Hotel Olimpia - Florence, Italy 

HG
Posted: Tue, Jul 14 2009
The location was great. Walking distance to the Duomo, Uffizi, Accademia, Ponte Vecchio and shopping areas. About a 15 minute walk from the train station. Our room overlooked the lively Piazza della Repubblica. The new windows kept our room quiet. Our family room had a double bed and 2 twin beds. The room was clean with basic 60's furnishings. The breakfast room was bright with views of the Duomo above the roof tops. Breakfast selection was adequate with an assortment of pastries, yogurt, juices and hot beverages (self serve from a beverage machine). On the negative side the hotel was hard to find. We found the building with a Hotel Olimpia plaque on the facade at eye level but once in the lobby there was no signage indicating that the hotel occuppied the top two floors in the 5 storey building. There is an elevator. The decor in the room was drab. The bathroom was very outdated and small. There is mildew in the tile grout. The shower floor was common with the bathroom floor. You had to step through the shower to get to the toilet and bidet. Once someone took a shower you would have to put your shoes on to use the toilet or your socks would get wet. We didn't spend a lot of time in the hotel so the amenities were satisfactory. A relativey inexpensive hotel, centrally located with an adequate breakfast was what we wanted.

James McDevitt
Posted: Tue, Jun 09 2009
Great location but if facing square is is really noisy. We asked to move rooms. Strange decor and the smallest bathroom in the world.

FV
Posted: Tue, Dec 16 2008
It was the first time for me in Florence, but the place is really nice. The view from Piazzale Michelangelo..like a dream! The location of the hotel is very good, we found it easy with the map. It is an old building, but the price/quality rate is good, the emplyees very polite and kind. The bathroom was too small.

Fabulous location
Posted: Thu, Jul 24 2008
What a great location this Hotel has. Right in the middle of all the main places you would want to visit. It is a wonder that the owners don't upgrade. The Hotel is an Italian 3 star and definately not up to 3* UK, however, it is perfectly adequate. Our room was quite small with no outlook (a stone wall to be precise)with a very strange 'wet room' with the shower in the middle which meant everything got soaked. The air con is a bit dated, the old blower radiator style which can be quite loud but it did work okay. Breakfast was basic, cereal, rolls, cake and croissants with terrible coffee. Ask for hot water as they have a good selection of teas. We found the staff really pleasant and very helpful. If you are booking I would ask for one of the front rooms as they have lovely street views and are quite large and airy.

No way...not ever again!
Posted: Wed, Jul 23 2008
I stayed here with some friends for 2 nights in June. The ONLY thing going for this 2 Star hotel is the fantastic location...right on the Piazza Republica. Our room was very musty and the old fan did not work. Thankfully, the evenings were fairly cool, but in deep summer, it would be a problem. The included breakfast was just so-so...with, as the previous reviewer mentioned, terrible coffee. The little bar below the hotel had fantastic coffee, though. The shower was something to behold...and be sure to take everything out of the room....towels, toilet paper etc. as they will get soaked. The main problem was in discovering that our door did not lock. When we talked to the manager about this, he became very angry and did not believe us. Upon showing him, he then became angrier and felt like we had somehow broken the lock. He attempted to fix the problem, but it could still be shoved open if you really tried...this did not make us very comfortable leaving our things in the room the last day. I love Florence and the wonderful people, but would definitely not stay in this particular hotel again fantastic location or not!