looking for moderate priced hotel in Florence July 20 - 23. What about staying in Fiesole?

You need to say what you consider "moderate price." That can mean very different things to different people. Tell us what you want to spend per night and what you require (private bath? elevator? good location? etc.) and you will get better information.

thank you. We'd like private bath, a/c, elevator, located within town, but we've been to Florence before and know you can walk anywhere. would like to spend around $150.00

Consider Pensione Bencista, up the hill on the way to Fiesole. Family owned, 17th century building (with an older wing), stunning view of Florence, ten minutes to town on the Number 7 bus. Breakfast on the terrace and a simple 3-course dinner in the refectory if you want it. No air conditioning – but when Florence is steamy, Fiesole's breezy (although my friend who arrived during a choking heat wave would argue with that).

I just booked Hotel Casci for my trip in October. It is 150 Euros per night (140 if you pay cash), for a double room. It's gotten rave reviews on here and also on tripadvisor.com. The website is: www.hotelcasciflorence.com. It's located a couple blocks from the Duomo.

Check out www.venere.com for lots of photos, details, and good prices. You might check this site under "bed and breakfasts" as some of the smaller hotels are listed there. We considered Villa de Sosta which looked very appealing, but settled on Hotel David, which we loved. Looks like it is not available for your dates, though.

Just because a hotel shows no availability on Venere does not mean it has no availability if contacted directly. Many hotels put only part of their inventory on Venere, so it's always a good idea to check directly too.

NatalieM, I think I saw Hotel David when on the bus coming down from Piazzale Michelangelo. My main concern would be that it's a little bit far from the center. How did you find that aspect?

You could also try Hotel Davanzati, but book direct via their own website. I've booked to stay there in early September and they have been extremely helpful so far. Also very good reviews on Tripadvisor. It is about 140 euros for a double room. Its in the historical centre and about a 10 minute walk to the train station.

Tourist House Liberty (www.touristhouseliberty.it) Walking distance from the train station. You can book a nice double room for under $125. We booked a junior double suite with a/c and private bath in May for 110 Euros. We stayed here for one night on our last trip and found it to be economic and worth returning to.

Hope this helps.

my wife stay at a beautiful, small b&b in the heart of Florence. (approx. 120 euros)

www.relaiscavalcanti.com

The Davanzati I've read good reviews about; it was mentioned in Conde Nast's Traveler (US edition) by Wendy Perrin. You can ask about low season rates as you're going in July. http://www.hoteldavanzati.it/index.php?lang=eng

We love the hotel Pendini
http://www.florenceitaly.net/hotel.html
and the above mentioned Relais Campanile

Re. Hotel David...There is a bus stop right in front, that goes directly to Ponte Vecchio. From there everything is an easy walk, or you can get on a bus that goes through the historic center. We drove to Florence, so part of what we liked was not having to negotiate inside the city with the car. The people at H. David all spoke English and were very helpful in explaining the buses. If you do look into H. David, we found much better rates on venere.com, than on the hotel's own website.

My DH and I stayed at Hotel Perseo about 4 years ago. It was OK, great for the price. So it just depends on the $$. Cute breakfast room w/ nice selection. Some rooms have bath. Our room in the back of the hotel had a view
over the rooftops toward the duomo. Only problen was lift broke on day we were checking out. But management brought our luggage down 2 flights of stairs.
http://www.hotelperseo.it/
Mary

We were there two weeks ago and stayed at the Hotel Porta Faenza (booked through Venere.com). Great location near San Lorenzo & an easy walk –with luggage -- from the train station (Santa Maria Novella). We paid 120 Euros per night. Free Internet was a bonus. Great staff, good breakfast, down the street from a very good restaurant called Trattoria Antellesi.

Re. Porta Faenza - We also stayed there on arrival in Italy and it was a great deal...very pleasant, charming small hotel with older, but well kept rooms. Lots of "angel art"! Great breakfast also. For some reason we got best rates on expedia.com, rather than venere.com. This wasn't the case for most other places though. We paid $40 US for a large room for 3 including breakfast!

NatalieM, You paid $40 US per night for 3 of you or you each paid $40? I just wanted to make sure that this was not a typo. Thanks.

Oops...big typo! We paid $140 U.S. for the 3 of us!! Sorry!

Hi.

www.classichotel.it

You're welcome.

Another vote for Tourist House Ghiberti. It is rated #1 on Tripadvisor.com and for good reason. We paid $150 for a double and feel that was a bargain for the quality we received. It is a top-notch establishment!