ReidsItaly.com favorite hotels in Florence

€ - Super-Cheap Hotels & Hostels in Florence (Under €50)

Campeggio Michelangelo (campground) - My favorite Florentine parking spot. It's basically a giant empty lot—get here early to fight for a spot along the edge for some shade (or those coveted tent plots on the grassy bits in an olive grove)—on a plateau with a postcard panorama shot of the city. Admittedly, trees block the vista for most of the year (you sort of see the cathedral dome and city's towers poking above the foliage). Still, it's a great location, just a five-minute bus ride (on the no. 12 or 13) or a fifteen-minute stroll from the historic center— unusual for any campground in a major European city, and what rates a humble campground a star rating... Viale Michelangelo 80

Where to Find Cheap Hotels 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.

Ostello Archi Rossi (hostel) - The Archi Rossi is the best hostel in Florence: right on Florence's main drag of cheap hotels near the train station, the walls slathered with shockingly bad murals, and loaded with freebies: free Internet terminals (in the lobby and in the rooms), free WiFi, free breakfast, free walking tours of the city, and even (in winter) free dinner. Sweet... Via Faenza 94r

Hotel Soggiorno Bavaria (hotel) - Despite the amazing frescoes in some rooms, painted ceramic tiles in others, and soaring ceilings throughout this 16th century palazzo, the last thing you would call the Hotel Bavaria is "fancy." It remains a basic backpacker hotel with virtually no amenties (most guest rooms don't even have a private bathroom). It does, however, have three big selling points: Price, location, and that occasionally amazing decor... Borgo degli Albizi 26

Istituto Gould (hostel/hotel) - Though Spartan and institutional, this is nonetheless one of the nicest hostels in Florence: no curfew or lockout, and almost all the rooms are double or triples (though there are a few five-bedded rooms), meaning you get an almost hotel experience at hostel prices. It's in the Oltrarno, a bit removed from the center of things, but only a five-minute walk from the sighs. A plus: the true work of the institute is to house orphans and rehabilitate problem children, and their profits are folded right back into that worthy cause, so you can feel good about yourself when paying the bill... Via dei Serragli 49

€€ - Inexpensive Hotels in Florence (€50–€100)

Pensione Maria Luisa de' Medici- My favorite inexpensive hotel in Florence is a third-floor walk-up in a 1645 palazzo smack in the center of town. This is not a luxury hotel in any sense of the word, but it gets my personal highest, three-star rating for having ten times the character than chic hotels charging five times as much. The dim halls are crowded with genuine baroque art; the cavernous rooms are stuffed with a mix of antiques and 1950s designer furnishings. Bonus: You get breakfast in bed, served by Evelyn Morris, the Welshwoman who has managed the joint for years. Drawback: There's a variable curfew (usually between midnight and 1am). Share a bathroom, save some dough... Via del Corso 1

Residenza del Proconsolo - The rooms at the Proconsolo—starting at €100 list, but down to €80 if you book online—are not only a good deal, they also come with the decided advantage of overlooking Brunelleschi's cathedral dome…and they do so from the canopied beds and high ceilings of a genuine Renaissance palazzo. Also, you get breakfast in bed (or at least in your room). All that, and it's officially a "rental room" outfit. The best rooms—"Leonardo," with its canopy bed and tall windows, and "Brunelleschi" (pictured) with a poster bed and wrought-iron balcony—are on the front with high ceilings of thick wood beams and views of the cathedral a few dozen yards away... Via del Proconsolo 18

Hotel de' Lanzi - Extremely comfortable hotel in the pedestrian zone with window-filling vistas of the Duomo just a half a block away—but only if you book a room on the front. The De' Lanzi has cozy roms and quilts embroidered with antique Florentine patterns for style. There's also a great breakfast buffet. It's a popular place, so book ahead (though note that, in high season, prices can spike to €140 and even up to €199)... Via delle Oche 11

