Mamma_Love

Hello all! Just wondering if any of you had any experience at the following hotels:

Venice: Pensione Accademia, Pensione La Calcina (I've stayed before, but anyone with experience in the last 3 years?), Hotel Saturnia (is it worth the money?)

Siena: Antica Torre, Palazzo Ravizza, or any other recommendations within the walls

Florence: So far only considering Hotel Paris (my parents highly recommend), any other suggestions? Would have to be in a good location to atractions, we are only stay 1 day.

I read the Fodor reviews that I could find, but still have not narrowed it down.

RufusTFirefly

Have you tried a search here for the hotels on the Fodors Europe forum? There's probably quite a bit of recent info already available.

elaine

I stayed at the Saturnia a couple of years ago.
Fantastic location as you know.
Rooms and public areas grand in an old fashioned sort of way, but imo in need of updating.
Our room for two was very large, but lighting was dim. Beds comfortable. Bathroom was better lit, plenty of hot water and space.
Breakfast buffet (included) was excellent, very lavish.
Service excellent.
At the time, I thought for the money I could have done just as well in another hotel and would have had a more recently upgraded room, but it likely would have been a smaller room elsewhere.
One hotel that impressed me (I looked at it) was the Colombina.
Open for only 2-3 years.

hazmarty

We stayed at Palazzo Ravizza in Siena and the Beacci Tornabuoni in Florence in May 2003. We were quite happy with each and posted about them several months ago. Try to do a search on these two and I think you will see some good feedback.

mclaurie

I stayed at the Pensione Accademia last December based on rave reviews here. We had a superior double with Canal view for 225e/night (it was over New Year's). While my husband loved it, I was underwhelmed. At 150-175e it would have been fine IMO. Interestingly, our friends who were with us at the time, stayed at the Saturnia. They HATED their room. They said it was small, very dark (a lot of dark wood) & depressing. They came to see our room & thought it was much nicer. They paid around 300e/night for theirs.

There have been recent raves here about Locanda Orseolo, a relatively new small pensione. If you do a text search here under both Locanda Orseolo and Locando Orseolo (the second spelling is incorrect but many people make the mistake) you can read what people say. Their website is Locandaorseolo.com.

If you're looking for a splurge, I'd suggest the Sant Angelo at sinahotels.com. While I was not inside the place, I saw it from the outside. It too is relatively new & was recommended to me by another Fodorite but the rates were very high for my time frame.

The Ca' Pisani is located between La Calcina & Accademia, it newish, modern looking & has jacuzzis in the rooms. They have an excellent restaurant called La Rivista (BTW my friends loved La Caravelle restaurant in the Saturnia but it's expensive). The downside to the Ca' Pisani is it's not on a canal so no water views & you can't take a water taxi to it.

Hope this helps.

sassy27

I stayed at the Paris Hotel in Florence back in Feb/March 2003. I went with 3 family members and stayed in a triple. There was more than plenty of room for us all. The bathroom we had was a little small with just a shower stall and we didn't mind putting the toliet paper up high so it wouldn't get wet. The only thing that got me, was the traffic noise. I'm a very lite sleeper and it took awhile to get used the noise on the street. I would recommend this hotel but just ask for a room that doesn't face the busy street on the other side of the hotel.

Carroll

We stayed at the Palazzo Ravizza a couple of years ago and were very pleased. Several nice sitting areas, good location, wonderful view from our room, and the restaurant was great. Our room was a nice size, but the furniture had seen better days.

oldorch

stayed at the accademia in venice and the beacci tournabouni in florence and would recommend both...for what it's worth.

Tries2PakLite

We stayed in the Hotel Morandi Alla Crocetta (www.hotelmorandi.it) when we were in Florence years ago. It isn't right in the middle of things, but it's not too far from the duomo and such. There is a map on the website.

We thought the hotel was charming and comfortable. It looks exactly like the pics on the website -- frescoes and all. We had a room with a patio/terrace, which was wonderful. We would go back.

fluffy

Mamma- check out www.touristhouseghiberti.com in Florence, I can't recommend it highly enough, Claudio and Christelle are just the best, the rooms are large and very quite located conviently behind the Dumo, for more details do a seach and read my trip report tiltled I left my heart in Italy, Fluffy's trip report.
If you have more ? please feel free to email me at [email protected]
Happy trails Fluffy

sheepdog

In September we stayed at the Hotel Silla in Florence (http://www.hotelsilla.it/history.html) and Piccolo Oliveta in Siena (http://www.oliveta.com/). The Oliveta is a five minute walk from the city wall with a beautiful view of the countryside. Good experience with both. -- Enjoy!