cmeyer54

Hello..I've been diligently searching the web for hotel options in Florence. We'll need 2 rooms for 3 nights in early August 2006. Looking to spend less than $150/night per room. There seem to be hundreds of places out there and each looks OK on their website! Does anyone have personal experience with a place that is clean, comfortable, air conditioned, not too far from the train station, etc? We'll be taking taxi from the airport to the hotel, picking up a rental car after three days to drive to Tuscany and some hill towns so if you know of locations for a rental car as well, that would be wonderful. Thx!!

ira

Hi CM,

For pleasant, clean, basic accomodations, with AC and ensuite bath, near the SMN station (but not too near) I can highly recommend the B&B Peterson.

www.bedinflorence.com

For car rental see www.novarentacar.com and www.autoeurope.com

MFNYC

Also check out Hotel Casci. It's a very pleasant, clean and convenient 2* property. I think the website is www.hotelcasci.com.

bookchick

Check out Il Porcellino, too. IMO, the location is superb!

http://www.hotelporcellino.com/

Buon Viaggio,
BC

SRS

We liked Tourist House Ghiberti.

www.touristhouseghiberti.

Sally

kismetchimera

Also check Hotel Desiree is located near the train station..Very clean family type establishment, nice breafast, Ac in every room.
I paid 126 Euros for a triple room last June. Is not a fancy place but for the price is a true Gem.

ecat

I second Tourist House Ghiberti, I have stayed there twice.

Eileen

TexasAggie

We love the Hotel Europa Florence. We stayed there on our honeymoon. The suites are reasonably priced (140-160&euro and have original 17th century fresoces on the ceilings. They are huge and well appointed. The owners are very friendly and the location is ideal - about 10 minutes walking from the Duomo and about 5 minutes to Basilica San Lorenzo, the Medici Chapels, and the leather market. There are TONS of awesome reviews on www.tripadvisor.com.

We had a bad experience with Hotel Casci misplacing our reservation despite us booking 6 months in advance and confirming 2 weeks before our trip. I don't think this occurs very often since they also get rave reviews, but it certainly turned us off. We even had both confirmations printed and they still insisted there was no room for us although they did admit it was their mistake.

cmeyer54

thanks everyone for the quick responses. I'm going to start looking at each one over the next few hours and see if there are available rooms. We're also going to be in Tuscany and I'm not sure which town to use as a base for 3-4 nights. Brunello is a favorite of ours so that is a consideration as well as having two teenaged boys along who will want a pool, fun town to explore, etc.

PBH

A third vote for Tourist House Ghiberti!

nodda

Forth vote for Tourist House Ghiberti.
I stayed there in 2002. The room is nice and spacious with free internet. Owners are nice.I can say it's even better than some 3 stars hotel. Because of it's size and the regulations, they could only registered as a tourist house.

I'm going there next week but I'm actually having a dilemma if I should stay at the same place (Ghiberti). We stayed there during our honeymoon and it would be sweet to go back. Also we know it's a good place. But I'm not sure if we should try other hotels for a change. I also look to spend around 150-200 euro.

Any recommendations?

Margaretlb

In Nov '05, spent 6 nights at the Residenza Proconsolo. Right behing the Duomo and easy walk everywhere. Lovely large rooms, OK breakfast served in your room, comfy bed and good hot water. Heat was very good too and there is air conditioning. E100 per night year round. You can see very good pictures on florenceby.com.

jay

We just stayed at the A Teatro B&B in Florence. Very nice and clean and seemed to be in a great area for walking to the sites. I believe you can find them on Venere.

Fodorite018

I also recommend the Hotel Casci. We enjoyed our stay there and the location is great.

emnyc

A second vote for the Hotel Desiree. I stayed there in November, at which point it was insanely cheap, but I think it is reasonably priced at other times of year too. Simple, but charming, with huge stained glass windows and lovely wooden interior shutters. Very nice for the money, and a nice easy walk from the trai station.

nukesafe

Have not stayed there myself, but our new next door neighbors swear by a Florence hotel called the Albion: http://www.hotelalbion.it/inglese/inglese.html

It looks a bit over your price range for high season, but our neighbors say they treated "like family". (Well, I suppose they are, since they are cousins.) From their description, however, it does sound nice.

emnyc

Btw, in regard to the Hotel Desiree, I know that various posters in previous threads have raised concerns about the neighborhood near the train station. All experience here is anecdotal, but speaking for myself, the street Desiree is on seemed very respectable and I always felt perfectly safe coming and going from the Hotel even though the area right in front of the train station is less attractive. I wouldn't hesitate to stay there again.

TC

Absolutely consider the Antica Dimora. We stayed here last fall. It is wonderful -- extremely helpful staff, beautiful rooms, great breakfast and evening cocktails, good location within easy walk to sights, short taxi ride from train station. They actually have several properties around Florence. All look wonderful. We rented car from AutoEurope. Very easy.

http://www.anticadimorafirenze.it/index_e.htm

flygirl

TexasAggie, can you tell me which room in Europa you really liked, and did you get to peek into others? They have rooms with balconies, and also with a view of the Duomo. Were there any specific rooms to ask for? I may get a suite instead of a double, but if it doesn't have a balcony maybe not... any tips? thanks.

TexasAggie

We stayed in Suite 39 at Hotel Europa. It had 2 gigantic bedrooms, one with two separate twin beds and a master bedroom with a king-sized bed. There was a mini-fridge and a TV in the master bedroom. The entire suite had A/C and the windows were double-paned with shutters and thick curtains so the rooms were very quiet. The bathroom was large and very modern. The shower has jacuzzi jets all in it so you can have a "hydro massage" shower... I turned this feature on by accident and was most surprised when the water over my head shut off and started spraying onto my feet, LOL!

Looking at the Europa's website, I believe our suite (room key said #39) is referred to as the Giotto suite.