Reid's recommended hotels in Florence

A room at the Hotel Residenzza Castiglioni, Florence
A room at the Hotel Residenza Castiglioni in a 17th century palazzo in Florence, where rates start at €65 (well, €95 for a frescod room like this one).

Some of the best cheap hotels, moderate hotels, and splurge hotels in Florence, Italy

A room at the Hotel Burchianti, Florence
A room at the moderate Hotel Burchianti, Florence; rates start at €82.

Fifteen years ago, I set out to write my first guidebook, a Frommer's guide to Florence, Tuscany & Umbria, and the very first thing I did on my very first day on the job was start taking furtive notes on the hotel where I was staying those first two nights (for the record: Hotel Tornabuoni Beacci).

(Aside: guidebook writers—the good ones—change hotels every night or two so they can sample all the wares, because simply touring a hotel won't let you know that perhaps the hot water works but the cold does not—believe it or not, this has happened to me; twice—or the that market carts starting grumbling past the windows at 5:30am.)

Below are the 44 Florence hotels that make my personal short list of Florence's best lodgings in every price category. They offer excellent value for the money, and most have the more elusive qualities of having a great, memorable character or offering service that goes above and beyond.

Inexpensive Hotels & Hostels in Florence: Under €100

A room at the Hotel Residenzza Castiglioni, Florence

Hotel Residenza Castiglioni ★★

This tiny residence hotel in an 18th century building near the Medici Chapels and San Lorenzo leather market has just four rooms and two suites—and only one of them is not richly frescoed. Rooms also come with all the mod cons: free WiFi, A/C, TV, etc. With such style and grace and an unbeatable location, I'm really not sure why it's such a bargain. Who cares: just book it fast...
Via del Giglio 8; tel. +39-055-239-6013; www.residenzacastiglioni.com
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A room at the Residenza del Proconsolo in Florence, Italy

Residenza del Proconsolo★★

The rooms at the Proconsolo—starting at €100 list, but down to €80 if you book online—are not only a good deal, they also come with the decided advantage of overlooking Brunelleschi's cathedral dome…and they do so from the canopied beds and high ceilings of a genuine Renaissance palazzo. Also, you get breakfast in bed (or at least in your room). All that, and it's officially a "rental room" outfit. The best rooms—"Leonardo," with its canopy bed and tall windows, and "Brunelleschi" (pictured) with a poster bed and wrought-iron balcony—are on the front with high ceilings of thick wood beams and views of the cathedral a few dozen yards away...
Via del Proconsolo 18; tel. +39-335-657-4840; www.proconsolo.com
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A room at the Hotel Casci in Florence, Italy

Hotel Casci ★

This rambling hotel occupies the old piano nobile floor of the 15th century palazzo where Rossini wrote William Tell, on a busy street (ask for a quieter room overlooking the magnolia tree in the courtyard) just up from the Duomo (and within a few blocks of the tourist office, Medici Palace and San Lorenzo leather market). The Lombardi mother-and-son team who run the joint is almost pathologically helpful to their guests—and irrepressible Bickersons with each other—and some antique style still clings to the common rooms, with frescoed ceilings over the breakfast tables and front bar. The rooms themselves are modern, bright, and comfy...
Via Cavour 13; tel. +39-Tel. +39-055-211-686; www.hotelcasci.com
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A room at the Hotel Abaco, Florence

Hotel Abaco ★

Bruno, a gregarious Calabrese, just might be the hardest-working hotelier in Florence. He closely oversees a series of cozy, trippy rooms in a 15th-century palazzo halfway between the train station and the cathedral, doling out sightseeing information and restaurant recommendations. Each room is decorated in honor of a different Renaissance artist. A life-sized reproduction of one of the artists works hangs on the wall and its palette informs the particular combo of supersaturated colors used to paint the walls and make up the heavy drapes and half-testers over the beds. One room, though a bit small and narrow, even has a stone fireplace...
Via dei Banchi 1 (off Via de' Panzani); (Santa Maria Novella); tel. +39-055-238-1919; www.abaco-hotel.it
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A room in the Hotel Nuova Italia in Florence, Italy

