Plaza Hotel Lucchesi - Florence, Italy     

We got a great deal on Hotwire for a last minute stay at this 4-star Firenze hotel. Arrival on Friday afternoon was effortless. Staff rushed out to help us with our bags and we went from a horribly hot tuscan afternoon to checked in and in our room in under 5 minutes. Wi-Fi Internet access was free if you had a laptop and it was the fastest I have found in Italy. Room was decent sized for a European hotel room, and at no time did it feel cramped for 2 people. Queen size bed was extremely comfortable and had top notch sheets and comforter. Bathroom was large for Italy and the shower/tub had excellent water pressure. Concierge made a dinner reservation for us that was excellent and the entire staff was pleasent and helpful at all times. Despite my efforts at bad Italian they all spoke perfect english and we had no complaints with the staff. Location: Personally I found the location to be perfect. It is a 10 minute walk to Ponte Vecchio and about 10 minutes to il Duomo as well, so you can really be wherever you need to get in under 20 minutes. If you walked from Stazione SMN I would guess it could take 30 minutes, but there is a bus stop right in from that goes to the station and a cab was only 10 euros.