The best hotels in Florence

A room at the Hotel Residenzza Castiglioni, Florence
A room at the Hotel Residenza Castiglioni in a 17th century palazzo in Florence, where rates start at €65 (well, €95 for a frescod room like this one).

How to find, and reserve, the best hotels in Florence in every price range and neighborhood

A room at the Hotel Burchianti, Florence
A room at the moderate Hotel Burchianti, Florence; rates start at €82.

The city of the Medici, cradle of the Renaissance, and capital of Tuscany has the potential to suck your wallet dry.

That plethora of great museums? Each will cost you a cool €12. Heck, even most of the churches charge admission now.

That's why it's important to find excellent yet inexpensive accommodation.

Finding a reasonably priced place to stay in the throbbing, living heart of it all takes a bit of work.

Florence has hundreds of hotels; half of them are overpriced, another third of them are slung into the streets around the train station—nothing wrong with the area, but if I had a choice, I'd stay bang in the bustling heart of the historic center. Here's where:

Reid's Recommended hotels in Florence

Beyond Hotels
• B&Bs
• Apartments
• Hostels
• Campgrounds
Residences
• Agriturismi

Twenty years ago I set out to write my first guidebook (Frommer's Tuscany & Umbria), and the very first thing I did on my very first day on the job was take furtive notes on Florence's Hotel Tornabuoni Beacci, where I was staying those first two nights. So you could say Florence hotel recommendations are what i have the single longest professional experience with.

Below are the 44 Florence hotels that continue make my personal short list of Florence's best lodgings in every price category.

They offer excellent value for the money—no matter how much you have ot spend—and most have the more elusive qualities of having a great, memorable character or offering service that goes above and beyond.

Inexpensive Hotels & Hostels in Florence: Under €100

Hostels & campgrounds in Florence

Moderate Hotels in Florence (€100–€200)

Expensive Hotels in Florence (€200+)

Other ways to find hotels in Florence:

  • Book online: This is the route I usually go these days. There are several booking engines that have not only excellent collections of hotels in all price ranges (plus non-hotel alternatives, like B&Bs and apartments), but also user reviews, loads of photos, and—amazingly—often lower prices than the hotel itself is charging. ReidsItaly.com has partnered with some of the best of these:
  • The Florence tourist office: The official tourism website has a great database of all lodgings in Florence (it's in the "Tourist Information" section). But it is just that: a database. More than 1,300 of entries you have to plow through, and each only contains the bare facts (number of rooms, star category, address, basic amenities offered, contact info). Useful if you have tons of time to research, but not so easy to get a quick overview of the best place available for your needs. » more

Tips & links

Florence hotel & lodging links
Where to find cheap hotels in Florence
Hotels on Via Faenza in Florence

As in most cities, there are loads of inexpensive hotels near the train station. The good news is that, in tiny Florence, this is not really such a hardship, since you're still close to the central sights—within ten minutes's stroll of the Duomo, 15 of the Uffizi.

The best street to troll for a cheap room is Via Faenza, which stretches north from the San Lorenzo outdoor market just east of the station (you can see five hotel signs just in the half-block pictured below). Some buildings on the street are crammed with four to six little hotels, one on each floor.

Try to avoid Via Nazionale, a heavily trafficked street heading east from the train station.

The Florence hotel tax

In 2011 Florence began charging a hotel bed tax. This is the city's doing, and it is not a scam. All charges are per person, per night, for all guests over the age of 10 and can be charged for stays of up to 10 days.

In general, you pay €1 per category rating—hotels are rated by "stars," Residences by "keys," agriturismi by "spighe" (stalks of wheat). So tax on a 3-star hotel would be €3 (per person, per night). A few exceptions:

  • Hostels: €1
  • B&Bs: €2
  • Residenza d'Epoca: €4
  • Campgrounds: €1 for 1– to 3-star properties, €2 for 4-star campgrounds

So a couple staying three nights in a four-star room would pay an extra €18.

Most hotels have folding this tax into their quoted rates—but others continue to tack on this charge when you go to check out as a separate fee, so it pays to ask "compreso le tasse?" (taxes included?)

Useful Italian for lodging
English (Inglese) Italian (Italiano) Pro-nun-cee-YAY-shun
Good day Buon giorno bwohn JOUR-noh
Good evening Buona sera BWOH-nah SAIR-rah
Good night Buona notte BWOH-nah NOTE-tay
Goodbye Arrivederci ah-ree-vah-DAIR-chee
Excuse me (to get attention) Scusi SKOO-zee
thank you grazie GRAT-tzee-yay
please per favore pair fa-VOHR-ray
yes si see
no no no
Do you speak English? Parla Inglese? PAR-la een-GLAY-zay
I don't understand Non capisco non ka-PEESK-koh
I'm sorry Mi dispiace mee dees-pee-YAT-chay
     
Where is? Dov'é doh-VAY
...a hotel un albergo oon al-BEAR-go
...a B&B un bed-and-breakfast oon bet hand BREK-fust
...a rental room un'affittacamera oon ah-feet-ah-CAH-mair-ra
...an apartment for rent un appartamento oon ah-part-tah-MENT-toh
...a farm stay un agriturismo oon ah-gree-tour-EES-moh
...a hostel un ostello oon oh-STEHL-loh
     
How much is...? Quanto costa? KWAN-toh COST-ah
a single room una singola OO-nah SEEN-go-la
double room for single use [will often be offered if singles are unavailable] doppia uso singola DOPE-pee-ya OO-so SEEN-go-la
a double room with two beds una doppia con due letti OO-nah DOPE-pee-ya cone DOO-way LET-tee
a double room with one big bed una matrimoniale OO-nah mat-tree-moan-nee-YAAL-lay
triple room una tripla OO-nah TREE-plah
with private bathroom con bagno cone BAHN-yoh
without private bathroom senza bagno [they might say con bagno in comune—"with a communal bath"] SEN-zah BAHN-yoh
for one night per una notte pair OO-nah NOH-tay
for two nights per due notti pair DOO-way NOH-tee
for three nights per tre notti pair tray NOH-tee
Is breakfast included? É incluso la prima colazione? ay in-CLOO-soh lah PREE-mah coal-laht-zee-YOAN-nay
Is there WiFi? C'é WiFi? chay WHY-fy?
May I see the room? Posso vedere la camera? POH-soh veh-DAIR-eh lah CAH-mair-rah
That's too much É troppo ay TROH-po
Is there a cheaper one? C'é una più economica? chay OO-nah pew eh-ko-NO-mee-kah
Planning your time in Florence

Planning your day: Florence would well be worth a week, but you can still fit a lot into just a day or three.

To help you get the most out of your limited time in the Cradle of the Renaissance, here are some perfect itineraries, whether you have one, two, or three days to spend in Florence.

» Florence itineraries

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