Hotel Nuova Italia ★

The Nuova Italia, on a street near the train station and San Lorenzo market, is packed with simple comforts and run by the exceedingly helpful Viti family, who seem to know more about visiting Florence that even the tourist office. Though the rooms are fairly basic and modern, the owners really sweat the details: It was one of the first hotels in all of Italy to install mosquito screens, and the windows are triple-paned (though the early morning rumble of carts heading to market still manages to filter through)...
Via Faenza 26 - Off Via Nazionale; tel. +39-055-287-508; www.hotel-nuovaitalia.com
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A room at Hotel Mario's in Florence, Italy

Hotel Mario's ★

One of the most convenient places to stay in Florence since 1872, a comfy hotel inhabiting a 17th-century palazzo just a block from the train station. Mario Noce and his staff stand out for offering rather a far higher level of service, quality, and antique atmosphere than most hotels in the station area, and rooms often come with iron headboards, antique-repro dressers, and fresh fruit and flowers. Frankly, I've always wondered why Mario doesn't charge more for his stylish rooms and impeccable service—not that I'm complaining about a great hotel maintaining moderate prices; I just wonder...
Via Faenza 89 - Near Via Cennini; tel. +39-055-216-801; www.hotelmarios.com
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The view of the Duomo from a room at Hotel De' Lanzi in Florence, Italy

Hotel de' Lanzi

Extremely comfortable hotel in the pedestrian zone with window-filling vistas of the Duomo just a half a block away—but only if you book a room on the front. The De' Lanzi has cozy roms and quilts embroidered with antique Florentine patterns for style. There's also a great breakfast buffet. It's a popular place, so book ahead (though note that, in high season, prices can spike to €140 and even up to €199)...
Via delle Oche 11 ; tel. +39-055-288-043; www.hoteldelanzi.it
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Views of the Duomo from the tarrace of the Hotel Medici in Florence, Italy

Hotel Medici

The Medici is your standard cheap, otherwise bland hotel with one major ace up its sleeve: the rooms on the top two floors have amazing, full-on views of the Duomo—facade, campanile, dome and all. It's also just a few short blocks west of the cathedral. Book early; the choice rooms are often taken long-term by visiting professors with study abroad programs...
Via dei Medici 6; tel. +39-055-284-818; www.hotelmedici.it
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A room at the Hotel Albergo Azzi in Florence, Italy

Albergo Azzi/Locanda degli Artisti

The Azzi has the Boho atmosphere of a hostel but without the grungy backpacker/slacker feel. It's run by a pair of artist/musicians who love to share info on their beloved city over breakfast at the big family-style table, and are keen to strum the guitar on the narrow terrace in the evenings. Rooms are simple but bright, many with wood plank floors and a dash o' faux 18th-century styling to the furnishings. All in all, it's a pretty homey joint, and there are shared rooms available for hostel-oriented cheapskates...
Via Faenza 56 - Between San Lorenzo and the train station; tel. +39-055-213-806; www.hotelazzi.com
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A room at the Hotel Merlini, Florence

Albergo Merlini

This is a notch above your average one-star place, the best in a building full of tiny pensioni. Optional breakfast is served on a sunny glassed-in terrace decorated in the 1950s with frescoes by talented American art students and overlooing a leafty large courtyard. Rooms 1, 4 (with a balcony), and 6 to 8 all have views of the domes topping the Duomo and the Medici Chapels across the city's terra-cotta roofscape...
Via Faenza 56; tel 055-212-848; www.hotelmerlini.it
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A room at the Hotel Bavaria, Florence

Hotel Bavaria

Despite the amazing frescoes in some rooms, painted ceramic tiles in others, and soaring ceilings throughout this 16th century palazzo designed by Ammannati, the last thing you would call the Hotel Bavaria is "fancy." It remains a basic backpacker hotel with virtually no amenties. It does, however, have three big selling points: Historic decor, a killer location, and incredibly low rates...
Via Faenza 56; tel 055-212-848; www.hotelmerlini.it
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Hostels & campgrounds in Florence