Hotel Mario's - One of the most convenient places to stay in Florence since 1872, a comfy hotel inhabiting a 17th-century palazzo just a block from the train station. Mario Noce and his staff stand out for offering rather a far higher level of service, quality, and antique atmosphere than most hotels in the station area, and rooms often come with iron headboards, antique-repro dressers, and fresh fruit and flowers. Frankly, I've always wondered why Mario doesn't charge more for his stylish rooms and impeccable service—not that I'm complaining about a great hotel maintaining moderate prices; I just wonder... Via Faenza 89

Hotel Abaco - Bruno, a gregarious Calabrese, just might be the hardest-working hotelier in Florence. He closely oversees a series of cozy, trippy rooms in a 15th-century palazzo halfway between the train station and the cathedral, doling out sightseeing information and restaurant recommendations. Each room is decorated in honor of a different Renaissance artist. A life-sized reproduction of one of the artists works hangs on the wall and its palette informs the particular combo of supersaturated colors used to paint the walls and make up the heavy drapes and half-testers over the beds. One room, though a bit small and narrow, even has a stone fireplace... Via dei Banchi 1

Albergo Azzi/Locanda degli Artisti - The Azzi has the Boho atmosphere of a hostel but without the grungy backpacker/slacker feel. It's run by a pair of artist/musicians who love to share info on their beloved city over breakfast at the big family-style table, and are keen to strum the guitar on the narrow terrace in the evenings. Rooms are simple but bright, many with wood plank floors and a dash o' faux 18th-century styling to the furnishings. All in all, it's a pretty homey joint, and there are shared rooms available for hostel-oriented cheapskates... Via Faenza 56

Hotel Medici - The Medici is your standard cheap, otherwise bland hotel with one major ace up its sleeve: the rooms on the top two floors have amazing, full-on views of the Duomo—facade, campanile, dome and all. It's also just a few short blocks west of the cathedral. Views are best from the top (sixth) floor, where rooms open onto a communal wrap-around terrace. Book early, as several of these choice rooms are usually taken long-term by professors with study abroad programs. The rooms themselves are simple, smallish, and fairly boring but perfectly serviceable, with sturdy (if a bit knocked-about) functional furnishings... Via dei Medici 6

€€€ - Moderate Hotels in Florence (€100—€150)

Hotel Torre Guelfa - If you want the feel of actually living in a Renaissance palazzo—not just an old building that has been fixed up as a hotel—grab an iron canopy bed in Giancarlo and Sabina Avuri's gem of a joint in Florence's main shopping district, just a block off the Arno river and a few blocks over from the Uffizi and Palazzo Vecchio. Ask for your sunset cocktails to be served atop the tallest privately owned tower in town, built in 1280 and featuring a jaw-dropping 360-degree panorama over the heart of historic Florence and the surrounding hills... Borgo SS. Apostoli 8

Hotel Loggiato dei Serviti - The Loggiato offer the chance to live in some of the Renaissance city's great architecture: an Antonio da Sangallo the Elder–designed original, built in 1527 to match the arcades of Brunelleschi's famous Ospedale degli Innocenti across the piazza. (A scene from Room with a View was even filmed under the loggia.) This place used to be a student crash pad, but that age is long past. Not, the genteel rooms are furnished with canopy beds and exude a genuine antique feel. I took my parents here; they loved the place... Piazza Santissima Annunziata 3

Hotel Morandi alla Crocetta - Checking into the Morandi is like stepping back in time to an elegant pensione of yesteryear. It's owned by an Irishwoman (though, in her nineties, she no longer runs the place), and the home-like rooms are installed in the wood-beamed—and, in a few spectacular cases, frescoed—chambers of a 1511 Dominican convent. It's also one of the quietest hotels in all of Florence, away the most tourist-trammeled streets yet just a block from Piazza SS. Annunziata (a five-minute walk from The David in the Accademia Gallery)... Via Laura 50

Grand Hotel Cavour - This is a refined hotel with contemporary styling, four-star amenities, and a well-regarded restaurant—though not as much class as the others in this price category. It does, however, boast an unbeatable location halfway between the Uffizi and the Duomo—next-door to the Badia, just down the block from Dante's old house. Request a room off the street, which runs with buses... Via del Proconsolo 3

