JMN57

That's where we stay (and are staying in November) when we're in Florence. River view rooms (Ponte Vecchio) are great. But I would be surprised if the rate is as low as that.

In addition to the hotel's restaurant, there are some very nice trattoria on Borgo San Jacopo. In November, it's a good time for game and Osteria del Cinghiale is a good place for wild boar. Mamma Gina is also quite good if one can get over the somewhat trite name. Neither are Michelin star restaurants but quite good local cuisine.

Picture of Ponte Vecchio from balcony of our room last stay at the Lungarno

EMB

Try the Hotel Davazanti. You will be in the historic center of town. Great location off a side street where you can walk to everything. Most of the family speaks English. I stayed there and will go back.
There is a good bar nearby called La Busolla that I love. Good pizza, pasta and wine.

pfg

If you are open to something completely different, I would try a stay at this monastery: Casa per Ferie Regina Del Santo Rosario . I was housed here during a conference week. It is very conveniently priced, booking includes a breakfast, the location is excellent, around 1 km away from the great Duomo of Florence, to get to which you can pass by the Santissima Anunzziata (very beautiful) square, close to San Marco. What I liked most about it was that the nuns maintaining the rooms clean them everyday. So everything is spotless.

BTW, just to eliminate any concerns, I am not much of a religious person, but more of a convenience person. And I found this place very convenient, especially for the price. I think they do have one quad on offer, if I am not mistaken.

Good luck!

PWMTrav

A room on the river will definitely not be in his budget, but a regular courtyard-facing room probably will be - even late July is dipping into the mid-200 euro. Last time we stayed there, it was an interior room and it was just fine for us. The nice thing is, even if you don't have a terrace over the river, you can still enjoy that if you sit outside and have breakfast/coffee next to the lobby.

I'm not suggesting he plan a meal at the hotel - it's decent, but more one of those places to reserve out of convenience, rather than to hold a night for. It's more than respectable in that sense. That neighborhood is awesome for food and wine, plus some museums that don't get as much traffic. I've sent a few FT'ers to some of the places I like, but I'll let them respond with whether I know anything or not Happy to post my recs if people want them.

I like your taste in hotels though Great pic. I still haven't gotten to writing my most recent trip report for Florence. I need to try to start that tonight.

JMN57

If you have Amex Plat and book thru their travel, there is complimentary upgrade to river view room if available. Plus the Lugarno will do an airport or train transfer.

I absolutely agree with you that oltrano is a great area of Florence. Hopefully some of the development that are proposed don't ruin it.

PWMTrav

What are they talking about doing in Oltrarno now? I know there was the issue with Nidiaci being sold off and closed to tourists, the whole underground parking mess (netting fewer spaces) and that sort of thing. Gentrification is one thing, and it's definitely happened, but if they start running locals entirely out, they might as well sell the naming rights and make it a theme park.

For the time being, I think there are enough actual local residents to push back politically. Plus, Italy's curse if you're an entrepreneur is Florence's blessing when it comes to these types of things - the bureaucracy is just SO slow. It's so slow that sometimes it can't even be corrupted into moving quickly. Given enough time, though, even Italy changes. Look at Venice - there's still authenticity there, but Ponte Rialto to Piazza San Marco is practically a theme park experience.

That said, if I could afford it, I'd buy a flat in Oltrarno today as a vacation property. Maybe that's indicative of the problem, though.

1readyset2go

Wow the Lungarno is pretty nice thanks for that!

After looking at my Budget I could swing 300 USD a night without a problem. So it looks like (at least some dates in July like that would be right there at 300 or just a tad over). I think this is very doable and of all the suggestions my favorite so far. I will just have to keep checking the site to see when they load the dates for next Sept and hope they are in my price range. That river view is great but really if I can get just their "relaxing Double" room without a view for that price I would be very happy. I will know my exact dates in about 5 weeks when the United award calendar opens up flights for all of Sept in which time hopefully the hotel dates will be loaded as well. If what I am seeing for Sept 2014 rates holds true for Sept 2015 it will be over budget as it is currently showing it at 450 USD. I will need to keep looking for a backup plan if that holds so keep the suggestions coming.

Thanks again everybody this is good stuff

JMN57

I hope you are right about oltrarno. We're looking to buy something in Italy and, while I like Florence, I'd rather be in a smaller town than city (we have one home in Manhattan - enough city for me). Right now, the #1 candidate would be a hill town in the Marche. Downside is that it's not an easy commute. In full-time retirement that's fine (and my wife is lobbying for that) but I'm "semi-retired" which has me being pretty active and flying in/out of Marche is not so easy. Something to be figured out in the next few years.

Perche

The Hotel Lungarno looks like an excellent, small luxury hotel, its probably one of the best in Florence. I have serious doubts that you are going to get it for $300 even without river view. I checked random dates from this September to next June on their website. There's a huge variance from day to day within a month:

1. If book a hotel for 3 nights this September 28th it is E508 per night, plus 10% tax, and 3 euro city tax, or about $716.