The lobby/reception at Ostello Archi Rossi Hostel in Florence

Ostello Archi Rossi

The Archi Rossi is the best hostel in Florence: right on Florence's main drag of cheap hotels near the train station, the walls slathered with shockingly bad murals, and loaded with freebies: free Internet terminals (in the lobby and in the rooms), free WiFi, free breakfast, free walking tours of the city, and even (in winter) free dinner. Sweet...
Via Faenza 94r; tel. +39-055-290-804; www.hostelarchirossi.com
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A room at the Istituto Gould, Florence

Istituto Gould

Though Spartan and institutional, this is nonetheless one of the nicest hostels in Florence: No curfew or lockout, in a lovely cloistered building with gardens, and almost all the rooms are double or triples for an almost hotel experience at hostel prices. It's in the Oltrarno, but only a five-minute walk from the sights...
Via dei Serragli 49; tel. +39-055-212-576; www.istitutogould.it/foresteria
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A chalet cabin at Camping Panoramico Fiesole, Florence

Camping Panoramico

This Florence campground is definitely away from it all—or, at least, it’s 10km (6 miles) away from Florence itself. It’s on a terraced but not overly pretty site in an exceedingly pretty area, surrounded by forests of oak, cypress, and pine. The 400 campsites run €6–€8 for a tent site, double that if you also have a car (or €12.50–€16 with a campervan), plus €9.50–€12.50 per adult...
Via Peramonda 1; tel. +39-055-599-069; www.panoramicofiesole.florencevillage.com
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A room at the Ostello Villa Camerata, Florence

Villa Camerata Hostel

Regulation hostel-bland rooms in a 15th century countryside villa at the northern edge of Florence (20 minutes by bus/walk from the center). Shared dorm rooms sleep 4–8 from €13 per person; private rooms sleep 2 (from €30) or 3 (from €54).
Viale Augusto Righi 2–4; tel. +39-055-601-451.
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A room at the Academy Hostel, Florence

Academy Hostel

In the historic Palazzo Ricasoli just one block north of the Duomo and a block and a half south of the Accademia and Michelangelo's David, this ten-room hostel offers free WiFi, breakfast, and shared rooms sleeping 4–6 (€24–€40 per person), and private rooms from €48 with shared bath, €53 with private bathroom...
Via Ricasoli 9; tel. +39-055-239-8665; www.academyhostel.eu
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A room at the Wow Hostel, Florence

Wow Florence Hostel

Bright colors, comic book art, and top-floor terrace views over Florentine rooftops to the Duomo define this vibrant hostel in the northern reaches of Florence's historic center. There's a communal kitchen, free WiFi, and shared dorms sleeping 4–8 (€17–€24), with private rooms from €35...
Via Venezia 18; tel. +39-055-579-603; www.wowflorence.com
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A room at the Plus Florence hostel, Florence

Plus Florence Hostel

This is the modern-chic hotstel of Florence, with a heated indoor pool, gym and sauna, flatscreen TVs in every room (dorm or private), and rooftop views of the Duomo.Every room has a private bath attached, and the WiFi is free. Rates for dorms sleeping 4–8 are €19–€27; nice hotel-like private rooms start from €48 single, €61 double...
Via Santa Caterina D'Alessandria 15; tel. +39-055-628-6347; plushostels.com/plusflorence
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Moderate Hotels in Florence (€100–€200)

A frescoed room in the Hotel Palazzo Niccolini al Duomo in Florence, Italy

Hotel Palazzo Niccolini al Duomo ★★

This place is amazing: a 14th century palazzo actually located right on the piazza surrounding the Duomo (around on the back side, practically right underneath the famous dome). The interiors are slathered in frescoes under wood-beamed ceilings and fitted with sumptuous Renaissance-style furnishings. It simply doesn't get more elegant than this. Quite frankly, I'm shocked that double rooms at this hotel start at only €180, and that they top out at just €350 for a "Deluxe." Sure, that's a lot of money, but for a room this gorgeous, bang in the center of town, it's practically a steal...
Via dei Servi 2; tel. +39-055-282-412; www.niccolinidomepalace.com
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A room at the Hotel Burchianti, Florence

