Sunset dinner at Villa San Michele
 

By reading the restaurant recommandations here on the board, I made a reservation at the restaurant in Villa San Michele for Feb 28. I want to time it so that we will be able to see the sunset over the city of Florence. Does anyone has an idea of the approximate time for sunset end of Feb? I made the reservation for 5:15pm, is it about right? I am planning to take the hotel shuttle which leaves from La Repubblica Square in Florence and does anyone know the travel time for it to get to the hotel? I was thinking about taking the 4:30pm shuttle or if it's full, we can take a taxi then and hopefully will be at the hotel by 5:15 for the reservation.
Thank you ahead for the help.

I highly doubt that dinner will be served on the loggia overlooking Florence at the end of Feb. In the winter months, dinner is served in the refrectory dining room. I'm also surprised that they took a dinner reservation for 5:15 as most restaurants don't open until 7 and don't get busy until 8 or 9. But since it's a hotel they may be used to serving at different hours. When we stayed there we always at between 8 and 9 but that was in July.

Grinisa,
I double checked the confirmation e-mail and it does say that it's at the Loggia restaurant at 5:15pm. From the hotel website, it seems that there are windows rather than just a terrace restaurant so hopefully we can see the sunset while dining. I checked the sunset time for that day is 6:02pm and it should work out fine. Do you know the travel time from the shuttle stop in Florence to the hotel?
Thanks!

The shuttle takes about 15 minutes. This is still puzzling to me because the Villa San Michele is usually only open from March until the end of November; at least they were when we were there and that was the case in 2004. I tried to get on the hotel's website but it keeps shutting down. The other websites that list the hotel also state that it isn't open in Feb. and that the loggia restaurant is only open in warm weather. The loggia is very large and the openings are huge so it would have been a very expensive undertaking to put windows in there, but at the rates they charge, anything is possible.

I have always wanted to go to the Villa San Michele, but we are usually in Florence in Feb or March. So, I went to the hotel's website and got this message when I tried to book dates:

Hotel closure
Please note that our hotel will be closed during the following period:
29 November 2004 - 23 March 2005

I am puzzled.

Maybe it's just an autoreply I got from the hotel since now I noticed that the e-mail came back right away after I put the reservation request in. I read closer that it does say WILL confirm the date and time later rather than they are confirming it right now. So maybe you are right. I will let you know once I get the final confirmation back. That will be too bad if they are closed till end of Mrarch since I really want to go for dinner. :(

baby108; I've stayed at the San Michele, some years ago, and are sure that, if they are open, they won't serve dinner that early. 7 pm at the earliest, but even then you will be the first people there.

Just got the e-mail back from the hotel and they are closed till end of March :( I was having everything planned out so nicely. Well, I guess there is the reason for us to go back again for another trip. Now any suggestion for a nice restaurant with a sunset view over the city or just a spot for admiring the sunset? I will start a new thread to get some help. Thanks for the replies.

If sunset is at 6:02 pm, that is very early for dinner. You might want to go up to the Piazza Michelangelo where there is a bar/cafe and have a drink there around sunset. Wonderful view. Then have dinner in town later, around 8.

Thank you very much Grinisa for the suggestion. That sounds like a great idea. Have you been to La Giostra for dinner? I am thinking maybe we will go for dinner there afterwards.

Baby108, I can't help you with selecting a restaurant for dinner since I have not yet had a chance to get to Florence, but just thinking about having a drink while watching a sunset in Italy has made me yearn to go back ASAP. I hope you have a beautiful trip!

If you need a place to stay, check out the Pesione Bencista in Fiesole, just down the road (1/2 mile or less) from the San Michele. Same view and if you book the corner room with balcony, you get to see the sunset everyday, weather permitting. Very nice rooms, clean, not modern, but classic old Italian. The staff is absolutely the best and friendliest I've met. They make you feel like family. I'd opt for half board and go to town for dinner since the dinners there are good, but plain. They have a website, check it out. The price is reasonable, the view is literally, priceless. Overlooking Florence, the Bencista is about3 miles from Florence (as the crow flies). We stayed at the Bencista, but had drinks at the San Michele. And I don't know if the dining area will be enclosed in winter. If the dining room is inside, it will be away from the sunset view. The number 7 bus stops near the Bencista (1 block). If you do go to the Bencista, tell the Simone family that I send my regards. C. Chin

Hi baby,

You can take the no. 7 bus (20 min 1E) from the train station to Fiesole, where you can watch the sunset from the heated terrace of the Bar Bleu.

You can have dinner at one of many places in Fiesole. You won't need reservations.

((I))