I want to second the advice not to rely on a hotel restaurant for your meals (except breakfast, which is usually included in the room rate). There are sooooo many nice little family-run restaurants and pizzerias and they will be far less expensive than any hotel restaurant!

Have you gotten a good basic guidebook? Rick Steves has good ones for newbies. DO read the sections on dining, as well as the ones on culture.

Oh, and fire your travel agent.

Just want to make sure you also realize that hotels in Italy might be rated differently than you expect. Number of stars does not denote quality. They denote amenities. So, a perfectly beautiful small hotel with no elevator would rank lower than a less nice hotel with an elevator. A regular place with a restaurant would rank higher than a lux place with no restaurant. Of course, the most expensive places will have it all, but some three star places are lovely.

Bookmarking!

I recommend the Hotel Universo in Florence ONLY in the cooler months (their AC sucks but you are traveling on October). The price is great, the rooms were comfortable and clean, the bathrooms huge, the location outstanding. BTW. agree with Bob; a TA that cannot do better than a $500/night room in Florence needs to GO...

Old thread. The OP has already gone on the trip.

We stayed several days in the hotel Pitti Palace. It's right at the foot of the Ponte Vecchio across the river. Beautiful roof top view. Rather small room with a view directly down on the bridge. Here is a report on our trip with plenty of views from and of the hotel.

http://www.rimerson.com/Europe-2011/.../florence.html

This is our stay in Venice. There are several views of our hotel and room.

http://www.rimerson.com/Europe-2011/venice/venice.html

This is where I stayed, had a great view, beautiful rooms (and bathrooms). I'm not sure what the going rate is now, I went 2 years ago. But, I second the tripadvisor.com suggestion.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...e_Tuscany.html