Hotel Residenza Castiglioni - This tiny residence hotel in an 18th century building near the Medici Chapels and San Lorenzo leather market has just four rooms and two suites—and only one of them is not richly frescoed. Rooms also come with all the mod cons: free WiFi, A/C, TV, etc. With such style and grace and an unbeatable location, I'm really not sure why it's such a bargain. Who cares: just book it fast... Via del Giglio 8

Hotel Casci - This rambling hotel occupies the old piano nobile floor of the 15th century palazzo where Rossini wrote William Tell, on a busy street (ask for a quieter room overlooking the magnolia tree in the courtyard) just up from the Duomo (and within a few blocks of the tourist office, Medici Palace and San Lorenzo leather market). The Lombardi mother-and-son team who run the joint is almost pathologically helpful to their guests—and irrepressible Bickersons with each other—and some antique style still clings to the common rooms, with frescoed ceilings over the breakfast tables and front bar. The rooms themselves are modern, bright, and comfy... Via Cavour 13

Hotel Nuova Italia - The Nuova Italia, on a street near the train station and San Lorenzo market, is packed with simple comforts and run by the exceedingly helpful Viti family, who seem to know more about visiting Florence that even the tourist office. Though the rooms are fairly basic and modern, the owners really sweat the details: It was one of the first hotels in all of Italy to install mosquito screens, and the windows are triple-paned (though the early morning rumble of carts heading to market still manages to filter through)... Via Faenza 26

€€€€ - Premier Hotels in Florence (€150–€250)

Hotel Torre di Bellosguardo - This place feels more like a bona fide medieval/Renaissance castle than just about any other hotel in Italy, with 16 period rooms that (thank God) haven't been overhauled for modern tastes, but rather employ historic, genuine medieval furnishings and appointments. These simple but exquisite rooms are hidden away amid a warren of echoing halls with flying stone staircases down which you expect to see Errol Flynn come swashbuckling at any moment. What's more, there's an amazing close-up panorama of the city just across the olive groves beyond the swimming pool. If I had the scratch, this is where I would stay every time... Via Roti Michelozzi 2

Hotel Palazzo Niccolini al Duomo - This place is amazing: a 14th century palazzo actually located right on the piazza surrounding the Duomo (around on the back side, practically right underneath the famous dome). The interiors are slathered in frescoes under wood-beamed ceilings and fitted with sumptuous Renaissance-style furnishings. It simply doesn't get more elegant than this. Quite frankly, I'm shocked that double rooms at this hotel start at only €180, and that they top out at just €350 for a "Deluxe." Sure, that's a lot of money, but for a room this gorgeous, bang in the center of town, it's practically a steal... Via dei Servi 2

Hotel Monna Lisa - Giovanni Dupré was one of the greatest sculptors in 19th century Italy, and his descendants have filled this 14th-century palazzo with several of his pieces. Antique furnishings, original painted beam ceilings, and a private-home feel go along with the fine art to make this one of the most genuinely elegant hotels in Florence—as opposed to most (overpriced) luxury properties where lavish expenditures are used as a substitute for class. The garden is lovely, the Renaissance lounges are gorgeous, and the rooms are spacious and loaded with antique style... Borgo Pinti 27

€€€€€ - Perfect Splurge Hotels in Florence (More than €250)

Hotel Brunelleschi - The Brunelleschi undoubtedly has one of the best locations in town: on a quiet hidden courtyard of a forgotten side-alley in the very heart of the pedestrian zone, halfway between the Duomo and Piazza Signoria/Uffizi (top floor rooms catch a glimpse of the cathedral dome). It's an upscale hotel with modern rooms installed in collage of ancient structures, including a dramatic 6th century round tower at the center, one of the only remnants of the city's Dark Ages fortifications. Staff can be standoffish... Piazza Sant'Elizabetta 3