St Regis Florence: world class luxury hotel with incredible location and F&B
Oct 17, 2018, 6:52 am
#31
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: La Jolla, CA
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Why am I always the contrarian; The Excelsior, 20 meters away is, on the other hand, our favourite Starwood hotel in the world, staff are friendly and extremely accommodating, the balcony suites on the 5th floor have the best view in the city and the hotel feels Italian, its neighbour feels like an American's idea of what an Italian grand hotel should be and therefore feels completely inauthentic.
We have very fond memories of the Excelsior Florence. On our first visit there in 2004 they upgraded us to a gorgeous Duomo View Terrace room - I was only Gold and traveling on points and it sparked an intense devotion to Starwood
(back then the St Regis was The Grand)
For fun here is my original trip report:
Trip Report: Park Tower London, Excelsior Florence & Danieli Venice
But while I have a nostalgic love for the Excelsior, I believe that the StR is a step above. Both are amazing hotels and true jewels in Marriott’s crown.
Last edited by damon88; Oct 17, 2018 at 7:27 am
Jan 9, 2019, 10:06 am
#33
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Apr 19, 2019, 7:23 pm
#35
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: NYC
Posts: 6,425
The website lists junior suites as being 35sqm/377sqft-40sqm/430sqft. The pictures of your room look much larger than I would have guessed for a room listed at that size. Is my sense of scale substantially off or is this yet another case of the unreliability of hotel room measurements?
Please say a bit more about the noise level. We're rather sensitive to noise and the street along the Arno can be very noisy at all hours.
Please say a bit more about the noise level. We're rather sensitive to noise and the street along the Arno can be very noisy at all hours.
Apr 19, 2019, 8:34 pm
#36
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 323
A different vehicle type at that price no kidding: a helicopter!
Apr 19, 2019, 11:20 pm
#37
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The website lists junior suites as being 35sqm/377sqft-40sqm/430sqft. The pictures of your room look much larger than I would have guessed for a room listed at that size. Is my sense of scale substantially off or is this yet another case of the unreliability of hotel room measurements?
Please say a bit more about the noise level. We're rather sensitive to noise and the street along the Arno can be very noisy at all hours.
Please say a bit more about the noise level. We're rather sensitive to noise and the street along the Arno can be very noisy at all hours.
We barely noticed any traffic noise at all, though we did hear a siren once later at night. If you’re super sensitive, I’d request a room off the Arno side or looking into the central courtyard. My mother’s room was off the central courtyard and she said it was extremely quiet.
Apr 20, 2019, 3:46 pm
#38
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Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Germany
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My Junior Suite was relatively big, would say more than 40 sqm. Noice level from street (city view) was non-existing but many noises from "inside". Heared often the water flowing from upstairs. Had not a great stay over all and would stay at the FS. Also I'm not a fan of the location, Portrait is much more central. My GF said only today: Was not really centrally located.
Apr 20, 2019, 5:39 pm
#39
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My Junior Suite was relatively big, would say more than 40 sqm. Noice level from street (city view) was non-existing but many noises from "inside". Heared often the water flowing from upstairs. Had not a great stay over all and would stay at the FS. Also I'm not a fan of the location, Portrait is much more central. My GF said only today: Was not really centrally located.
The FS is a good 30-40 min walk (or 15 min taxi ride with traffic) and obviously not nearly as central as the others. We know: we walked from the StR to the major sites and then all the way to the FS for lunch one day.
We experienced no interior noise in our StR junior suite at all. We slept very well. Nor did my mother experience any noise; she also slept very well, and her room was the on opposite side of the hotel.
Apr 20, 2019, 11:54 pm
#40
Join Date: Sep 2018
Location: London, Paris
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The Four Seasons is the best hotel in Florence. I’ve visited the StR. Common areas are great but the rooms were not.
Only problem with the Four Seasons is you need to get a named suite for a room of decent size.
Only problem with the Four Seasons is you need to get a named suite for a room of decent size.
Apr 21, 2019, 5:04 am
#41
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Er, the StR was a mere 5-10 min walk of 0.75 km from the Portrait. Both right along the Arno. Calling one more central than the other when they’re so close is quite...surprising.
The FS is a good 30-40 min walk (or 15 min taxi ride with traffic) and obviously not nearly as central as the others. We know: we walked from the StR to the major sites and then all the way to the FS for lunch one day.
We experienced no interior noise in our StR junior suite at all. We slept very well. Nor did my mother experience any noise; she also slept very well, and her room was the on opposite side of the hotel.
When it comes to the Arno I have a very own opinion, I would not pay more than 10€ surcharge per night for the view on the brown river. But I very rarely pay pay for view as it isn't important for me.
Apr 21, 2019, 6:58 am
#43
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Don´t missunderstand me, the public Areas are very nice and if it only comes to room (and everything is working properly) I would even choose my JS at StR over hte one at FS. Also have nothing against rivers, can´t only see the point to pay for it, especially as in Florence the Arno is not special for me. This said here some pictures from my Junior Suite:
Apr 21, 2019, 8:40 am
#44
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Of course FS is not as central as StR but for me StR location is not as great as others think. It's a 10 minutes walk at least. RF has a very convenient location btw.
When it comes to the Arno I have a very own opinion, I would not pay more than 10€ surcharge per night for the view on the brown river. But I very rarely pay pay for view as it isn't important for me.
Also, unlike so many others, I found the public spaces at the FS to be wholly underwhelming and appearing quite dated. The gardens were lovely. The pool are was lovely. And the spa building was a chaotic mess that shocked us.
Apr 21, 2019, 12:20 pm
#45
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I'm not interested in SPA but my Ex-wife was very satisfied at FS.
Last edited by offerendum; Apr 21, 2019 at 12:30 pm