robinnyc

Hi,

I am in the preliminary stages of planning a trip to Florence, Venice and possibly Capri. I'll be back with more questions over the next few months. We've been looking at several hotels in and around Florence and wanted to throw a few names out to you for feeback. We love quaint romantic places with a place to relax (have heard about a few places just outside of Florence that may be appealing, unsure)
Anyway, any advice good or bad would be appreciated....

Villa La Massa
Grand
Exelsior
Villa Cora
Villa Medici
Hotel Regency
Villa San Michele

while i'm at it, does anyone know what the temp. should be in Capri in early June? Thanks,

Rob

rex

If Villa San Michele is in your definition of affordable, then I think I would stay there. Factor in the cost of taxi transportation down the hill and back up when you wwant to go "in to" Florence. If this is a true "vacation" where there is equal emphasis on R&R - - as compared to "active tourism" - - then I have to think it would be an excellent choice.

As for outside Florence, Villa Scacciapensieri comes to mind (as a place on my "wanna-stay-someday" list - - not a place I have actually been).

Jealously sending you...

Best wishes,

Rex

Cicerone

Most of the hotels on your list are fine hotels. However, when I think of "quaint" I think of a tiny inn in Switzerland with lots of wood, window boxes, etc maybe a bit quirky with twisting hallways or something; IMO none of the hotels on your list would meet that definition. The décor of all of them is "Louis XVII" in style for lack of a better definition: crystal chandlers, gilt furniture, etc. I am not sure what you mean by "quaint".

Villa La Massa and the Villa San Michele are both outside of Florence, they do have shuttles into town, and you can also take taxis. Both are lovely hotels.

Have not stayed in the Grand or the Excelsior, but having been in the public areas I don't think I would describe either as "quaint", they are a bit over the top in terms of opulent décor, etc. (Some of the same could be said of the La Massa.)

I have considered the Grand Hotel Villa Medici (assume that's what you mean) and the Regency before for previous trips, but a good Italian friend who knows hotels does not like either, esp the Medici which he says is in need of a redo. The location of the Medici is not great either.

I have heard good things about the Cora but don't know it and don't recall even seeing it on past trips. It is outside Florence.

If you want quaint in the sense of quirky, consider the Brunelleschi, part of it is in a medieval tower. Good location quite near the Duomo. Also consider the Degli Orafi, where the final scene in "Room with a View was Filmed".

Hotel Brunelleschi
P.zza Santa Elisabetta, 3
Tel +39 05527370
Fax +39 055219653
http://www.hotelbrunelleschi.it/

Hotel Degli Orafi
Lungarno Archibusieri, 4
Florence, Italy 50121
Phone: 055-26622
Fax: 0039 055 2662111
http://florenceby.com/orafi/pages/apart.htm
http://www.hoteldegliorafi.it/Site/HomePage.html

According to weatherbase.com avearge temps in June in Capri will be in the hight 60s F to low 70s F. YOu could luck out and get a very warm day or conversly a cooler one. Not quite summer there at that time.

robinnyc

Cicerone & Rex,

Thanks for the reply. My wife and I live in NYC, and haven't been to Europe together. We don't plan on being able to ge back to this part of Italy again for a few years at least. When we travel in the states, we love quaint little inns. We just keep saying that we don't want to take a chance and get a stinker. While these seem bigger than we may like, we feel like we would be maker a safer play.

We can't afford the Villa San Michele, so that one is out. We were planning to stay in Florence for a couple of days, then move somewhere in Tuscany for a few more. Does it make sense to stay at a place like Villa La Massa and not have to pack and move? Is it really a 15 minute ride into town as it says on their website? The hotel has a shuttle service that ends at 7, so we'd take it to get into town for dinner, but will it be easy to get a cab back at night (11pm ish) Anyone know how much that cab would be?

Thanks again
rob

Cicerone

I always like to stay put if I can, so if this were my trip I would stay outside Florence and go in as needed. You will find it quieter in the countryside as Florence can be quite noisy at night with motorbikes, etc. Some might suggest staying in Florence for a few days, and then moving further away to stay in Siena or San Gimignano, not a bad idea either, as long as you don't mind packing up.

La Massa is about 15 minutes by taxi from the Ponte Vecchio/Uffizi area. Taxis are easy to find at all hours, and my recollection is that the fare would be about 15 Euros give or take a bit. You could ask the restaurant to call a cab for you while you are finishing coffee or paying the bill.