Burchianti ★★

Fantastic little hotel with 17th-century frescoes all over the ceilings and walls. In 2002, rising rents forced the kindly owner of this venerable inn (established in the 19th century) to move up the block into the piano nobile of a neighboring 15th-century palazzo...
Via del Giglio 8; tel. +39-055-212-796; www.hotelburchianti.it
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A room at Hotel Torre Guelfa in Florence, Italy

Hotel Torre Guelfa ★★

If you want the feel of actually living in a Renaissance palazzo—not just an old building that has been fixed up as a hotel—grab an iron canopy bed in Giancarlo and Sabina Avuri's gem of a joint in Florence's main shopping district, just a block off the Arno river and a few blocks over from the Uffizi and Palazzo Vecchio. Ask for your sunset cocktails to be served atop the tallest privately owned tower in town, built in 1280 and featuring a jaw-dropping 360-degree panorama over the heart of historic Florence and the surrounding hills...
Borgo SS. Apostoli 8; tel. +39-055-239-6338; www.hoteltorreguelfa.com
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A frescoed room in Hotel Morandi alla Crocetta in Florence, Italy

Hotel Morandi alla Crocetta ★★

Checking into the Morandi is like stepping back in time to an elegant pensione of yesteryear. It's owned by an Irishwoman (though, in her nineties, she no longer runs the place), and the home-like rooms are installed in the wood-beamed—and, in a few spectacular cases, frescoed—chambers of a 1511 Dominican convent. It's also one of the quietest hotels in all of Florence, away the most tourist-trammeled streets yet just a block from Piazza SS. Annunziata (a five-minute walk from The David in the Accademia Gallery)...
Via Laura 50; tel. +39-055-234-4747; www.hotelmorandi.it
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A room at the Hotel Palazzo Guadagni, Florence

Palazzo Guadagni ★★

You can live like the nobles of yore in rooms with 15-foot ceilings whose 10-foot windows and oversize antique furniture are proportionately appropriate. (Franco Zeffirelli used it—pre-renovation—for some scenes in Tea with Mussolini.) The highlight is the monumental roofed veranda where you can take breakfast, or just relax and drink in the views over Piazza Santo Spirito.
Piazza Santo Spirito 9; tel. +39-055-265-8376; www.palazzoguadagni.com
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A room at the Hotel Loggiato dei Serviti in Florence, Italy

Hotel Loggiato dei Serviti ★★

The Loggiato offer the chance to live in some of the Renaissance city's great architecture: an Antonio da Sangallo the Elder–designed original, built in 1527 to match the arcades of Brunelleschi's famous Ospedale degli Innocenti across the piazza. (A scene from Room with a View was even filmed under the loggia.)...
Piazza Santissima Annunziata 3; tel. +39-055-289-592; www.loggiatodeiservitihotel.it
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A room at the Hotel Monna Lisa in Florence, Italy

Hotel Monna Lisa ★★

Giovanni Dupré was one of the greatest sculptors in 19th century Italy, and his descendants have filled this 14th-century palazzo with several of his pieces. Antique furnishings, original painted beam ceilings, and a private-home feel go along with the fine art to make this one of the most genuinely elegant hotels in Florence—as opposed to most (overpriced) luxury properties where lavish expenditures are used as a substitute for class. The garden is lovely, the Renaissance lounges are gorgeous, and the rooms are spacious and loaded with antique style...
Borgo Pinti 27; tel. +39-055-247-9751; www.monnalisa.it
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Hotel Helvetia and Bristol ★★

