Porciano Castle Tours

Do not judge a book by its’ cover was the lesson learned here! Inconveniently located 20 minutes (walking) from the Santa Maria Novella train station, the Aurum Uffizi is nestled on a side street with only a sliding door entrance. Upon first impression, doesn’t look like much but when you get to your room, what a surprise! The rooms were HUGE and super modern with a spacious bathroom which had a rain shower. We were shocked when we entered as our expectations were very low. The disappointment came at night when, despite being in an alleyway, the noise level coming from outside made me feel like I was on Bourbon Street during Mardi Gras! The street noise continued until 4am and thankfully the next night it rained so it was quiet. My recommendation is to make sure you request a room AWAY from the front of the building (I was in room 104) or you’ll be sorry. Breakfast was included but only a small offering of items but still free which was a nice touch. Cons (aside from the noise) were you have to pay the ‘City Tax’ in Euros cash. Every other hotel we stayed at allowed credit card payment. And I was also slightly irritated that I sent them a message inquiring about a travel bag I know I left in the room and they never responded. All said, the location in Florence is super convenient and walkable and it was perfect for our 2 nights in Florence

La Scalette is a beautiful hotel in Florence. Its location is perfect. You’re within walking distance of amazing shopping, restaurants, the Ponte Vecchio, the Duomo, etc. The only reason I didn’t give it a five star, was the accessibility and mobility within the hotel itself. Even if you take the tiny elevator to your floor, you might have another set of stairs just to get to your room. After a long day of sight seeing in the heat, the last thing you want is to return it to your hotel and have to take 3 to 4 flights of stairs just to get to your room if the elevator is not available. I would also say I found the in-house restaurant very costly. But even with that, it was a lovely stay.

I was disappointed with this hotel. Initially seems a hotel where you can sleep peaceful. I found two major inconvenients. 1) This hotel is in the middle of nowhere. My room was large. It had two floors and two rooms in the upper floor. The doors (front door and room doors) has no interior locks!! Or at least I never found it. Been in the middle of nowhere and some rooms having independent entrance (from the main hotel entrance) this was for me a security issue. 2. No air conditioner!!!! I went during the third week of October. Temperature was oscillating between 60s and 70s and the turned off the air conditioner. The room was very warm!!!! When I called they brought two fans and told to us that we could open the windows. Considering that still is not winter and also this hotel is in the middle of rural area where there are a lot of mosquitoes and other insects forget about open the windows!! On the other hand the staff was nice. The restaurant is a good one. Restaurant staff was also very nice and accessible. But my personal opinion is that hotel is too expensive and does not filled my expectations. The most near town is Siena and is 15-20 min from there.