My favorite inexpensive hotel in Florence is a third-floor walk-up in a 1645 palazzo smack in the center of town.
This is not a luxury hotel in any sense of the word—not by a long shot. However, it gets my personal highest, three-star rating for having ten times the character of chic hotels that charge five times as much—and for being in the precise geographic center of the city, on what was once the decamanus maximus (main street) of the Roman settlement Fiorentina.
The hotel's dim halls are crowded with genuine baroque art—a marble child in a chair, a chipped sculpture from the della Robbia studio, tattered oil paintings by Van Dyck and Sustermans—and the cavernous rooms are stuffed with a mix of antiques and 1950s designer furnishings.
This is the place I usually stay when I come to town. It's where I've put up everyone from my own parents to my Boy Scout troop (note: make sure you know what you are getting into when you agree to take a group of teenage boys on a month-long trip to Europe).
Bonus: You get breakfast in bed, served by Evelyn Morris, the Welshwoman who has managed the joint for years.
Drawback: There's a variable curfew (usually between midnight and 1am). Also, it's a third-story walk-up with no elevator.
Share a bathroom, save some dough.
Via del Corso 1 - Between Via del Proconsolo and Via de' Calzaiuoli
tel. +39-055-280-048
No website
€
Bus: TK
Hop-on/hop-off: TK (A, B, C)
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 |
Share this page
Search ReidsItaly.com
★★★Via del Corso 1 - Between Via del Proconsolo and Via de' Calzaiuoli
tel. +39-055-280-048
No website
€
Bus: TK
Hop-on/hop-off: TK (A, B, C)