My best friend and I are going to be in Florence for 1 night. What hotel do you recommend? We are on short notice, as we thought it was booked with a tour. Please HELP!

Not sure what you are looking for, but Hotel Casci is great. It is in a great location and is very reasonable.
http://www.hotelcasci.com/

the dei mori B&B in the center of town is fantastic....google them...

Tyr Hotel Alba--about 2 blocks from train station, very very lovely, and eminently affordable

We stayed at the Relais Grand Tour in October and loved it. Very special, not over-priced, perfect location a few blocks from Duomo.
www.florencegrandtour.com

Also enter "Florence Hotels" into the Fodor's Search Box and you should get a lot of helpful threads, like this one:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34995107

We stayed at the Hotel Europa. It was well located, clean and quiet and the staff were friendly. It is not a deluxe hotel but suited as well. It is across the street from the Hotel Casci which I've also heard good things about.

What is your price range and when are you going?

we are going July 7th for 1 night. We would like to keep it around 300 dollars. I heard Hotel Residenza Antica was nice.

Disneymom, be sure your hotel has air conditioning, and read reviews to see if it cools below 80 degrees. July is hotter than Hades (and hotter than Rome) in July. We were there last year at that time. Hotel Europa was super, air conditioning...not so great.

We also stayed at Relais Grand tour in the Diva suite! Gorgeous, unbelievably comfortable, great location and excellent price (130E for a double in May.)

We stayed at the Hotel Bernini last year. It may be close to your $300 limit, but it would be well worth it -- 4 star and great location.

btbrown

we loved hotel de la ville, on via tuornaboni... fantastic location. lovely hotel..

I stayed at Hotel Hermitage. I was on the 1st floor,which is actually the 2nd floor, room 105. Great view of the Arno River and Ponte Vecchio Bridge.

rhkkmk,your advice is always helpful. I am interested in Dei Mori but am baulking at the stairs! there will be 3 of us in our sixties. Are the stairs steep as well as numerous? Any help you or anyone can offer is welcome. Thanks.

Peteralan - try hotel casci - www.hotelcasci.com. I have stayed there FIVE times and love it. There are not stairs, save for about 4 at the entrance to the building. There is an elevator that takes you to the second floor where the hotel is located.

It is a small, family-run establishment, spotlessly clean, in the center of town but not noisy at all at night. The family who run it are amazing, always smiling and ready to help with anything you need. Highly recommended. Check our the reviews on tripadvisor if you need more encouragement.

Flame, I think you may have just made up my mind! I have been tossing up between Dei Mori and Hotel Casci. The latter is more expensive but I think we may go that way. Many thanks.

Peteralan - you are most welcome. I hope you will enjoy.

Flame, I'm so glad to see that you have stayed at Hotel Casci five times. We are booked there next month for our first trip to Italy.

Sarge - Oh I think you will love it. All the reviews on tripadvisor are right on. And they are just fabulous people. Have a great time.