tknechtges

Hi,

I'm currently booked at Hotel David in Florence for 3 nights in May. I picked this hotel because it was so highly rated on TripAdvisor - and it looked and sounded so beautiful - even though it seems far from the sights.

As this is our first time in Florence, should I cancel this reservation and opt for a more centrally located hotel closer to the sights? I'm having a hard time figuriing out how far things are apart based on what I'm reading and if I need to pop back into my room for something - if I'm 30+ minutes away - it won't be that easy to do.

Just wondering what those that have been to Florence think - anyone stay at Hotel David before? How's the location?

WillTravel

Yes, you would be 30+ minutes away from typical sites, I think, based on my recollection of seeing this hotel in Florence.

WillTravel

To figure out walking times, go to www.mappy.it and enter the address for Hotel David, and the address for various sites, and choose Pedestrian. But you will be near Piazza Michelangelo outside and overlooking the city, but not close to much else.

eboy

I stayed here two years ago with my daughter, and my friend traveling with her family stayed there during the same time. We loved the Hotel David. It was across the river, seemingly out of the way, it wasn't. Florence is a very small city. We could walk to everything. We rented a car for excursions out of the city and were thrilled not to have to drive through Florence proper. We were able to park our car at the hotel at no charge, free internet, lovely breakfast room, cocktails at night, depending on the weather they can be served in a lovely garden and very large rooms. That was a gift after traveling through Italy squished into small hotel rooms. The staff was extremely nice and a bonus of a laundermatte down the street, allowing us the ability to pack light. I found this hotel on this blog and I was very pleased. And no, you will not be thirty minutes away from the sites. Have fun!

blueridge

We stayed at Hotel David 3 years ago - booked it for our last two nights in Italy for its parking as we had a car to be dropped back at Peretola Airport on our way home. My Dad and his wife spent a longer period there and liked it quite well, but it was our least favorite hotel of the trip.

It is definitely at least a 15-20 minute walk to the main parts of Florence you'll want to see, but that's not the biggest draw back: the area is mixed commercial-seeming, and has rather a deserted feeling in the evenings. There is bus service that my Dad used. If you DO choose to keep your reservations, try to be sure you don't have one of the rooms with the shower head on the wall 2 feet from the sink with no shower curtain! We did have a great meal at a family type place called something like Gino's about 3 blocks from the hotel (sure the hotel staff can identify it).

I would certainly opt for more central lodgings to be part of the elegant, more electric feel of the Florence you're there to visit.