Hello Fodorites. Can anyone recommend a nice hotel in Florence in the cento historico area. Budget is between 300 and 450 US a night, give or take. Thanks so much.

What time of year is this for? What type of hotels do you like?
In the Centro Storico at via Tuornaboni 7,I can recommend Stella d'Italia which is newly opened last year just before Christmas. I was staying in one of their other properties across the river in Oltrarno (Ad Astra is the name of that property) and we were given a tour around Stella d'Italia before it opened. It's a gorgeous boutique hotel with a unique style.

It has been a few years, but, we stayed at Hotel Orto de Medici several times and were always pleased....we recommended it to family and friends who agreed.

Weve enjoyed our stay in Hotel Paris, located midway between the Florence SMN station and Cuomo.

As others have noted, it would be helpful to know when you plan to visit Florence. Prices can vary widely -- a Florence hotel I stayed at in November was 90 euros a night. But in late June, the same room cost over 250 euros a night.

Also, it would be useful to know what your preferred hotel style is -- modern or traditional or ... . Also amenities -- for example -- air conditioning, lobby salon, restaurant, spa, maybe even a fireplace if you're planning a late autumn or winter visit. Fortunately, free wifi is pretty much a given these days, even if the quality varies (we remember when wifi could cost up to 25 euros a day).

Thank you and we are planning to be there end of May....I know it will be very busy as well. We prefer more traditional but other than that, we are not that fussy and suspect we won't spend much time in the hotel.

In that case, traditional and not that fussy I suggest Hotel Le Due Fontane. Just behind the Duomo, very clean, decent breakfast, traditional type furnishings etc.
A friend recommended it and my son and his wife stayed there and said it was fine, nothing fancy but clean and good value for the price.

Thanks for the extra info. A friend and I stayed at this hotel last year and were surprisingly impressed: https://www.hotel-bb.com/en/hotel/pi...-ponte-vecchio Great location. We had very nice traditionally decorated rooms with comfortable beds, ample storage, air conditioning and balconies overlooking the Ponte Vecchio, the street scene below and city rooftops. I think we had a glimpse of the Duomo as well, but am not 100% sure. The breakfast was excellent; the breakfast room was on the sunny top floor with terrific views. Lovely staff. We would happily stay there again, even though we normally stay in more upscale properties. The hotel has a pleasant airy mezzanine salon, which was a nice place to relax while waiting for a taxi after we had checked out. We each paid 200 euros per night for a double room (single occupancy) with view and private balcony. Breakfast included.

Thanks all for the great recommendations....I will check them out soon. I'm not thrilled with going at the end of May because I know it will be incredibly busy but we are in Tuscany early June and so Florence first seems like the way to go. Thank you again.

One of my favorite hotels in Italy is Hotel Pendini. It is centrally located across from Piazza Repubblica. It is furnished in a traditional manner, wonderful breakfast in room overlooking the piazza. Our room had a nice balcony overlooking the piazza which at night was lively and a host to musicians. Don’t worry about noise though since closing the windows kept our room very quiet.

Hotel La Scaletta in the Oltrano is popular on the Rick Steve's site. I haven't see it but I love that part of town!

Thanks all....really appreciate the feedback.