This Belle Epoque hotel is the most central of the top five-star addresses in town, host in the past to the Tuscan Macchaioli painters as well as De Chirico, playwright Pirandello, and atom-splitting Enrico Fermi...
Via dei Pescioni 2; tel. 888/770-0447 in the U.S., 800/505-050 toll-free in Italy or 055-287-814; www.hotelhelvetiabristolfirenze.it
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A room in the Grand Hotel Cavour in Florence, Italy

Grand Hotel Cavour ★★

This is a refined hotel with contemporary styling, four-star amenities, and a well-regarded restaurant—though not as much class as the others in this price category. It does, however, boast an unbeatable location halfway between the Uffizi and the Duomo—next-door to the Badia, just down the block from Dante's old house. Request a room off the street, which runs with buses...
Via del Proconsolo 3; tel. +39-055-266-271; www.hotelcavour.com
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A room at the Hotel Il Guelfo Bianco, Florence

Il Guelfo Bianco ★★

The hotel provides excellent service and truly four- or five-star quality rooms yet at some of the lowest prices for a rated three-star hotel in all of Florence—and all that just a few blocks from the Duomo. Some rooms have retained such atmospheric 17th-century features as frescoed or painted wood ceilings, carved wooden doorways, and the occasional parquet floor...
Via Cavour 29 (near the corner of Via Guelfa); tel 055-288-330; www.ilguelfobianco.it
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The Hotel Pensione Benescistà, Fiesole, Florence

Pensione Benescistà ★★

This comfortable and quiet family-run pensione in a rambling 14th-century villa gets you the same view and escape from the city as the chic hotel Villa San Michele above it at one-fifth the price. Antiques abound, and the elegantly cluttered salons are straight out of an E.M. Forster novel...
Via Benedetto da Maiano 4; tel. +39-055-59-163.
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The view from a room at the Hotel Chiari Bigallo, Florence

Hotel Bigallo ★

Oustanding views of the Duomo and Giotto's belltower bring this picture to life. Its rooms are modular modern now, but in the location competition, it still wins for being above the Loggia del Bigallo on the corner of Piazza del Duomo...
Vicolo degli Adimari 2; tel. +39-055-216-086; www.hotelbigallo.it
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Hotel Calzaiuoli ★

As central as you can get, the Calzaiuoli offers comfortable, well-appointed rooms on the main strolling drag halfway between the Uffizi and the Duomo. The rooms look over the street, with its pedestrian carnival and some of the associated noise, or out the back—either over the rooftops to the Bargello and Badia towers or up to the Duomo's cupola.
Via Calzaiuoli 6 (near Orsanmichele); tel. +39-055-212-456; www.calzaiuoli.it
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A room at the Hotel Hermitage, Florence

Hotel Hermitage ★

This ever-popular hotel right at the foot of the Ponte Vecchio was renovated in 1998 to give each room wood floors or thick rugs, shiny new bathrooms (most with Jacuzzis), and fresh wallpaper. The rooms are of moderate size, occasionally a bit dark, but they're full of 17th- to 19th-century antiques and boast double-glazed windows to cut down on noise. Those that don't face the Ponte Vecchio are on side alleys and quieter...
Vicolo Marzio 1/Piazza del Pesce (to the left of the Ponte Vecchio as you're facing it); tel. +39-055-287-216; www.hermitagehotel.com; €€
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A room at the Hotel Alessandra, Florence

Hotel Alessandra ★

This old-fashioned pensione in a 1507 palazzo just off the river offers simple comfort and kind hospitality just a few hundreds yards from the Uffizi Galleries. The rooms differ greatly in size and style, and while they won't win any awards from Architectural Digest, there are a few antique pieces and parquet floors to add to the charm...
Borgo SS. Apostoli 17;tel. +39-055-283-438; www.hotelalessandra.com
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A room at the Hotel La Scaletta, Florence

Hotel La Scaletta ★

The inn's star is the flower-bedecked, sun-kissed terrace offering a 360˚ vista over the Boboli Gardens, the Oltrarno rooftops, and (beyond a sea of antennas) the monumental heart of Florence. Return visitors book months in advance for the refinished rooms that mix a bit of antique flair with modern furnishings and parquet floors...
Via Guicciardini 13; tel +39-055-283-028 or +39-055-214-255; www.hotellascaletta.com
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A room at the Hotel Pensione Pendini, Florence

