (with tub) for about $80 a night. It's on the 4th and 5th floor of a building (there's an elevator) and completely safe since the outer door between the rooms and the hall had a security lock and the concierge buzzed the door open. The staff were very pleasant. If you chose this hotel ask for a courtyard room as rooms on the street would probably be noisy (we asked for a quiet room). <BR>Adrienne <BR>

The Baglioni is so close to the station and on the "right" side of the area around the station. I would certainly recommend staying there. It is true that there are areas around the station that are not so great. Stay at the Baglioni, walk to the station and just keep your eyes open. It's really quite safe, but you must be citywise. The rooftop of the Baglioni is a treat.

Debbie, Florence is pretty small, you don't need to worry about being close to the train station unless you want to walk there from your hotel with your luggage. A taxi from just about anywhere in Florence to the train station will not be very expensive. <BR>If you mention what price range you had in mind for a hotel, perhaps it would be easier to make more suggestions, train station or no.

Debbie - <BR>I would second Debbie's choice, Hotel Il Perseo. We stayed there a couple of years ago on the recommendation of a friend. It is affordable yet clean and secure. We had a room that slept four, one queen bed and two twin beds. It was quite a large room with its own bathroom. The staff was great. It is run by an Australian couple, so they can help you if you don't speak Italian. <BR> <BR>The location is great too. Just a quick walk and you're at the Duomo. <BR> <BR>Its somewhat hard to get a quad room, so this was a good deal. I paid about $90 per night. We stayed seven nights. <BR>It includes a nice continental breakfast too. <BR> <BR>Hope this helps. Remember, you should eat gelato every chance you get!! <BR> <BR>Beth

We too stayed at the Il Perseo in May. We'd asked for a triple room but got two adjoining rooms. One with a double bed and a single bed and one with just a single bed. The rooms couldn't be used separately because you entered through the single room. The bathroom was fairly big with a shower but no tub. We had a wonderful view of the dome of the Duomo through one of the windows. There was nothing fancy about the hotel, but it was clean and the staff were friendly and breakfast was fine. I don't remember what our room number was (thirty something) but it was one floor up from the rest of the hotel and reception, and there were only two rooms on our floor. The hotel entrance didn't look great at all and the lift was very old and creeky, but I am told that many 2* hotels and pensions are in old buildings and many do not have lifts. The location was great and we would definitely stay here again. We walked from the station to the hotel in just a few minutes and being so centrally located meant that we could pop back to the hotel to drop off our shopping or just have a little rest and freshen up before doing yet more site seeing. They also have internet which you can use for a small fee. The leather market is just around the corner, and there are lots of great places to have a quick snack or coffee just outside your door. We paid 200,000L ($95) per day for three people.

Having stayed in Florence before, at the lovely and popular Hermitage Hotel, this year we wanted to stay close to the station as we would only be there one night and with four of us it seemed like a good idea to be able to walk with our luggage rather than take two taxis to the hotel one day, and two taxis back the next. We chose the Hotel Albani, a beautiful and rather small four star hotel, just one block from the station in a very nice location. (I'm unsure what was meant about it not being a good part of town). Our two rooms were not only gigantic, about 20 feet by 20 feet with huge closets and huge luxurious baths, but also had 14 foot ceilings and were the most luxurious and well appointed hotel rooms I have seen anywhere. I would highly recommend this hotel and will stay there next time. It is a member of Summit Hotels, but I booked directly with them on the internet, do a search, and saved some money over the published rates in the Summit directory.