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-   -   Help with Florence accommodation, B&B, small hotel? (https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/help-with-florence-accommodation-b-and-b-small-hotel-866334/)

aussie_10 Nov 11th, 2010 01:44 PM

Help with Florence accommodation, B&B, small hotel?
 
Planning our trip to Italy next year. We will be staying in Florence for 5 nights, for sightseeing and to use as a base for day trips to Siena and other locals.

Can you recommend a place to stay, in a good central location, quiet, and maybe close to public tramsport. There will be 2 of us DH & I.

bobthenavigator Nov 11th, 2010 02:05 PM

I can think of 3:
Hotel Casci
Il Villino B&B
Tourist House Ghiberti

Good luck !

aussie_10 Nov 11th, 2010 02:37 PM

Thanks Bob I will check them out. Have you stayed in any of them?

Jean Nov 11th, 2010 04:22 PM

I can second Bob's suggestion of Tourist House Ghiberti, but it would help to know your budget.

cheryl_2 Nov 11th, 2010 04:45 PM

I was there in October 2010. I stayed south of the arno aka oltrarno. The rates here were cheaper and this area is quiet. I found the area around the Duomo to be a bit overwhelming and it was a welcome relief to get back to the "working class" neighborhood. This area is where the locals stay as well as eat, hence better home cooked food. I stayed at a B&B called Althea rooms. All rooms have computers, private bath and phone. The rooms are nothing fancy, but clean and comfortable. The owner Antonio, was the greatest and VERY helpful with any info. I think I paid about 55 euro/night. They also did not seem to be in a hurry to kick me out on departure. I was able to check out "when ever I felt like it" per Antonio :)
The neighboorhood is safe and fun and has an outdoor market every morning that sells fresh fruits and veggies. Lots of local mom and pop/non-touristy restaurants.
This is only a 15-20 min walk from SMN train station. Also within walking distance to EVERYWHERE!! Grocery stores in this area are also a LOT cheaper than the more central area.
Hope this helps

aussie_10 Nov 11th, 2010 06:57 PM

Our preferred budget is no more than 140euro per night. We like the more personal stays so that we can gather suggestions and ideas from our hosts and its nice to have that interaction.

Cheryl_2 your accommodation sounds good too. I will look it up, the price certainly sounds good. We don't mind staying around the Duomo. Just don't want to be woken in the night by noisy revellers.

Thanks all for your suggestions any other recommendations are appreciated

farrermog Nov 12th, 2010 12:30 AM

FWIW the following from accumulated notes gleaned from this forum and other sites -

http://www.florencegrandtour.com/index.php

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

http://residenzailmaggio.it/index_gb.htm

http://www.hotelcasci.com/

http://www.allorobb.it/

http://desiree.hotelinfirenze.com/

http://www.sanlorenzohotel.it/rooms.php

http://www.inpiazzadellasignoria.com...d_services.php

[no particular order & no personal experience of accommodation in Florence beyond the youth hostel at a villa on the outskirts in the 70s]

aussie_10 Nov 12th, 2010 03:39 AM

Thanks farrermog for taking the time to share these sites, I will check them out

zootsi Nov 12th, 2010 05:25 AM

I can recommend b&b Ninna Nanna, a few blocks north of the Duomo, very nice area. The b&b is run by a woman and her young son, friendly people, comfortable rooms, quiet back yard.

http://www.ninnanannabeb.it/

bobthenavigator Nov 12th, 2010 06:54 AM

Aussie, My clients have stayed at each of these with good reviews.

bellairegirl Nov 12th, 2010 07:30 AM

I just checked out this morning from a wonderful small B&B near the Duomo called La Dimora degli Angeli. I highly recommend it.

bellairegirl Nov 12th, 2010 07:32 AM

http://www.ladimoradegliangeli.com/home.php

Sorry - here's a link to the website.

markland Nov 12th, 2010 09:36 AM

We stayed at the Relais Cavalcanti

http://www.relaiscavalcanti.com

We had a room overlooking the New Market. It was about 100E if you pay in cash. It was close to everything, and was quiet.
The women who run it are charming and helpful, and the room was spotless and spacious.

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.

aussie_10 Nov 12th, 2010 10:57 AM

Wow - Thanks for all your recommendations I really appreciate it. I will investigate each one of them. Personal recommendations are always helpful.

This weekend we are off to Canberra our nations capital, where our son lives and we are going Hot Air Ballooning. Hope the weather is good!

bayguy Nov 12th, 2010 08:58 PM

We stayed at Hotel Casci in September. Nothing fancy but it's very clean and the staff is excellent and very helpful. It's about 2 blocks from the Duomo and and the large street market, can't remember the name right now. Make sure you take some time to go into the Mercato Centrale to check out the various food vendors there. We had some great sandwiches there which were very reasonably priced.