Hotel Pensione Pendini ★

Many rooms boast an airy country style, with original and reproduction antiques and brass-framed beds. The rather large accommodations on the piazza are best, with views over the bustle of the cafe-lined square. The lounge contains a comfortable mélange of 19th-century furnishings with scattered rugs...
Via Strozzi 1; tel. +39-055-211-170; www.hotelpendini.it
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A room at the Hotel Silla, Florence

Hotel Silla ★

The Silla's most recent renovation was in 2001, with a few rooms redone in 1997. Many overlook the Arno and, when winter strips the leaves off the front trees, the spire of Santa Croce on the opposite bank...
Via dei Renai 5; tel. +39-055-234-2888,
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A room at the Grand Hotel Minerva

Grand Hotel Minerva

The famed Grand Hotel Minerva occupies a strung-together series of medieval buildings overlooking Piazza Santa Maria Novella. It is the oldest hotel in the city, operating at least as far back as 1848, and is particularly favoured by heads of state...
Pz. Santa Maria Novella 16; tel. +39-055-284-555; www.grandhotelminerva.com
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A room at Hotel Le Due Fontane, Florence

Hotel Le Due Fontane

The only thing this place has over its neighbor the Hotel Loggiato dei Serviti is that the rooms get a view of all three loggia-blessed sides of the harmonious piazza (in the Loggiato, you look out from one of them). It also is among the cheapest hotels in the moderate category...
Piazza Santissima Annunziata 14; tel. +39-055-210-185; www.leduefontane.it
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A room at the Hotel Firenze, Florence

Albergo Firenze

This former student hangout (still partly used as a study-abroad dorm) into a three-star hotel. It's location is divine, tucked away on its own little piazza at the heart of the centro storico's pedestrian zone—the most central hotel in Florence—but it's way too institutional to justify the midrange rates...
Piazza Donati 4; tel. +39-055-268-301 or +39-055-214-203; www.hotelfirenze-fi.it
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Expensive Hotels in Florence (€200+)

A room at the Hotel Torre di Bellosguardo, Florence

Hotel Torre di Bellosguardo★★★

This most bona fide Renaissance castle experience of any hotel in Italy, with 16 period rooms of historic, genuine medieval furnishings and appointments hidden amid a warren of echoing halls and flying stone staircases down which you expect to see Errol Flynn come swashbuckling at any moment. There's an amazing close-up panorama of the city just across the olive groves beyond the swimming pool...
Via Roti Michelozzi 2; tel. +39-055-229-8145; www.torrebellosguardo.com
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A room at the Hotel Regency, Florence

Hotel Regency ★★

The Regency, converted from two 19th-century mansions, is set on a wooded piazza at the edge of town that looks remarkably like a giant London residential square. The posh old England feel continues into the salon and bar lounge, furnished with worn antiques and darkly patterned carpets and wall fabrics. This decoration scheme dominates in the comfortable rooms as well...
Piazza Massimo d'Azeglio 3; tel. +39-055-245-247; www.regency-hotel.com
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The Hotel Belmond Villa San Michele, Fiesole, Florence

Villa San Michele ★★

The peaceful air this place exudes recalls its origins in the 15th century as a Franciscan monastery, but I doubt the good friars had a heated outdoor pool or Jacuzzis in their cells. The facade was reputedly designed by Michelangelo, and everything is in shades of creamy yellow with soft gray pietra serena accents. The regular rooms are all in the main buildings, with modern junior suties dug into the hillside behind it, snuggled into the slopes between the terraces that host the swimming pool and formal gardens (several junior suites enjoy their own mini-gardens or tarraces)...
Via Doccia 4; tel. 800-237-1236 in the U.S. or +39-055-567-8200 in Italy; www.belmond.com
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A room at the Hotel Savoy, Florence

