Guado al Melo

It's clearly a block of flats that has been converted to a hotel. My room was a bit cramped but for a few nights, I could live with it. There is a slight smell which in high summer is likely to be prominent. If you don't expect a 5 star experience, then it's OK. My room was clean, the staff friendly enough and walking distance to all the major sights. If I was back in Florence, would I stay there again, probably not, but I've no real complaints. Just don't expect too much and you'll be fine.

Super charming and stylish (traditional Florentine) hotel. Many rooms (eg mine) overlook beautiful Piazza Santa Maria Novella and its church. Lovely views. Nice bathroom, very professional and friendly service from all the personnel there. The street level bar (inside outside sections) seem to be favored by cool locals as well as guests. The food menu covered lots of bases and everything I sampled was delicious. Check out the Napoleon salon!

There were no Vineyard views but it is in a decent location in Florence. The "Garden Suite" is a joke. It overlooks a courtyard that was covered in green moss and had a hose strewed about. It was not usable. So there was no view of anything. We opened the window overlooking it at night to get some air and I assume this is why we woke up with lots of bites! We never saw a mosquito though. They told us the AC didn't work. The hotel's elevator is a 1 person elevator that was too scary to use really. Our room was on the seventh floor. The staff did help with bringing the luggage up but if you don't like to climb MANY stairs, this is not the place for you. We tried to upgrade to a third person and this caused quite the comotion and really I feel they charged us in excess by making us upgrade to a suite and then charged more per person. They blamed a communication error but that was really not it! One desk person tried to make it right and was very nice but really in the end fell short. The suite was spacious and nice but the glass shelf in it had not been dusted in quite some time. It had a soaking tub, steam room and sauna, although the sauna and steam room did not work. The rooftop bar has a nice view but it is a workout to get up there! It's also where they serve breakfast and where the workout room is. I would not recommend this hotel.