We will be in Florence in late September and traveling by train. Our plans are visiting Venice, Florence, Cortona, CT (1 night) before heading for South of France.

The Hotel Boccaccio (3 stars) has very good reviews on the Venere website. This hotel is about 5 minutes from train station so I thought it would be a good location for taking day trip to Sienna or Chianti. It also sounded like we could easily walk to the major attractions in the city from this area.

I would be interested in hearing feedback from anyone who has stayed at this hotel or this area. A friend of mine who visited last year did not think this was a nice area.

What are your thoughts?

Train station surroundings are rarely "nice" - they're busy with comings and goings, and with people who just hang around because, well, because they can. In Florence you have all the buses outside, taxis coming and going, and a busy intersection of fairly broad streets, broad when compared with the pedestrian-only streets just a few short blocks away.

You also have a bit of human flotsam and jetsam around the station, especially down in the underpass.

The hotel is on a busy corner almost adjacent to the big square outside the train station, so there is nothing picturesque or pretty about the location. But cross the street and walk a quarter of a mile and you can disappear into smaller streets and come out at the Tornabuoni fashion street, or go in front of the station and up the other side and hang a right and you're on your way to the Duomo, so it's not far from the historic hub of town, just a few minutes along busy main streets.

And it's unbeatable when you want to take a train, they are next-door!

Ask for a room on the "quiet" side.

WK

The historical center of Florence is small. Would it really matter if you were 15 minutes from the train station instead of 5? Why not find something in a nicer/quieter location a few blocks farther from the station?

Hi portobelloB

We have stayed in Hotel Boccaccio on 14 June06 to 19 June06. This hotel is in a very good location if you intend to make trips to Sienna or Chianti. The bus terminal is only a stone throw away( there is a bus going direct to Sienna from the termial). Next door to the hotel is a travel agency where you can buy train tickets and other travel arrangement. When you exit from the hotel on your left, there is a restaurant when offer a tourist menu for Euro $10, which consist of soup, salad and main cousrse and not forgetting a carafe of house wine. Try not to patronise the cafe opposite the hotel, the service sucks. Get all your mineral water and tidbits from the supermaket( 2 big bottles of mineral water costed Euro 0.58 cents) near the train station.

The hotel provided us with very good service, the room(triple) clean, aircond and spacious and the bath room was very clean with new towels everyday. The breakfasts with ready supply of food every morning.

Walking from the hotel to the attractions wasn't a problem. Inregard to the safety of the hotel's surrounding, we didn't find it to be sleazy. Just be street smart while walking anywhere.

Happy Travel

Hi portobello -

Your hotel is on Via de la Scala - which is the same street as the hotel where we stayed last February. As I've mentioned to others, Piazza Santa Maria Novella is not very picturesque, but we never felt uncomfortable in all of our comings and goings at all times of day and evening. (Of course, we did not hang around the train station - why would anyone?)

As mentioned, it is a relatively short walk to everything in Florence. We found this area to be perfectly fine.

Plus, the added bonus is that the Farmacia Santa Maria Novella is on that street! Be sure and check it out if you like beautifully scented things.

I was in Florence last year (April) and stayed at the Hotel Corona. It is an excellent location (10 min walk to train station and Duomo, further but interesting walk to river) and the price was very reasonable. The hotel has very comfortable rooms, a nice lounge area, bar, and is a beautiful interior features. I highly recommend it.

I haven't decided where we will stay but will look at other hotels further away. We aren't opposed to walking.

I'll check out Hotel Corona/San Lorenzo area as it sounds nice.

Thanks everyone for all the tips and thoughts