Hotel Savoy ★★

Four suites (two rooms, two TVs, leather easy chairs, white marble bathrooms) are on the back, four on the piazza. Rooms on the fifth floor, added in 1958, just peep over the surrounding buildings for spectacular views, especially those on the Duomo (back) side.
Piazza della Repubblica 7; tel. 800/223-6800 in the U.S.; +39-055-27-351 in Italy; www.roccofortehotels.com
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Hotel Brunelleschi ★

The Brunelleschi undoubtedly has one of the best locations in town: on a quiet hidden courtyard of a forgotten side-alley in the very heart of the pedestrian zone, halfway between the Duomo and Piazza Signoria/Uffizi (top floor rooms catch a glimpse of the cathedral dome). It's an upscale hotel with modern rooms installed in collage of ancient structures, including a dramatic 6th century round tower at the center, one of the only remnants of the city's Dark Ages fortifications. Staff can be standoffish...
Piazza Sant'Elizabetta 3; tel. +39-055-27-370 www.hotelbrunelleschi.it
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A room at the Hotel Westin Exclesior, Florence

Westin Excelsior ★

All rooms are done with a liberal use of colored marbles, walnut furniture, pietra serena accents, Oriental rugs, and neoclassical frescoes. Try to book a room overlooking the Arno (junior suites do not). The penthouses have terraces with drop-dead views over the city. Second-floor riverside doubles have balconies, and you can sometimes book half a luxurious suite at the price of a regular room. The staff is renowned for its genial attentiveness, offering a full array of amenities and services.
Piazza Ognissanti 3; tel. 800/937-8461 in the U.S.; +39-055-264-201 or toll-free 800/3253-5353 in Italy; www.starwood.com
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A room at the Hotel Tornabuoni Beacci, Florence

Hotel Tornabuoni Beacci ★

Simply welcoming and comfortable atmosphere in this 16th century palace. Everything is a bit worn, but there's a concerted effort to furnish the rooms with period pieces. The dining room is sunny, and the lunches and dinners are well prepared. In summer, you can take breakfast on a terrace bursting with flowers and a view of the Bellosguardo hills.
Via Tornabuoni 3 ; tel. +39-055-212-645; www.tornabuonihotels.com
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An apartment in the Palazzo Antellesi, Florence

Palazzo Antellesi ★

Twelve outstanding, weekly rentals that sleep anywhere from 2-8 people, located in the heart of Santa Croce. The 16th-century palazzo is owned by the gracious Signora Piccolomini, who rents out truly spacious apartments to anyone who has ever dreamed of lying in bed next to a roaring fire under a 17th-century frescoed ceiling (the Granduca, sleeping two or three) or sipping tea in a living room surrounded by trompe-l'oeil Roman ruins with a 16th-century wood ceiling above.
Piazza Santa Croce 21–22; tel. 212-932-3480 in the U.S. and +39-055-244-456 in Italy; www.palazzoantellesiflorence.com
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» More hotels in Florence, Italy (from €29)

» B&Bs in Florence (from €35)

» Apartments for rent in Florence (from €45)

Tips & links

Booking hotels in Florence
Reid's top 10 Hotels in Florence
  1. Hotel Residenza Castiglioni [€]
  2. Hotel Palazzo Niccolini al Duomo [€€]
  3. Hotel de' Lanzi [€]
  4. Hotel Morandi alla Crocetta [€]
  5. Residenza del Proconsolo [€]
  6. Hotel Monna Lisa [€€]
  7. Hotel Torre di Bellosguardo [€€]
  8. Hotel Loggiato dei Serviti [€]
  9. Hotel Torre Guelfa [€€]
  10. Grand Hotel Cavour [€€]
Florence hotel & lodging links
Where to find cheap hotels in Florence
Hotels on Via Faenza in Florence

As in most cities, there are loads of inexpensive hotels near the train station. The good news is that, in tiny Florence, this is not really such a hardship, since you're still close to the central sights—within ten minutes's stroll of the Duomo, 15 of the Uffizi.

