I put up a couple of reviews on Tripadvisor and Yelp for these two hotels, both of which I would stay in again:
Hotel Relais 6 in Rome (the above photo is of their breakfast spread)
http://www.yelp.com/biz/relais-6-roma?hrid=mcfzujKtnncXyZhDpRFFNA
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g187791-d1510499-Reviews-Relais_6-Rome_Lazio.html
Hotel Caravaggio in Florence
http://www.yelp.com/biz/hotel-caravaggio-firenze?hrid=DDvO5U9SW0VP02nggwzlfQ
I liked the Relais 6 better as a hotel, but it’s in Rome not in Florence. I highly recommend the Relais 6 but it is a little out of the way. I do not find that a bad thing. The Hotel Caravaggio is very well situated but is smaller. But I do recommend it with some caveats.
Choosing a hotel was a real crap shoot for us since we had no recommendations from people we know. We pretty much read reviews on Yelp and TripAdvisor, looked at maps, and hoped for the best. This worked out great for us.
I have to admit that my days of “roughing” it in cheap hotels are long behind me. I want AC, hot water pressure, clean rooms, comfortable beds, maid service every day (not towels necessarily but clean up), TVs, WiFi, elevators, refrigerators, etc. The rooms don’t have to be huge since we wouldn’t be spending a lot of time in them. But they must be comfortable. And quiet. Not too pricey also. I know. I’m a wimp and asking for a lot. But there you go. Both these hotels fit those requirements for the most part.
We arranged for a limo service to pick us up at the airport to take us to our Rome hotel. That was a good idea. The four of us and our luggage easily fit. Bob’s Limo btw. They were not there to meet us though and had to call them to get it set up. The driver was delayed but eventually made it. Smooth sailing after that.
We did stay in one other hotel on our trip. The other couple and we decided that we didn’t want to try to make it back from Florence to Rome on the same day we would fly back home. So, we decided to splurge and book a room at the Hilton Garden Inn at Rome airport the night before.
This is a really great hotel. It is also as far from being in Italy as you can get but still be in Italy. You could be in any major airport. It is far from Rome, and almost sterile in it’s efficiency. The restaurant is quite nice and the staff there is excellent. Due to a mixup in our dinner bill, we paid way more than we meant to. Instead of just taking it, they ran after us and gave us back some money. Very good of them. And the food was excellent. But again, you could be anywhere in the world there. But it did work out really well for us. We got to our early morning flight in plenty of time using the shuttle.
Some people speak of the joys of renting a villa in the countryside. I think that sounds great. But the problem is that you’re now out of the city. That’s problematic if it’s the city you’re there to visit. I think if I was staying in Italy a month and staying in one place, then that might make sense for me. But if I had a month I think I’d be move every week to a different spot. We missed so much.
And that’s where we stayed in Italy.
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