Florence remains my favorite city. Even though it was rainy / cloudy every day she still enraptured me with her beauty. To quote Wanda Ferragamo in her Letter to the City of Florence "The beauty of your art and artisan tradition, your hills, and your distinctive Renaissance heritage and civilisation have touched and enriched my spirit, bestowing an inner serenity that I have sought...."
I took the 1h20m high speed train from Roma -- I really enjoy traveling by high speed train in Europe. It's so relaxing.
I walked from Santa Maria Novella to my hotel, the Leone Blu Suites. The suites are on the first floor of a palace built in 1454 and is still lived in by descendants of the original family. The current owners, a brother and 2 sisters each have a floor. The oldest sister moved north and converted her floor into the hotel; her brother and sister live on the floors above the hotel with their families. It was a very unique experience -- the breakfast room was exquisite with a lovely view over the Arno.
I wish that I could rave about the experience, but it was a letdown. The directions they provided were not good and once I found the hotel I rang the bell, no answer. I rang again, still no answer. I finally noticed that there was another bell outside the entryway (wish they had made this clear) and I was buzzed in. The girl at reception was a b*&ch. No nice way to put it. Curt, rude and unfriendly. My suite was ready -- it was very odd, with a huge closet in the middle of the room. However it was NOISY until the wee hours of the morning. I could very clearly hear sirens, air brakes, horns and people yelling. I had e-mailed them in advance to request a quiet room, explaining that I was a very light sleeper and they said they'd assign me a quiet room. Here's my issue -- if they don't have quiet rooms, they should have told me, I would've cancelled and booked another hotel. But they didn't and when I asked for a quiet suite they told me that, guess what, they don't have any quiet suites. Ugh. I did end up moving for my last 2 nights, but I had to pay an additional 50 euros / night and the room was almost as noisy. So this hotel would be a hard pass for me next time and I would only recommend it to those who can sleep in very noisy rooms. The rude girl on my first day told me that I had to take stairs in a dark back hall (untrue per manager -- she told me the grand staircase was for guests -- but I had been using the dark backstairs for 3 days when she told me that I could use the main stairwell). The rude girl also told me that I "must never" use the main entrance (again untrue). I never saw the rude girl after my 2nd day, but she sure left an impression.
Of note, the suites opened in 2015 (not sure where they got some of the furniture -- esp the couch).
I did a few things: booked my tickets well in advance to the Uffizi and to climb the Duomo. I also took a tour to Chianti and visited The Mall (designer outlet 45 minutes from Florence). The rest of the time I explored the city by foot and as always, I found myself wanting more time (I was there 5 nights).
The floors were an awful material -- I asked what it was and told hardwood -- no way it was any form of wood. Whatever it was, there were a few holes; it was nasty and ugly. My grandma had a nicer couch.
The ceiling was gorgeous. The marble textured wall was the walk-in closet -- it's not marble, just painted wood.
The other side of the closet forms part of the headboard. A very odd setup, but I got used to it.
Bathroom could use a refresh -- there were several floor tiles missing and the counter had a few cracks and peeling caulking.
