Starting to panic about Florence hotel
 

My husband and I are headed to Florence and the Cinque Terre in May, and we have hotels in both for most of our stay. I'm running into problems with our last night, though. We're coming back from CT to spend our last night in Florence because we have a very early flight out of FLR the next morning. Since it's just one night we don't need anything fancy and I'd like to keep it close to 100E (our other Florence hotel is on the expensive side), but we do need someplace that will allow us to check out early (5:30 a.m. or so) and possibly help us arrange a taxi pick up. The kicker is that it's a Saturday night. The Il Bargellino is full, and the Relais Campanile (my first choice) never responded to my e-mail. Any advice for other hotels around my price range with a helpful staff and 24-hour front desk? A decent location wouldn't hurt since I think we'll want one last Tuscan dinner, one last gelato, one more look at the Duomo, etc.

I don't know why I'm stressing so hard about this, but I guess it has something to do with climbing over a fence to get out of a hotel on my honeymoon to make it to the airport in the middle of the night!

I don't have a specific suggestion except that I've never heard of even a typical small three star hotel that won't let you "check out" the night before and just leave the key in the room or on the desk. And you can easily pre-arrange a taxi to meet you at any time you want. I'm not sure why you're stressing about the early departure. Why do you need a 24 hour front desk?

I'd agree with Patrick - you should be able to organise checking out the night before pretty much anywhere. And I'm sure any hotel would organise a taxi the night before as well.

Hotels in your price range, um... maybe the Hotel Alinari? (www.hotelalinari.com) or the Hotel Colomba (www.hotelcolomba.com)? I'm not sure, they might be the upper end of your price range.

If you look at this website: http://www.dormireintoscana.it/en_firenze.htm (slightly badly translated in places!) you might get some ideas. I guess you want 2* or 3*...

PS have heard good reviews of the Hotel Casci as well...

I think I'm just stressing because I'm a big worrywort in general, and the rest of our trip planning has gone pretty smoothly. Plus the whole experience of basically being trapped in our hotel on our honeymoon when we needed to get to the aiport makes me nervous about a similar early departure (I really wasn't kidding about climbing over a fence).

Thanks for the suggestions Vicki--they're a little more than we wanted to spend but I think we may have to go higher to find something.

When I was looking at Florence, i recall that the Hotel Caravaggio has 24-hour service and is reasonably priced. Check it out.

Contact Antica Dimora. They were just wonderful - accomodating all our needs. Wonderful location, easy to walk anywhere. They arranged several cars for us. They were quite helpful in correspondence via email prior to our arrival.

www.anticadimorafirenze.it/index_e.htm

I second the Casci, it's run by the most delightful family. ANother possibility, also a small family run hotel is the EUropa. I haven't stayed at the Europa (I have stayed at the Casci), but have read about it.

When we were in Florence for only one night, we stayed at the Tourist House Liberty and left the key on the dresser when we checked out. It is a small bed and breakfast which we found to be very reasonable (under 100E) and very clean. It was within walking distance of the train station and the proprietor, Alessandro, was very easy to work with.

You can find this at www.touristhouseliberty.it

Hi MerryTravel, I sure understand about keeping within your budget but if none of the good recommendations here work out I would consider spending a bit more for a hotel so that you are not worried your entire trip about the last night in Florence.

Now about that honeymoon hotel ordeal.
What happened?

I too have heard very good things about the Casci Hotel (my son and his bride ), and some other friends. Apparently it is only a block or so from the Duomo, is very well run by a wonderful family, has internet service, good breakfast etc. I'm sure with a family establishment like this, you would not have to worry about them getting you a taxi early in the morning.
OR, I'm sure there are lots of hotels at the airport...with SHUTTLE to the terminal in early morning, (OR a quick taxi ride). ...although it sounds like you want "one last night" in town.!

I would doubt that there are airport hotels in Florence. Both the Florence and Pisa airports are so close that there is no reason to stay anywhere except in the city itself.

Can anyone explain what "trapped in our hotel room" means? Does that mean they lock you in and won't let you leave unless someone is at the desk? Or does it mean that there are timed doors that won't open until 7 AM or so? I'm really confused about this whole difficulty of not being able to leave a hotel whenever you want to?

Another vote for the Casci. The family that runs it is just really nice and will help with anything. We stayed there with our children and they made sure that everything was just right. When we left they were very sweet and gave the kids sodas and blood oranges for our train ride to Venice. On our recommendation, friends stayed there as well and were just as pleased. The location was perfect for us. Very close to everything, but quiet at night.

Hi MerryTravel, I am with Patrick regarding your problem the last night of your honeymoon and having to climb over a fence.

Please explain. For one thing what would have happened if the place you stayed in had caught on fire?

I am very curious about the circumstances.

I have an interest due to a personal experience that I had.

My story is that we were staying at a very nice boutique hotel in Port Douglas, Australia. We checked out the evening before we had to leave and were set to be picked up by a shuttle at 3 a.m. We left our keys in our room and walked down through the pool area to leave. The gate was locked, and we had no idea if anyone was available to open it, with no way to call anybody since we no longer had access to our room. We had to pass our luggage over the fence to our driver, then climbed over oursevles using some chairs by the pool. Not a great way to start a 36-hour trip home!

Thanks for all the great advice--I've got some googling to do.

Just to follow up and help others in the future, the Casci and Tourist House Liberty both require at least two nights stay over weekends.

Yikes MerryTravel, not a good way to end your honeymoon! Thanks for answering. I won't go into details but I have posted before that due to an extremly horrible event I will not stay anywhere that does not have 24 hour desk attendance.

Have a beautiful time in Italy.

Someone posted on another board about being locked into their hotel in Venice. There was no night clerk, and apparently the owner just locked up at night in such a way that people couldn't open the door from the inside. As it turned out, they didn't have to leave, but it certainly scared them. Anyway, I just feel a lot better if I know that some staff member is in a watchful position by the front door during the night.

Hi WillTravel, I agree with you a 100% after the experience I went through.

I will never again stay at a hotel without a 24 hour desk clerk.