Oh, dear, I've been away from my computer for a few days and signed back in to find that sarge56 misunderstood what I wrote way back up in the thread! I meant (and I didn't say it clearly enough) that Sandra did not disparage the hotel recommendations made by sarge56 and others. Whoops, sorry sarge56, you clearly didn't disparage any recommendations yourself.

Back to the tread: I'm reading these hotel reviews with interest for our own October trip. We're planning to stay on the city center side of the Arno at the Davanzati. I'm hoping the 26 stairs are manageable for us!

gtrgrl: I just checked THG for two random nights in mid October. The rates were around 160 per night. They did show a rate of over 300 for two nights, but half that per night.

I was surprised when I read that their rates were outside your budget as I read your budget as being under 200 per night.

Just in case, booking.com also have the rate per stay, and not per night.

Some of the Oltrarno is flat (the area across the Ponte Carraia), but still a trek to the center.

I've stayed at a B&B between the train station and the Duomo that was pretty convenient. Don't know if it would interest you. It has an interior courtyard that is quiet and some rooms front Via dell'Alloro (entrance is on Via del Giglio), but that street doesn't have much traffic and I didn't notice any sound.

http://www.allorobb.it/

tuscanlifeedit---aaahhh! I meant 200 DOLLARS/night.

kybourbon---Allo looks quite nice, but they only have triples left (and DH prefers a hotel that's staffed 24/7 for our first time in a new city).

Again, if you're talking about one month from now, you need to book something ASAP. Keep looking, but nail something down now or you may be forced to settle for a poor location or into a budget revision. Under 200USD is about 145EUR which is not a generous budget for a hotel with 24/7 service in the historical center of Florence.

On booking.com, Bigallo Hotel is available Oct. 14-17 (mid-week) for under 200USD per night. It has no availability for the following weekend (Oct. 17-20).