DaphneH

My husband and I leave for Italy on Sunday 2/19. He has never been there and its been forty years since I have been there.(We are not youngsters.) I'd like to find a nice, fairly queit hotel in a good neighborhood, good beds, and private bath in Florence. Any suggestions? The Pensione Bencista in Fiesole has been highly recommended to us, but they are closed until 2/25/06. Thanks for any help.

Pilchard

Greetings.

www.classichotel.it

You're welcome.

MFNYC

Hotel Casci (www.hotelcasci.com) is a great choice. i also have read hotel Europa which is across the street from Casci, is supposed to be similar.

Check tripadvisor.com for more info.

ekscrunchy

B&B In Piazza della Signoria is very quiet and lovely.

www.inpiazzadellasignoria.com

wanderful

You might want to check out hotels in the Oltrarno, the less touristy, more neighborhoody part of Florence. I stayed at the Villa Carlotta, for example, and had a fine time.

ekscrunchy

Yes! You might check out the Hotel Silla in the Oltrarno.

DaphneH

Thanks for some input. Do you think we need to make advance reservations this time of year?

wanderful

If you are leaving Sunday (2/19), start calling ... how should I put this? ... NOW!

fishee

Expedia had a deal on the Hotel Corona D Italia and Orto de Medici for last week and I wished I had stayed at either hotel over the Europa (70 euro/night for double). If you can book the Europa double room with the huge terrace (it's really cute with a partial view of the Duomo) for 80 euro/night I think this would be competely worth it.

sandi_travelnut

B&B In Piazza della Signoria is quite lovely but I would say it's quiet only if your room does not face the Piazza. Ours did and the noise from 3am conversations under our window and street cleaner and garbage trunks kept me up all night. I really loved the hotel, the people that worked there, the breakfast, free internet and free use of the hotel's kitchen but I would ask about rooms with soundproofing.

kansas59

I'm a big fan of the Hotel Bellettini which sounds like it would meet all your requirements. It is a nice 2/3 start in the center but on a quiet street. Check their website at www.hotelbellettini.com. Good luck!

kansas59

Apologies - I meant 2/3 star NOT start. Gotta proofread more thoroughly before hitting that send button...

ekscrunchy

Sandi I had a totally different experience. Our room faced the piazza and I recall it as being very quiet. But I was there in January so perhaps that explains our different experiences. Daphne, I would get on the phone NOW if you are leaving shortly. I tried to book a hotel for the second week in January with six months advance notice and had no luck due to a trade show whose attendees apparently filled every room in the city. You never know what the busy periods will be.

jkstrouse

I can second MFNYC's recommendation of Hotel Casci. Nice, basic, extremely clean hotel, helpful staff, very convenient location. One caveat: It's on a busy street, and although the double-glazed windows and shutters keep out the noise perfectly, they also, understandably, turn the front-facing rooms pitch black. This may not bug you, but for more than one night it would have bothered me, so you may want to consider asking for a room that doesn't face the street. Hope this helps!

grandmere

Kansas, we loved the Bellettini, too; did you stay in the annex? Our room there was lovely, as was the large marble bathroom.

sandi_travelnut

ek-
I think the difference is that my parents were in the room where all the windows faced the piazza and it had double-sound proofing, it was a double room. We had the one next to it that was a triple room. It did not have the same sound proofing as my parent's did. We had one of the 3 window facing the piazza, the others were facing the wall that's opposite the front door. Horribly noisy. We were there in December.

DaphneH

Thanks for all the help. You are correct. Places are filling up. We couldn't get a room at the Orto de Medici or at the Casci. I'm not sure about staying on the other side of the Arno. Is it a bit far for getting to and from places? We can get a room at the Bellintini. Are there rooms that don't require narrow stairs or should I request anything special? Is the annex better than the main building?

Now, about thoughts for Rome. I better get started on that as well.

Thank you. DaphneH

HowardR

I can't make any specific hotel suggestions. But, at this late date, my advice is that you really can't be that picky!

grandmere

We did not see into rooms in the main building but have heard that the rooms aren't as nice as in the annex, which is a separate building, around the corner from the main bldg. The annex has an elevator, and the rooms cost more.