Plaza Luchessi Hotel or Hotel Lungarno
 

We will be in Florence in july. Our travel agent is recommendin the Plaza Luchessi, but I've heard of the Hotel Lungarno too. Which one? Also In Venice, Metropole or Locanda Vivaldi? Rome: Visconti Palace? Thanks for your help. Singer

Hotel Lungarno is absolutely wonderful.We stayed there two summers ago and are still raving about our visit! The rooms are very nicely decorated in a nautical theme, with excellent beds, AC, and nice amenities in the marble bathrooms.

We were lucky enough to stay in one of the river view rooms which had a tiny terrace overlooking the Arno. The view was gorgeous, and we spent a few late afternoons and early mornings watching kayakers going up and down the river.

The service at the hotel and location getting around Florence were excellent, too. Can you tell that I highly recommend it?

By the way, my experience is that many travel agents try to book you into hotels where they get the highest commission, not necessarily ones that suit the individual traveler's needs. That's why I think this forum is so helpful in determining where to stay, as opposed to where your travel agent wants you to stay.

The Visconti Palace is on the Vatican side of the Tiber, a modern building with 234 rooms built in the 1970's. Most people would not consider that an especially desirable location for sight seeing. Generally, people either want to be in the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, or Spanish Steps area. If you tell us what your budget range is, people here could probably suggest hotels in a better location with a little more historic character.

We've stayed at the Metropole in Venice two times and were happy with both stays. Friends stayed there on our recommendation and also were pleased. The Metropole is in the Castello area which is a little bit out of the central area, but that's why we liked it. I'm not familiar with the other hotel.

We stayed at the Plaza Lucchesi in Florence for three nights in, I think, 2003.

The hotel is located right on the Arno, and we had a room with river view. The room was of reasonable size, nd the bathroom roomy. Everything was clean nicely decorated.

I particularly remember the good breakfasts, which included made-to-order omelets.

Byrd

You really don't need a travel agent to book any of the above hotels. Here are the websites, all of which include a booking/availability feature:

www.plazalucchesi.it

www.lungarnohotels.com

www.hotelmetropole.com

www.locandavivaldi.it

www.viscontipalace.com

You can at least see whether the rate quoted directly by the hotel and the one from your travel agent are the same. If the difference is substantial, I would object.

In Rome, here are two generally well reviewed hotels, the Albergo del Senato, and Nazionale, which are in the historical center, a very desirable location. I would stay at them if they were in my price range (I think they may be in yours judging from your other choices):

www.albergodelsenato.it

www.nazionaleroma.it

The Plaza Luchessi (pronounced Luke-hazy) has paper-thin walls. You can hear your neighbours riding the donkey train all night long.

But, maybe you like that sort of thing.

The Luchessi certainly is not the Savoy. Sniff, sniff.

Thin

Dear Lovisa and Weadles, thank you for your sugesstions, I went on the web sights and I found that the Hotel Lungarno was not 900.00 per night and the other hotels in Rome were quite lovely too. Thanks again! Singer8

The Plaza Lucchesi and Hotel Lungarno both face the Arno. Obviously, a room with a view in either place is key. The Lungarno is definitely more swish and more expensive. I stayed at the Lucchesi and found it to be quite pleasant and well located near St. Croce. We had a large river view room with balcony. Sorry, can't help you with the Venice hotels.

Dear dgg, Thank you for your advice. I feel better now about the Plaza Luchessi because someone else made it sound like a dive. I will request a room high up with a river view. Thanks again!