florence hotel
 

I would appreciate anyone's opinion as to which is the better hotel--better in any way--Hotel Lungarno or the Westin Excelsior. Thanks for the help.

I know nothing about the Westin but the Lungarno is lovely. It is beautifully located on the river and is very convenient to major sights in Florence and to good restaurants. The rooms are beautiful and the service and staff are excellent.

Thanks mamcalice.

Agreed! Stayed in Florence for six weeks and always walked by Lungarno and said, "I will stay there next time!' and just sent my in-laws there a few months ago. They loved it.

Both stunning hotels so whichever you choose you'll be happy. They are both on the river, with the Lungarno actually fronting the Arno. I'm a fan of the Duomo side of town, but if you've not stayed on the Oltrano side then perhaps it's time.

The Lungarno has a spectacular dining/sitting room on the Arno which has beautiful views of the Ponte Vecchio and down the river the other direction. Rooms are very well appointed, comfortable, and crisp(white is my enduring memory. Views vary depending on room (river/city or Boboli/Oltrano) but IMO there are no bad views in Florence (!).

The Westin has a stunning rooftop bar/restaurant and is on the same side as the Duomo, Uffizi etc. Not that you won't be walking around the city to explore anyway. The lobby is stunning and the rooms lovely, from the standard ones all the way to the penthouse (which I haven't been fortunate to be in...yet!).

You may also want to consider St Regis/Grand hotel which is just across the little piazza Organissanti from the Westin on the same downtown side of the Arno river. They are more comparable, we booked both because we couldn't decide until we got there. We ultimately chose St Regis because the rooms and the public rooms felt more intimate and the welcoming staff was more sincere/personal. while the Westin felt more corporate, less personalized. My wife got sick for two days and the staff took really good care of her with food/drink, medicine and whatever she needed. I bought flowers from the market for my wife and asked one of the staff to put them in a vase, she turned them into an amazing arrangement that my wife thought I ordered them from a florist. On the downside, we did miss out on the rooftop terrace of the Westin which we could have gone to for a drink.

I haven't stayed at the Lungarno, but I did enjoy the Westin Excelsior. Our room was a lovely, large corner which looked out onto both the Arno and Piazza Ognissanti.

The public rooms are beautiful, and the breakfast buffet (included in our rate) was delicious.

Thanks everybody. It sounds like I'm not going to go wrong with either choice.

I haven't stayed at the Westin, but I LOVED the Lungarno. One of my favorite hotels!!