Sono stata in quest’hotel usufruendo di un pacchetto gratuito che avevo per una notte e siamo stati fortunatissimi poichè siamo riusciti ad andare a Pasqua. E’ chiaro -per questi mot vi -che la nostra stanza non era sicuramente la migliore dell’albergo: al piano terra,le finestre davano sulla strada. Comunque è un hotel funzionale,a 15 minuti a piedi dal centro, lo staff è professionale e gentile (soprattutto il signor Luca alla reception).Hanno un parcheggio convenzionato a 10 euro al giorno (poco per Firenze) e ci hanno fatto lasciare l’automobile anche il pomeriggio del giorno in cui avevamo lasciato l’hotel, senza alcun supplemento.Altra cosa positiva è il check out è alle 12 (consente di partire in tranquillità).La colazione è invece da migliorare,un po’ scarsa di qualità e offerta.Comunque secondo me per un fine settimana a Firenze è da consigliare.

(San Gallo Palace – 27/04/2011)

With out knowing that the Hotel Rivoli was sited as one of the best by Trip Advisor, we chose it for its location in Florence Italy. It lived up to its advertising.

Like most of Florence, the hotel is on a narrow street about a block and a half from the train station Santa Maria Novella. Since we were taking three day trips by train this was a must. It turned out that it was only 3 or 4 blocks ( short blocks) from the Piazza di Repuiblica which is a wonderful gathering spot and also a block from the Duomo. We discovered that we were in close proximity to everything.
The hotel itself was marvelous. The rooms were good size, great bathrooms and the staff were wonderful.
Breakfast was included( buffet with scrambled eggs, bacon and more), was delicious and we didn’t have to go looking for a restaurant that was open early. Well worth it.
You can also have them send a car to the airport to pick you up for 50 euro, also well worth it.
The hotel was recently converted from a convent.
Do not judge a hotel by its outside in Florence

(Hotel Rivoli – 26/04/2011)

I booked this hotel off the other great reviews of travelers here on trip advisor and was not disappointed.

Here were my impressions:

The location: though close to the train station, there was nothing shady about the street or the area in which the hotel is located. As a solo female traveler I always felt safe and wandered around the city after work with little worry. The amazing staff identified good restaurants in the area which were all great. It was an easy walk to the duomo, ponte vecchio, and all the other central areas in no more than 5-10 mins. Taxis were always around and if you need to grab a train in the morning you can relax at the breakfast buffet with ease because the walk is 3 mins at a normal pace (I timed it haha)

The rooms & shared spaces: for Italy, this hotel is super spacious. The rooms are huge and the bathrooms, though mine was narrow, was clean, smelled normal, well kept and the temperature was easy to control. My room faced the street so it was semi-noisy but closing the windows helped a lot. I’m sure the inner rooms facing the courtyard would have been heavenly quiet but I didn’t mind my street facing room at all. There wasn’t anyone/anything that was too noisy after 10pm.

The staff & breakfast: The staff were more than helpful and from what I could tell all spoke upwards of 4 languages very well. Their English was perfect so if you don’t speak Italian no need to worry. The internet is $5 per 24 hours with good service and they were very nice to replace mine when it went missing halfway through my day for free. The breakfast buffet is headed by extremely nice, friendly, accommodating waiters who always wore a smile and made some amazing cappuccini. The offering was fresh and great and was a good start to the day.

Overall, I had an excellent stay and was happily surprised by the whole experience. I would no doubt recommend this to a friend.

Get an inner room if you can to help reduce noise.

(Hotel Rivoli – 18/04/2011)