California Hotel Florence

Very nice hotel in very good location. Renovations still in progress and it should be even nicer when complete. Staff was very friendly and helpful. Rooftop bar was a great surprise.

The hotel was perfect for what I was looking for. Great breakfast in the morning and very accommodating. Great location. Very close to the train station, shopping and downtown

there very nice, the whole staff are very helpful. this place are very close to every where,train station, bus,food places are everywhere and shopping places too. We recommend this hotel for everybody, very clean and they fix your room everyday and give you new towel everytime...

The hotel manager was totally insensitive to our complaint about the room being cold. We prepaid three nights and missed the first one due to bad weather and cancellation of trains and we informed the hotel. in spite of this, there was no attempt by the hotel management to treat us with a professional responsibility. She did not extend our stay with the same rate we had booked. She quoted us a higher rate and we left for another hotel. The breakfast was terrible. The big sign in the breakfast room reads: "If you take anything out of the breakfast room, the fee will be charged to your room". This is not the way a 4 star hotel deals with clients. The hotel building is 4 star but the attitute is worse than 1 star.

The staff was friendly and helped me with any questions or concerns that I have had. The bathroom was very clean and modern with a whirlpool bathtub. They provide basic toiletries and renew them every day. Their bar is not over priced like most other hotel bars. The only negative part was that instead of a double bed, I had two single beds pushed together. With every single movement they came apart creating a huge gap in the middle of the bed. Overall, I enjoyed my stay and being very close to the center of the city.

-Great staff, unbeatable location, beautiful hotel, decent room size for Florence. Great third floor bar with beautiful views of the Duomo. -Breakfast was so-so, but free with room rate, so that was a nice touch. Beds aren't terribly comfortable, but they are standard for Florence.

The location is SUPERB! we were able to check in and within minutes see the David. we loved the location which was easy to find. the rooms were clean, and the bathrooms spacious (on a european scale). i didn't like that you had a card key that had to be turned into the desk.... and the air conditioner was run on the card key-- so our room was stiffling for the first 35 mintues when we returned... the hotel was perfect for us-- we were more interested in the city then we were with our accomodations-- and we loved this place!

If you're looking for a two star hotel in a good location, this is the one for you. However, when you're expecting a four star hotel as they claim to be, you're more than a little annoyed when they show you to your room. Under no circumstances could this be considered four stars. First of all, the security issue. They have actual keys for the room and you are required to leave your room key with the front desk every time you leave. Besides being annoying, it is also unsafe. Not once did they ask us for ID when we came back and picked up our key. We merely said what room we were in and they handed over the key. They rotated staff, too, so it wasn't like the person recognized us. Also, if you want to use the safe you have to give them a 5 Euro deposit and then carry around a bulky key all day. The room was very small and didn't have any comfy chairs to lounge in, like I would have expected in this hotel class. My husband and I like to take leisurely vacations and end up spending a lot of time in the room, but this room was not inviting at all. The beds were very firm and they provided us with only two very small and hard pillows. The bedding was simply pitiful. They gave us a sheet and a "blanket", which was simply some of the window fabric thrown over the sheet. This isn't what one expects in a four star hotel. Now for the bathroom. It was clean, but that's about all it had going for it. They didn't provide any soap or shampoo, which is usually a given in a place that claims they're a four star hotel (In fact, I've never had to provide my own soap, no matter the star rating of the hotel). We had to go buy hand soap from the grocery. My husband always uses the shampoo provided, so he had to buy shampoo. They provided a minimal number of thin, hard towels. The shower was so tiny that it was difficult for me and I'm a short, slender female. My husband had a heck of a time in there! There was no bathtub, either. Something that would be a given in a four star hotel. One last thing. If you're hoping to have the hotel store your luggage for you, you're only option is to just leave it sitting in the lobby. They have nowhere else to put it. If I'd booked a two star hotel, then this would have fit the bill. Unfortunately, they're trying to pass themselves off as a four star hotel and they simply aren't.

Our room was very comfortable and was decorated in the Florentine style-with a fresco on the ceiling. We loved our little balcony with a view of the Duomo. Although we were in the heart of Florence (the Duomo 2 streets away, the Academia with David right down our street) the room was so quiet. I actually liked breakfast. Yes, my cappucinos and espressos came out of a machine, but they were delicious-and you could have refills during breakfast. The staff were polite, informative, and helpful. We could walk everywhere from our hotel.

The hotel is nice, clean and in the center of Florence. The only downside is that there is a little construction in the building next store so you have to go through a different entrance with no elevator to the lobby.