Not matter where you stay, I would suggest you rent a car and make day trips around the countryside, really the best way to see it. Walking is good too. For the really fit, biking is a good way to see smaller areas.

There is a very good walking guide to the Florence area published by Sunflower books. I first read about it on this site, and thought it was very useful. Their website is http://www.sunflowerbooks.co.uk/walking_titles.htm. They rate hikes by difficulty and time it takes to complete all or each section, and give good directions on how to reach each walk. The Florence book also has suggestions for trips by car in the countryside, which I found useful. They publish many other walking guides to various places in Europe.

robinnyc

Our plan for now was to get to La Massa on a Saturday around 1pm and lay low all day. We'll probably eat in the restaurant and just enjoy the grounds. Then Sunday and Monday, take taxi's in and see Florence day and night. Tueday we plan on seeing Siena or somewhere like it by car rental. Wednesday we planned to drive to Venice but possibly stopping a few times along the way at wineries, and any other places on the way up to Venice. Getting to Venice later in the day. So we'd rent a car for 2 days to allow us a full day and night to be in the countryside and take a day to drive up to Venice stopping soemwhere north. Is that geographically and logistically feasible?

amrach

We stayed at the Excelsior for our honeymoon and while I would not describe it as quaint, we loved it. Gorgeous room with balcony overlooking the Arno River and a fun bar area with piano player. In walking distance to everything that we wanted to see. Beautiful, romantic and great service.

mulifat

Do yourself a favor and check out JK Place. You will not get better service or comfort

Cicerone

IMO renting a car and driving it to Venice is not a good use of money and not really a time saver. First of all, you will pay a hefty one-way drop off charge, gas costs US$4.50 a gallon and you don't need the car at all in Venice so to bring it there seems a bit of a waste. Second, IMO the more interesting towns and parts of Tuscany are south and west of Florence, esp the Chianti region and around Volterra, which would be out of your way for driving to Venice. I would consider basing yourself at the La Massa, and taking two one-day trips around the Tuscan/Chianti countryside and returning the car in Florence (where presumably you will pick it up) and taking the train to Venice, the trip takes about 3 hours. The train will put you right at the edge of the Grand Canal. The car drop off will be somewhere in Mestre, I assume, which is a rather grotty industrial suburb of Venice and which means you have to get bag and baggage into Venice.

The other possibility is to spend a day driving to and seeing Bologna (which is a great little city) and drop off the car there and take the train on to Venice. You will still have the drop off charge, but will spend less on gas and less time on highways to Venice.

Note that the major museums in Florence are closed on Mondays, so you will have to fit the David and the Uffizi into one day (not really hard to do, but you have to schedule it).

I agree you should look at JK Place. It is in Florence, my only comment is the neighbourhood is not that interesting and just the littlest bit seedy, but have not stayed there so maybe you don't notice it. I have seen their rooms which are very large and they have a top floor suite with great Duomo views. However, you wont' get the great views of Florence like you would from the La Massa. Take a look at

JK Place
Piazza Santa Maria Novella 7
Tel.+39 055 26.45.181
Fax.+39 055 26.58.387
jkplace.com

ira

Hi robin,

>Tueday we plan on seeing Siena or somewhere like it by car rental.<

Unless you are planning on staying in Siena, I suggest that rather than rent a car, you take the bus from Florence to Siena for the day.

Same is true for your visit to Venice.

SusanMargaret

You might like to consider the Antica Torre Tornabuoni (www.tornabuoni1.com). We stayed in Room 503. It has its own terrace and fabulous views of the Duomo and the Arno (very romantic). It is also within easy walking distance of everything and on the most fashionable street for shopping in Florence. It is a very small hotel (12 rooms) in a medieval tower. There is no restaurant, but the breakfasts (served on the rooftop) are out of this world. I think we paid about 200 Euros a night.

sera

I really liked the Hermitage: http://www.guestinitaly.com/hotels/florence/f029.htm

And it's right in the thick of things: literally. The taxi to the hotel had to wind its way through a sea of tourists walking in the streets.

Marija

We love the Lungarno, with private balconies overlooking Ponte Vecchio and the Arno. We've stayed at the Excelsior, and at Villa San Michele, and they're fine hotels, but you'll always find us at the Lungarno.