The best street to troll for a cheap room is Via Faenza, which stretches north from the San Lorenzo outdoor market just east of the station (you can see five hotel signs just in the half-block pictured below). Some buildings on the street are crammed with four to six little hotels, one on each floor.

Try to avoid Via Nazionale, a heavily trafficked street heading east from the train station.

Useful Italian for lodging
English (Inglese) Italian (Italiano) Pro-nun-cee-YAY-shun
Good day Buon giorno bwohn JOUR-noh
Good evening Buona sera BWOH-nah SAIR-rah
Good night Buona notte BWOH-nah NOTE-tay
Goodbye Arrivederci ah-ree-vah-DAIR-chee
Excuse me (to get attention) Scusi SKOO-zee
thank you grazie GRAT-tzee-yay
please per favore pair fa-VOHR-ray
yes si see
no no no
Do you speak English? Parla Inglese? PAR-la een-GLAY-zay
I don't understand Non capisco non ka-PEESK-koh
I'm sorry Mi dispiace mee dees-pee-YAT-chay
     
Where is? Dov'é doh-VAY
...a hotel un albergo oon al-BEAR-go
...a B&B un bed-and-breakfast oon bet hand BREK-fust
...a rental room un'affittacamera oon ah-feet-ah-CAH-mair-ra
...an apartment for rent un appartamento oon ah-part-tah-MENT-toh
...a farm stay un agriturismo oon ah-gree-tour-EES-moh
...a hostel un ostello oon oh-STEHL-loh
     
How much is...? Quanto costa? KWAN-toh COST-ah
a single room una singola OO-nah SEEN-go-la
double room for single use [will often be offered if singles are unavailable] doppia uso singola DOPE-pee-ya OO-so SEEN-go-la
a double room with two beds una doppia con due letti OO-nah DOPE-pee-ya cone DOO-way LET-tee
a double room with one big bed una matrimoniale OO-nah mat-tree-moan-nee-YAAL-lay
triple room una tripla OO-nah TREE-plah
with private bathroom con bagno cone BAHN-yoh
without private bathroom senza bagno [they might say con bagno in comune—"with a communal bath"] SEN-zah BAHN-yoh
for one night per una notte pair OO-nah NOH-tay
for two nights per due notti pair DOO-way NOH-tee
for three nights per tre notti pair tray NOH-tee
Is breakfast included? É incluso la prima colazione? ay in-CLOO-soh lah PREE-mah coal-laht-zee-YOAN-nay
Is there WiFi? C'é WiFi? chay WHY-fy?
May I see the room? Posso vedere la camera? POH-soh veh-DAIR-eh lah CAH-mair-rah
That's too much É troppo ay TROH-po
Is there a cheaper one? C'é una più economica? chay OO-nah pew eh-ko-NO-mee-kah
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  1. Hotel Residenza Castiglioni [€]
  2. Hotel Palazzo Niccolini al Duomo [€€]
  3. Hotel de' Lanzi [€]
  4. Hotel Morandi alla Crocetta [€]
  5. Residenza del Proconsolo [€]
  6. Hotel Monna Lisa [€€]
  7. Hotel Torre di Bellosguardo [€€]
  8. Hotel Loggiato dei Serviti [€]
  9. Hotel Torre Guelfa [€€]
  10. Grand Hotel Cavour [€€]


Lodging links
Other useful links
SIGHTS
TRANSPORT
plane
train
automobile
  • Car resources
  • Emergency service/tow: tel. 803-116
  • Highway agency: Autostrade.it (traffic info, serivce areas, toll calculator, weather)
  • Italian automotive club (~AAA): Aci.it
  • ZTLs: Ztl-italia.blogspot.com (lightly outdated, but handy, links to cities' traffic-free zones)
bus
ship
  • Transport Florence—Livorno cruise terminal
  • Viator.com (private car: 90 min, €40–€260)
  • Trenitalia.com (train: 68–100 min, €9.10) + Livorno port-station transfer (€1 bus; €20–€30 taxi)

 

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