Hello Everyone,

My husband and I will be arriving in Florence (SMN) from venice by train and we are looking for a nice Hotel, near all attractions to stay for one night(maybe near piazza duomo).

We want a nice place to sleep, with nice/clean rooms and bathrooms and maybe a good breakfast, we plan to leave again by train the next day to Rome. Our budget is about US$150...

Ive done some searching and came across with hotels like colomba, boscolo astoria, maxim, bigallo...but really dont know what to choose and could use some recommendations!!

by the way is it safe to just walk from the train station with luggage to the hotel??

THANK YOU!!!

The Florence train station is very central, and just in a busy area, not a scary/seedy one. During reasonable hours, it is safe to walk around. I'd think twice about very late hours in any city though, US or foreign.

I don't know a specific hotel, and you didn't mention your exact dates, so I just plugged April 15 into Priceline and came up with $119 Executive Hotel. I'm not personally familiar with it, but you could check the rating on www.tripadvisor.com?

"Executive Hotel is an elegant 4 stars, obtained from an historical building of the XVIII century which once belonged to the Duke of Tuscany recently restored, situated in a quiet area of Florence historical center. Located steps away from (Lungarni), 10 minutes walking distance from the most important monuments and sights such as Ponte Vecchio, the Uffizi Gallery and the Cathedral. Santa Maria Novella railway station is only 200 meters away. All the 48 rooms are equipped with air conditioned, mini-bar, satellite TV (CNN available) and internet WI-FI(wireless). The new Deluxe rooms and the Suites are especially prestigious, with their rich furnishings, marble bathrooms and parquet floor, some of them have antiques."

Romelle

if you are going to be in florence in the summer, unless the dollar really strengthens, i think a $150 hotel in central city with breakfast is going to be very difficult.

thank you for the info! by the way im traveling on May 16th..

Florence is quite a compact city in my opinion, so it is easy to get around. i`ve stayed at Palazzo Oganassi or something like that. The location is in the center right by the river and close to the famous bridge and other main attractions (within 5-15 min walk). Nothing too luxurious, but it`s right in the middle of where are real Italians work/eat/shop.

Welome to FT, DianaO

The search function seems to be working better than it was, and a search of this forum will bring up several threads about budget accommodations in Florence.

For one night arriving and departing by train I'd just stay close to SMN, there are several fine hotels (and some decidedly NOT fine so do check Trip Advisor) that way you can just dump your bags and go. Everything you'll want to see is easy walking distance in any case, and with a single day in Florence you'll be mostly sleeping in your hotel room anyway.

As long as you pay attention to your surroundings you'll be perfectly safe walking to a hotel with your luggage.

I have been to Florence three times. My favorite hotel is Hotel Loggiato dei Serviti . http://www.loggiatodeiservitihotel.it/ It is a converted monestery located in lovely Piazza della Santissima Annunziata, about 10 minutes from the Duomo or 15 minutes or so from the SMN train station. There was a taxi strike when we were there so I can attest from personal experience that it is walkable from SMN!

It's in your price range. Prices start at €120 for the date you plan to go. A superior double room goes for €150. It gets excellent reviews. I've given the hotel web site above for you to explore, but booking might be easier here:
http://en.venere.com/hotels_florence...6,20090517,2,1

We stayed at Hotel Londra in September 09. It was comfortable and served a good hot breakfast. I think we paid about €130.00.

Not sure if you have Starwood points or not, but my wife and I stayed at the Grand Hotel Florence with Cash & Points, and it was US$165 a night (including taxes) and 8,000 Starpoints. We stayed 3 nights and loved the hotel. Had a river front room on the top floor that was enormous. Plus the hotel delivered a bottle of champagne to us on our first night to congratulate us on our wedding. Could not have been happier! And the location was perfect for exploring all of Florence and a short walk from the train station on top of it (making our departure quite easy). We arrived by car (Hertz) which also happened to be right around the corner as well.

Also, while you are in Florence, you must try La Giostra. By far our favorite meal in Florence and one of our favorites in all of Italy.

I would avoid Acqua al 2 (also referred to as Acqua al due). It is a blatant tourist trap IMHO and has subpar food. We regretted it so much that it was our last meal in Italy. We should have went back to La Giostra and to this day kick ourselves for not doing it.

I stayed at the Della Signorina Hotel in Florence last fall. I comes in around your budget, and is very close to the Duomo and is just 3 blocks from the Ponte Vecchio and not very far from the Ufizzi. I booked through Venere, search Florence in the Ufizzi area.

I walked to the hotel from the train station, it was about 10-15 minutes, and the neighborhoods were fine. The staff was friendly, the continental breakfast was included and was decent enough to get started for the day.

I would stay there again.

I recently stayed at the Hilton Florence Metropole for 90EUR/night, about US$120. Keep an eye out for a deal as I found the rate fluctuates for the same dates.

Not central, but a nice hotel and the shuttle ride is every hour, easy enough to get to and from the train station and central city.

Thank you everyone for your answers!

We stayed at the ADLER CAVALIERI just about three blocks away from the train station in Florence and 10 nice minute walk to the Duomo. Nice, organized, VERY convenient, spacious (ate least our corner room was), non expensive.