Hotel Aldobrandini

The location is excellent, just a 5-minute walk from the Duomo and around 10–15 minutes from the railway station. You really feel like you're staying in the heart of Florence's historic centre, while being far enough from the Duomo to avoid the busiest crowds. The hotel occupies the first floor of a building shared with other businesses. The entrance isn't immediately obvious, but I had checked its location beforehand, so this wasn't an issue. You ring the intercom to have the main door unlocked, then take the stairs or lift to the first floor. There is a short flight of stairs between the lift and the hotel entrance. There is also a pizzeria on the ground floor. The hotel has a reception desk and a very convenient luggage storage facility. The service was outstanding, and all the staff were extremely friendly. I particularly want to mention the lady at reception with long dark hair, whose exceptional kindness and welcoming attitude genuinely made our stay even more enjoyable. The hotel has clearly undergone a very recent renovation, and everything feels brand new. Our room was beautiful and tastefully decorated in a boutique style. Both the bedroom and bathroom had windows overlooking an internal courtyard, with a partial view of the top of the Duomo. The bed was spacious, very comfortable and perfectly clean. The air conditioning worked well, and the large television had streaming apps. I actually used YouTube to look up recommendations for places to visit, which was surprisingly useful. Our room was the second to last along the corridor, and we never heard any noise from the hotel entrance or the street. The included breakfast was another pleasant surprise. Having read some previous reviews, I wasn't expecting much, but it was considerably better than anticipated. The selection isn't particularly extensive, but everything was tasty.

There were a few minor practical details that could be improved, particularly in the bathroom. There are a few imperfections near the mirror and everywhere where silicone was applied that suggest that the renovation work was made in a hurry or with little atention to detail. The bathroom is relatively small, although not to the point of significantly affecting our comfort. The shower itself is spacious, and there is also a bidet. Personally, I think the available space could have been used more effectively with a slightly smaller shower and without the bidet, allowing for a more comfortable arrangement of the remaining fixtures. The towel rack isn't particularly practical, and we ended up hanging our towels over the shower screen instead. A few simple wall hooks would be much more convenient. The washbasin area also lacks a shelf or sufficient space for toiletries, which makes everyday use a little awkward. The bedroom has a hanging rail for clothes, but no dedicated space for storing luggage. Since we were travelling with backpacks, this wasn't a major issue for us, although I imagine guests with large suitcases might find it inconvenient. During our three-night stay, plain bread for toasting was only available on one morning. Most of the bread was already prepared as ham and cheese sandwiches. It would be more convenient to offer the bread, cheese and ham separately, allowing guests to prepare their own sandwiches or toast. There was also some background noise coming from outside the room, possibly from air-conditioning equipment in the courtyard. It bothered me slightly at night, although I should mention that I'm a particularly light sleeper. Finally, the electrical sockets on one side of the bed weren't working. This was such a minor inconvenience that I didn't even mention it to the staff at the time and eventually forgot about it.

Close to restaurants, shopping, train station and points of interest

Lights off in stairs

The location is excellent. Room was clean and comfortable.

We were close to the kitchen/eating area. Starting at 7am you hear constant clatter of dishes and silverware.

The staff was friendly, the rooms clean. The water pressure was awesome. Their location was good, close to the train station.

They said they had an elevator and they did, but it did not go up to floors where we stayed. We had to take stairs. The rooms we had were accessed by a narrow spiral staircase, which did not accommodate large pieces of luggage. Although the hotel is close to the train station we had a hard time finding it. No hotel sign large enough to see. google maps were not great. My sister and I are in our 70's and stairs were hard. We looked for the restaurant beside the hotel (Ciro & Sons) to find it.