We have completed a great 6-night stay at St.Regis Florence earlier this month.  There are very few flaws I could think of regarding this hotel and especially given the attractive Best Rate Guarantee I found, the value of what we received relative to the price was hard to beat, but even if looking at regular rates for our dates compared to other properties in the city such as Westin which is next door or a few Small Luxury Hotel properties (SLH) I thought the price premium of St.Regis was relatively modest and worth it.  I can recommend this hotel with no hesitation.

Location

We found the location of the hotel to be excellent.  The hotel is located only 600 meters from the main train station so it allowed us to go on mini day trips from the hotel by train to surrounding towns nearby with ease and without wasting much travel time going from the hotel to the train station and back.  Perhaps the most traditional way to reach any St.Regis hotel from an airport is by taxi, but for those who want to use public transportation, from FLR airport there is a convenient tram that takes you to the main train station in about 20 minutes and from there it’s walkable even with luggage.  The hotel is also located right on the Arno river and within walking distance to many tourist sites.  

Room

I booked the entry level room and a couple of days before we arrived I noticed the hotel was fully booked towards the end of our stay so I did not expect an upgrade but we were pleasantly surprised with an upgrade to what I believe was an Arno River Deluxe room based on pictures from Marriott.com.  This room type is supposed to be 20-25 square meters but to be honest I wonder if they are short-changing themselves.  I found the room to be quite spacious with lots of space in front of the bed, the bathroom was not cramped at all and there was also a large closet near the entrance.  The overall size makes me wonder if perhaps it was rather the Arno River Premium room which is supposed to be a bit larger with 25-30 square meters, but pictures from the website are different than the room we had so I am not sure.  In any event our room was unique and a perfect match for Florence – very well decorated based on local touches rather than a generic room.  There was a large terrace in front of the room with views of the river and the city, with access to the terrace either via the door near the bed or the door near the TV.  The hotel is not brand new but the bathroom was in excellent condition for a hotel of this age.  If there are two minor issues I could think of is that the shower is way too small given the size of the room overall and too small even for Italy’s standards.  We frequently knocked our elbows on the shower door, or the metal soap holder which sticks out from the wall.  Also in the bedroom there was a carpet which covered what seemed to be a quite outdated floor, in fact near the entrance of the bedroom we could feel a spot where the floor was unstable and starting to cave in (some kind of hole) and it would require to be fixed sooner rather than later. 

Dining

Breakfast was a highlight of our stay.  First of all the setting of the restaurant is excellent and no matter where you sit it cannot feel crowded and unpleasant because all tables are on the second floor’s balcony that wraps around the main restaurant area one floor below so you never have lots of other guests sitting next to you: it’s just one row of tables all around which provides for a great airy environment.  The quality of fruits was top notch including several kinds of berries.  Hot food was more than standard fare and included spring rolls and various grilled vegetables.  To cap it off you can have free flow Prosecco for a truly enjoyable Italian breakfast.  But it did not end there.  As the Ambassador Elite breakfast benefit we could order breakfast as room service for no extra charge.  You can pick whatever you want from the menu (which essentially has the same options as what’s available in the restaurant), and they bring you the whole lot to the room.  We could enjoy our breakfast on the terrace outside our room a couple of mornings and it was fantastic.  

Service

Service in the hotel was great during the entire duration of our stay, from recognizing my wife’s birthday to miscellaneous requests we had at various points in time, including pre-arrival exchanges of e-mails with the hotel.  We have been to a number of St.Regis properties and obviously the service is almost always great, but even compared to other St.Regis hotel standards I found this one to be significantly above average.    

Gym

The gym was not very big but the hotel itself does not have that many rooms to begin with so it’s not necessarily an issue (unlike Westin which has twice as many rooms as St.Regis).  The equipment was new and modern and functioning properly.  Every time we went there it was empty.

Overall

Overall our stay was memorable and I would rebook there upon returning to Florence without much second thoughts and I can highly recommend it.