TiggyWinkle

Oh great recommendation! I love Context tours and have taken several of their tours throughout Europe. They are truly wonderful and unique experiences and worth the extra price. These experiences usually end up being the highlights of my trips!

Reindeerflame

I've stayed twice at the mid-range Hotel Galileo, and would recommend it. It's within easy walking distance of major sights as well as the main train station.

jtav559

Hotel Rapallo another solid choice. Very clean, newly renovated, decent breakfast, 10 min walk to any of the sites.

gungadin

A few years ago we stayed at the Morandi alla Crocetta B and B . Really close to the center . Up a good flight of stairs to a really historic place . Historic can mean not modern and shiney but if you are up for that we liked it a lot.

PWMTrav

We always get an apartment at Granduomo. It's in Piazza del Duomo and tends to have good rates. www.granduomo.com. I've stayed more than once, and the place has held up very well over the years. If you want more of a full service hotel, Hotel Lungarno is great.

As far as food tours, let me know what you're after and I'll point you to someone. For a general food tour walking around the city visiting the market, some caffes, wine shops, etc, you really can't go wrong with Nat @ Florence For Foodies. She does a nice job, and its a good tour to take early in your visit to Florence to get a lay of the land and some solid recommendations of places to try over the next few days. The cooking classes on the first floor of the Mercato Centrale (2nd floor in US terms) is also supposedly very good, but I can't vouch directly - I've only toured the facility, but not taken a class. Pro tip: The Italian version of their website offers a completely different set of classes, far more interesting, if you can work with a non-English speaking instructor.

If you're after something more specialized or hands on than that, let me know and I can help.

Philatravelgirl

Sorry for delay - my food tour was a Walks of Italy food tour that started with wine, then a plethora of tastings at the market and then a behind the scenes gelato (the best gelato I had in Italy and I was there for a month on a two a day gelato habit)! Here is the post about the food tour http://philatravelgirl.com/florence_food_tour/

While in Florence the Fiat500 tour should not be missed I had so much fun and the food was lovely. Post on philatravelgirl blog - I'm still posting about the month in Italy if you have other queries lmk

FlyPointyEnd

Narrowed down my hotel choices this November. Cost aside, which one do you guys think would be a better place to stay in for a 3 day visit to Florence?

PWMTrav

Hotel Spadai's rooms are tiny, but the place looks nice. Gallery Art Hotel is part of the Lungarno collection, which tend to be nice. I'd choose that.

FlyPointyEnd

The decent sized rooms at Hotel Spadai is as expensive as Galley Art Hotel and Continentale. I do find Hotel Spadai more central vs Gallery Art Hotel, which might be good since I'd be walking around the city.

PWMTrav

You said price aside, so I didn't look. I just saw tiny rooms (even the deluxe are small).

I usually stay at Granduomo (in Piazza del Duomo) when we're doing more of the tourist things. When we're there to just hang out and eat and drink, I stay closer to or on the other side of the river.

If I were picking for myself right now price aside, I'd stay at Gallery Art. It's under 10 minutes walking between the two hotels, tops, for reference.

FlyPointyEnd

Thanks for your suggestion...but I found an Accor property near the Duomo and I might as well stay there and try to hit Gold this year...Hotel Cerretani has just undergone renovation and the rooms look better now. Plus I can use my point to pay for half of a nights stay.

PWMTrav

No problem. If you want to stick with a loyalty program, it doesn't look like a bad choice at all. I'd only tell you to avoid their smallest room (160 sq ft).

I think you're right where Via Cerretani splits - if you exit facing west and turn soft left, southwest (toward the river) onto via rondinelli, and then another quick left onto via tornabuoni, that's one of my favorite walks in Florence. Much of the very high end shopping is down that street, and at night it's fairly empty and lit up overhead. Really cool. During the day, it's also your quickest path to cross the river, avoiding via calzaiuoli and the bulk of the duomo traffic. IMHO, the best food is south of the river, but there's some good stuff near that hotel too.

FlyPointyEnd

I think they are still working out the pricing, for what I would have paid for at Hotel Gallery Art and Hotel Spadai, I actually got a Junior Suite at Cerretani which comes with breakfast, so it's a pretty sweet deal.

PWMTrav

No brainer, then, I think you have a winner.

Regarding breakfast, a lot of hotels in Florence that do breakfast will serve something American-style because generally in Italy (and definitely in Florence), breakfast is basically a small snack. Lunch and dinner are the more substantial meals. I tell you this to arrive here - don't fill up at breakfast, because IMHO, in Florence, lunch is the best meal of the day.

I'm way off the path of your original question, of course.

Duke787

Bumping this up - facing a similar decision (Gallery Art vs. Spadai) for 3 nights in January.

Deluxe Double at Spadai vs. Gallery Prestige at Gallery Art (could maybe swing Gallery Landmark but probably won't). Both are coming out at ~$600 USD for 3 nights. Spadai includes complimentary minibar (don't know if that includes alcohol and if it's of much value).

Spadai looks to be much smaller room size than Gallery Art. I've never been but this is a surprise birthday trip for the girlfriend who loves Florence and spent 3 months living there. The only thing currently planned location wise is La Giostra.