Hello all!

First of all, many thanks to those of you who helped answer questions and provided wonderful information prior to my recent trip - you were all dead on as always!

My fiancee and and I stayed at the lovely Albergo del Senato in Rome for 4 nights. Due to a last minute itinerary change, we eneded up staying at the Hotel Nationale for the first night of our stay. I was able to book a good rate there through Expedia at the last minute. The Nationale was in a great location (right on the Montecitorio - a 2-3 minute walk from the Pantheon). Our room was spacious, if a little dated. The staff was lovely and helped in getting our bags carried over to the Albergo del Senato on day 2.

As mentioned by many others on this site, the Albergo was great. I was able to see three different rooms since members of my finacee's family from Greece came to join us. Fortunately, our room overlooked the Pantheon - what a site, particularly at night! The only thing that I would note is that the rooms and bathrooms on the front of the hotel (facing the Pantheon) are quite small. Nicely appointed, but very small so just be aware. I was somewhat conerned about noise too, but the thick windows kept the room silent day and night.

The staff went out of their way to help with many details and helped arrange things like an unexpectedly needed wheelchair for my fiancee's mother. And the rooftop terrace is devine.

We also took two tours through Enjoy Rome and had two very different experieces. The first tour of Ancient Rome was with Valentina. Our group was large, about 28 people, which wasn't ideal, but our guide did a good job of positioning herself so that everyone could hear. One note, this tour does not take you inside the Colleseum, so make sure to plan a return trip for that. An architect by training, our guide was very knowledgable and the tour was informative.

Our second tour of the Jewish Ghetto and Trastevere with Agnes was excellent. Granted, this was in part due to the fact that there were only 8 people on the tour and we were in generally less crowded areas, but it's also because she was full of knowledge. I've truly never learned so much on a tour before. (I should mention that I'm not a tour person in general, but I find a smart tourguide can provide better detail of the Forum than any guidebook, and the Ghetto/Trastever tour was of an area in Rome that I've never been able to explore before). I know that Scala Reale gets more praise from this site, and their tours sound wonderful from what I can tell, but from a value standpoint, I would highly recommend Enjoy Rome.

On to Florence...The family had to split hotels here because my finacee and I made a reservation quite far in advance at a small hotel (more on it in a moment) that couldn't accomodate our rather last minute family additions! This time I booked through venere.com. I was looking for 2 rooms, 1 double and 1 triple at a reasonable rate ($200 or under per room, per night). I found the Hotel Colomba. The hotel is located fairly near the train station, about a 10 minute slow walk from the Duomo (straight down one street). It occupies the top floors of an office building. I was very sceptical riding up in the elevator and the small lobbey didn't do much to calm my fears. However, the Colobma is absolute proof that first looks can be deceiving. The hotel is a 3 star (probably could be 2, but it has A/C which I believe gives it the higher rating). The rooms were adequately sized and very spare, but clean as could be. this could be a great spot for those on a budget, or familes. Nothing fancy. But the best part of the Colomba is the owner, Rosanna. I believe she's English so obviously her language skills are impaccable. She just went out of her way to make sure that the family was comfortable. She arranged to have a wheel chair delivered to the hotel and picked up after they left, arranged for a very early morning taxi ride to the train station on their day of departure and even called each room personally to make sure that everyone woke up in time. Lots of other small things she took care of, but suffice it to say that you couldn't find a more helpful, warm, or generous caretaker.

Now to the fun part - the hotel where my fiancee and I stayed: Antica Torre in Via Tournabuoni no.1. What a gem! The hotel occupies the top three floors of a building that sits right on the Arno, one bridge down from the Ponte Vecchio. The building has apparently been in the same family for generations, but the young, vibrant owner just opened the small hotel a year ago this September. There are only 12 or so rooms. Ours was on the 5th floor - the room was huge and the bathroom was very nice. The balcony overlooking the city and countryside beyond was amazing. Registration and breakfast located on the top, or 6th floor. There are two large, stunning balconies. The owner told us that he is planning to turn one of the balconies into a bar which will be open later into the evening - our only complaint was that access to the balconies closed at 8 pm. The hotel is new and the owner is young, but he is very eager to please (staff memebers provide you with his personal cell phone number upon check-in if you have any questions or concerns). The staff also did a wonderful job of pointing us to delicious, unique restaurants. Can't say enough wonderful things about this spot - definitely try to get a room on your next trip to Florence! By the way, the hotels website is fantastic and shows floor plans and pictures of each room so you know exactly what you are getting - that said, the pictures don't come close to the real thing!

Well my fingers are tired and I'm sure that you are tired or reading by now! What wonderful cities! Feel free to contact me with any specific questions and thanks again to all those who helped before we left!

Ciao -
AGF

AGF, thank you so much for sharing this! What a delightful set of images I have from your post. I'm overdue for an "Italy fix" right now, and so far, your trip report filled the bill perfectly. I'm glad the hotels worked well for you & your future in-laws. Hope you'll post more about your trip soon.

Grazie,
BC

Glad you enjoyed your trip! Thanks for sharing.

AGF324, thanks for your report. My fiancee and I are staying at the Antica Torre di Tornabuoni in Florence in a few weeks, and so it's good to see that a Fodorite gave it a rave. Just curious--could you recommend a particular room there? From the website, we've booked Room 404, but would be interested in your input. Thanks!

I too would like a little more info on the Antica Torre--website?
Is there an elevator?
A/c?
thanks

Great report! Thanks for all the information and especially for the descriptions of the hotels. That is a real bonus. It sounds as if you had a great trip.

Here's the website and email for Antica Torre di Tornabuoni:

www.tornabuoni1.com

[email protected]

And there is an elevator; the lobby is on the 6th floor and the rooms are spread out between the 4th and 5th floors.

This hotel looks really nice on the website and from the recent comments looks good in reality as well.

There's a post dated 6/7/03 here by Ripley and she mentions that no one is onsite at the hotel after 8 p.m., therefore, a cell phone number is provided to the guests in case they need to reach someone.

Another question for AGF324 or to anyone who has stayed at the Antica Torre:

After 8 p.m.how are guests let in-are they given keys to the main door? What if a guest needs to check in after 8 p.m.? It sounds as though the guests are left to themselves which sounds good and bad at the same time. I prefer if at least one staff member is onsite in case of any emergency.

Also there is a/c and non-smoking rooms at the Antica Torre.

Thanks AGF324 !

My fiance and I plan on staying at Albergo del Senato next September for our honeymoon. I was just wondering if you or anyone else knows what the views are like on the back side of the hotel . We would like to have a larger quiet room ( not one of the suites ).

Also, we have been considering staying at Antica Torre in Via Tournabuoni no. 1 while we are in Florence. I'm glad to have read your great review of it.

Sounds like you had a wonderful trip. Thanks for the report.

Here is a link to more and better pictures of the Antica Torre:

http://www.florenceby.com/tornabuoni/index.html

Florenceby.com, Italyby.com, and Romeby.com are great websites for pictures of hotels, often better than those shown on the hotels' own websites.