2. That might be a last minute rate, so I took it out to mid-November now in off-season, it drops to E297 plus taxes and fees, or about $432 per night.

3. Going as off season as it gets, January 16th, it is E230 per night plus 10% tax, three euro city fee, or $347. This is as low as it gets and stays this low through March.

4. Then the high season starts, which runs through September. In April the price is E288 plus taxes, about $409.

5. In May it's way up to E374 plus taxes or about $525.

6. In July it's E315 plus taxes, or $447, with huge day to day variation.

7. August and September next year aren't loaded yet.

It's easy to Skype and ask. I call all the time. It gives me an opportunity to practice my italian. If you don't speak italian medium to large hotel has english speaking desk staff.

Since it's not yet published, asked what a room would cost in September 2015, when you are going. She said the rate has been set at E454 plus 10% tax and 3 E city fee. That's $643, more than twice what you're planning on paying. She said they manipulate the rate according to demand, and that would change. I'd seriously doubt that $643 is going to drop all the way down to $300 during high season. September was modified up this year from$643 to $716

You should call them and find out for yourself. Skype is easy, and only costs one cent per minute. I bought $20 worth of minutes three years ago, use it extensively, and I still have $12 of talk time left. Call during their daytime, and ask for yourself. When I asked if it would be possible to rent a room for $300 next September they said no. Don't give up because things can change, but I'd hate to see your heart set on Hotel Lugarno and get disappointed, and then your next best choice has been rented out. You should have a back-up plan. You can always cancel if there is a major sale at Lugarno you can always cancel and switch. At one cent per minute, it will cost less than 5 cents to call and find out for yourself.

Hotel Davanzati mentioned above seems quite nice. Still expensive, but much less so. Don't put all your eggs in the Hotel Lugarno basket, because for all you know, the price may be over $700 per night when the time comes.

PWMTrav

Their rates fluctuate so keep an eye out. The exchange rate is the killer, I will be honest I didn't even factor it in. Just plain forgot, sorry. I just looked up my last stay and it was under $400 (USD) per night in June, so it wouldn't shock me to see it at $300 in September.

Another option is Hotel Degli Orafi. It's right across the river pretty close to the Uffizi. I haven't stayed there, but it was considered on our last trip before we settled on Granduomo. That's another hotel to look at - it's apartment style, and is going to be a lot lighter on services, but the location is unbeatable. That's where we stayed in February, but we ended up getting two apartments and joining them for an additional bedroom. I think I've recommended it in other threads but didn't here because I thought you wanted a quad before, and that ran me about 330 euro/night.

There's also Ponte Vecchio Suites & Spa if you like Oltrarno.

I'll say this: I prefer to walk out of my room/apartment and onto the street as quickly as possible, so places like Granduomo and Ponte Vecchio Suites are more to my liking. If you want more of a full service atmosphere with a functional lobby and the like, Lungarno or Hotel Degli Orafi may be more to your tastes. If it were more than 3 nights, I'd recommend that you flat out rent an apartment if you were similar to me.

PWMTrav

You're probably right. I responded to him, but I didn't even factor in the exchange rate. I ignored it, and I wasn't even drinking at the time. I stayed there for ~400USD/night in June, so $300 in Sept can happen, but this hotel has also been picked up by a lot of the boutique guides - things like Luxe (as opposed to Rick Steves).

As an aside, how do you find the voice quality to Italy on Skype? I use Google Voice on occasion, and that coupled with a pretty miserable sounding land line network in Italy makes it pretty bad. Is the voice quality on Skype better?

PWMTrav

If you're not going to live there full time, I think airport access has a lot to do with the feasibility of a second home. FWIW, I love FLR airport because it's quick and small, both on departure and arrival, and is a cheap/easy ride into town or even the train station if your destination is another city. If you have rolling luggage and you really wanted to, you could probably walk from FLR to S.M. Novella (it's 5km). If you're at all loyal to Skyteam or Oneworld, the connectivity to FLR is good - usually multiple A318's from CDG, downgauging to an AR1 in the dead of winter (which means a trek to 2G). LH connects to FRA pretty frequently too, LX to ZRH. OW is probably the only difficult one because BA serves FLR from LGW (which may not be an issue from NYC but is from BOS).

That said, I don't have a place in Italy or anything like that. Not yet anyway! I'm sure there are other cities with similarly situated airports, I just haven't flown into them.

slawecki

try venere.com for searching. they do 4 people sorting. make certain you adjust euro to dollars, and many places do include breakfast. breakfast if purchased is necessary tends to be very expensive.

i do not think sept is a low season in big italian cities. too many conventions to cut the rates

Perche

I've never used Google Voice. Quality is hit or miss on Skype. I tried to call twice using Skype on my laptop, but they couldn't hear me. I then used Skype on my iPhone and it was very clear. I've had extensive discussions arranging travel with ferries, car rentals, hotels, etc., without a problem once I get a decent connection. Using the phone app instead of the computer always seems to work better.

dkelly1110

You mentioned the cash rate at the Westin and how expensive it was. Did you check an award stay or cash and points?