Hotel Aldobrandini - Florence, Italy     

Our three week holiday in Italy was great except for our short stay in the Aldobrandini Hotel in Florence. Problems we encountered were a rude female receptionist, a humid noisy room with bugs, an ineffective fan, poor cleaning of the room and a lack of toilet paper and soap. When we complained to the manager, he only made excuses and said over and over again that he was sorry. For 70 euros a night, we could have done better. I would not recommend this hotel to anyone.

I booked this hotel on the strength of the reviews on Tripadvisor and I've got to admit I was a bit skeptical at first but surprisingly our stay turned out really well. The hotel is rather basic and the lift was out of order when we arrived so we had to take our luggage up 3 flights of stairs. The young receptionist was polite and courteous despite the late hour. The room was small but very clean and the breakfast is simple but we found it satisfying for the price and the category of this establishment. Also there was a lot of noise during the night from the street outside. We really appreciated the smile and warmth of the owner who served us breakfast. This consisted of a couple of croissants and buns which were fresh and some butter/jam. The coffee and tea came from a dispensing machine and had a queer taste. Overall, I would stay here again since it is central and a port in a storm if you arrive late at night and don't feel like dragging your suitcases about in Florence. However, I don't recommend it for those suffering from claustrophobia (hardly room to swing a cat!) or those who are fussy on the quality of breakfast.