Flame123 Nov 13th, 2010 09:53 PM

I can HIGHLY recommend the Hotel Casci. We have stayed FIVE times to date, it is the only place I will stay while in Firenze. The hotel is a small, family-run hotel, with excellent service by all the staff (Mom and Son are the proprietors with several others helping out). The place is NOT fancy or elaborate but for me, what was important was that it IS super-clean, comfortable, extremely service-oriented, a fabulous and large breakfast and in the middle of town, while still being quiet at night. Prices are quite fair as well. Enjoy your visit.

aussie_10 Nov 14th, 2010 12:46 AM

Thanks bayguy and Flames123, I looked at Hotel Casci it does look good and in a great location.. We like street markets and local food vendors.

Lots of great imput here and great of everyone to share

Anna_Galea Nov 16th, 2010 02:20 AM

Hi,

My family and myself are going to Tuscany these coming Christmas holidays, and I always like to make a lot of research on accomodation to find the best at the most affordable price. Initially we were going to sleep in Florence, and I shortlisted to three B&B and small hotel:

Hotel L'Orologio - Opened in 2009
B&B la Dimorra del Centro - Opened in 2009
Residenza della Signoria - Opened in September 2008

All 3 of them are given a 4.5 or 5 (out of 5) rating by Tripadvisor. When I choose accomodation, I am a bit picky and would not select accomodation unless it was recently opened and it had high ratings. In the end we have opted to stay in Agriturismos in Tuscany, to get more personal attention and to get the true Tuscan feel. But I would definitely have chosen one of the above if we stayed in Tuscany. Hope my review helps. Enjoy your holiday, I am looking so much forward to mine, especially since we shall be visiting Tuscany and the Amalfi Coast.

Regards,

Anna

tedgale Nov 16th, 2010 03:57 AM

Florence visitors:
Check out this Facebook album. Photos 11 to 17 are the place we stay in Florence, the "Domus" unit at Residenza il Carmine :

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?ai...5&l=ab3d0aeb14

It is on the Oltrarno, about 10 minutes walk from the main sights on the "other" side. Closer still to the jewels of the Oltrarno: the Pitti Palace, Boboli Gardens, Santo Spirito, Carmine church.

Quiet, safe neighbourhood. Immaculate apartment with daily cleaning, in a family-run enterprise -- someone from the family is always on site. They supply basic foodstuffs for your first breakfast -- small foodstore down the street, if you want to cook in the wonderful kitchen.

Large quiet garden -- French doors from your bedroom look out at a beautiful magnolia tree.

Well within Original Poster's price range.

This year, we decided to return to Florence JUST BECAUSE the apartment became available. No higher recommendation than that!!!

aussie_10 Nov 18th, 2010 02:36 AM

Anna thankyou for sharing your research of B&Bs in Florence they look very good and I will investigate them further over the weekend.

Tedgale thank you for the apartment recommendation which apartment did you stay in? BTW I have enjoyed reading your trip reports.

ira Nov 18th, 2010 05:28 AM

Hi A10,

I can highly recommend www.bedinflorence.it

More details in Ira’s Trip Report (Italy 2003)
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...2&tid=34451044

Enjoy your visit.

((I))

Jean Nov 18th, 2010 09:48 AM

Interesting that some prefer hotels that have recently opened. I tend to look for places that have been in business for many years, have a steady, long-term reputation, etc. To each his/her own.

nwtraveler Nov 18th, 2010 09:55 AM

I can definitely recommend the Hotel Davanzati. The hotel is centrally located, and the owners are really nice. The rooms have AC and they have a laptop in each room. I enjoyed my stay there.

Lexma90 Nov 18th, 2010 11:48 AM

I would highly recommend Casa dei Tintori (http://www.casadeitintori.it/), a lovely B&B in the Santa Croce area, about a 10-minute walk from the Uffizi or from Piazza della Republicca. A double room is well within your price range. The pictures on their website are truly representative of how nice the rooms are (also see pictures on tripadvisor). We were there last fall with our daughter, and the owners, Alfredo and Valeria, were warm, kind and helpful. They recommended restaurants, and made restaurant reservations for us. They spoiled our daughter, especially, for breakfast, getting her all sorts of chocolate pastries. And Valeria even found whole-grain cornetti for my husband! We also enjoyed talking with them, in English and Italian, about just about everything. FYI, we also stayed at Hotel Casci, a long time ago. The owners there were very kind and helpful as well, and the location is also good (though slightly noisier) but IMHO, the rooms at Casa dei Tintori are much nicer and the breakfasts much better.

charnees Nov 18th, 2010 11:59 AM

Ted, I can see why you jumped at the chance to go back!! We have currently fallen in love with a villa near Orvieto and are champing at the bit!! Trouble is, we have to convince 6 other people to go with us, to afford it. www.villatorrealfina.com

aussie_10 Nov 19th, 2010 02:28 AM

Thank you all for your ideas, suggestions and recommendations. Such a wealth of information, I appreciate your help. I will be doing some serious inspecting and emailing.

tedgale Nov 19th, 2010 01:53 PM

The apt was their largest one: Domus.

We got a special off-season rate in March 2010: I think we paid 79 E/nt. Incredible deal!!!

Saraho May 5th, 2015 02:25 PM

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