the Villa Cora in Florence and the Kette in Venice. My travel agent recommend them along with the Villa Flora in the Lake region Any comments

Hi rn,

You will get more responses if you include the names of the villas in your title.

AND Rex will leave you alone.

Have you tried looking for reviews of these establishments on www.tripadvisor.com?

The Villa Flora is in Torno, about 5 to 10 minutes by boat from the town of Como. The Villa Flora is nicely located; it juts out over the water and has a nice terrace. The rooms are fairly large by Italian standards, but not particularly well appointed. There is a large dining room with windows onto the lake; the food is good but not overwhelmingly so. The hotel's guests when I was there in May 2001 were almost exclusively from German-speaking countries.

I've seen both the Villa Cora and the Kette in Venice recommended in German-language guide books.

The Villa Cora is a much more elegantly appointed hotel than the Villa Flora, according to reviews I have read. It is quite far from the center of Florence, on the far side of the Boboli Gardens and past the Porta Romana.

According to one of my guidebooks, the Kette is small, moderately priced and in a quiet location between Teatro La Fenice and Piazza San Marco.

Nice hotels, but the hotel in Florence isn't well located.

Perhaps these are hotels that the TA does better with. I find that TAs' hotel recs aren't always the best. They often haven't been to any of the places they are recommending.

If this is a visit to see and enjoy Florence, I don't think I would stay at the Villa Cora.