Going to Florence for 10 days late next June. Expect to spend a few days in Florence and do several day trips.

As of now the leading hotel contenders (in no particular order) are:
Hotel Balestri on the river just behind the Ufizzi.
Hotel Casci just above the Duomo.
Hotel Rivoli on Via Della Scala near the train station.

Trying to consider the following but am having reservations
B&B Peterson on the far side of the train station
Hotel Universo on Piazza Santa Maria Novella

Any comments or additions?

Thanks.

I haven't stayed at any of the ones you're looking at, but for what it's worth, I had a really lovely experience here last spring:

http://www.italiancollection.com/en/...del-garbo.html

And since I've had good experiences with that company and so have friends and relatives of mine, I've now become something of a regular for them when I travel outside Rome.

If you're looking for something super budget though, Hotel Del Sole on Via Del Sole has low rates and is clean, nice, and comfortable. They have a sister structure across the street as well with shared bathrooms, and that's clean and comfortable as well.

I don't like where B&B Petersen is located (past the train station and not very close to the center - not a very good area) and the Balestri might be noisy as that's a very busy street. I also don't think you should compare a place like B&B Petersen (a very bare-bones budget hotel which has long seen better days according to some Fodorites) to the others, some of which are 4 star.

Of the ones you listed I would go with either Hotel Universo or Casci based on location. I think the area around Universo is fine (upscale shops), but last fall, when I was there, major construction was under way on the Piazza (if you look on Google maps you can still see construction, but I don't know how old Google maps are). Before booking, I would e-mail them to see if it has been completed.

We have stayed at the Casci and loved it. The location was excellent! The owners were great too, and the rooms while not luxury were well kept and clean. We recommended it to friends on their trip and they were pleased as well. If I get a chance to return, I would definitely stay there again.

My thoughts are very much in line with what was written above.

Except for Balestri. What makes this area noisier than any other?

B&B Peterson was basically eliminated due to being on the other side of the station.

I've been getting more interested in Universo. However, I did notice the construction in the photos and would like to see how it's progressing.

Myer, regarding kybourbon's comment about Balestri's location being noisy, go to maps.google.com and search Piazza Mentana Florence Italy. Click on Street View. T.he piazza in front of the hotel is a parking lot. The street that runs between the hotel and the river will have lots of traffic from early in the morning until very late at night.

You can view many addresses in Florence using Google's Street View

We stayed at Hotel David. It's about a ten minute walk along the river to the "historic center". Highly recommended. Check previous posts.

Myer...our favorite hotel in Florence (the "room with a View" Quisisana E Vecchio, was crushed beyond repair by collateral damage when the next door Uffizi was bombed in '93...we'll be in Florence next month and have reservations on upscale Tornobuoni at the Hotel La Residenza. We like the close-in location and what we see on their web pages AND it was recommended by <b>EKSCRUNCHY</b>...now you can't get any better than that IMO. The rates are very inviting so we won't have to mortgage the grandchildren. Take a look, Myer...

http://www.laresidenzahotel.com/en/

Stu Tower

I'm currently at the hotel Casci. Not a luxury place, but it is well kept and very clean. The owners are extremely nice people and very helpful. I will say that you can hear some hallway noise though. It isn't a problem for me, but if you are a light sleeper, you might have issues. I would definitely stay here again based on cleanliness and nice staff.

Been to Hotel Casci five times now. Would never think of staying anywhere else in Florence. Central location, SPOTLESS rooms/public areas and fabulous helpful and VERY friendly staff (along with full and filling breakfast in the a.m.) makes it a true winner in my book.

Another vote for Hotel Casci. Same comments: basic rooms(utilitarian) but helpful owners and excellent location. I'd stay there again.

carolsc

I think the La Residenza that Stu linked looks good. The Casci is more of a budget hotel (2 star) compared to the Universo and Residenza (3 stars).

Palazzo Gamba can be recommended if self catering is an option. Across road to Duomo.
Do not use Romesweethome to book it through.

Well, at this point I'm leaning towards:

Universo (near the train station but want to see if Piazza construction is complete).

Rivoli (Looks nice, near the train but a bit on the other side of where I'd like to be.

Casci