Has anyone ever stayed at the Brunelleschi Hotel in Florence Italy?  We will be traveling there this fall and this is one of the hotels we are considering.  I don’t know if we should give it a try or stick to one of the name brand “chain” hotels. 

That’s not where we stayed, though I can’t find the name of the place right now.  We stayed just a little bit outside of town, but about a block from a bus stop so we could get into town easily.  The place was fine as far as European hotels go.  You can usually trust reviews on Booking.com or Hotels.com.  We were going for cheaper not luxury though – spending almost 3 weeks in Europe adds up quick. 

If you go though, I can tell you some good wine (ok, it’s all good)!  We took a private cooking class in Florence and that was one of the best things we did.  I made her pesto last night.  Mmmm. 

I have not stayed there, but it looks amazing!!!  Please don’t stay in a ‘name brand chain’ hotel if you’re in Italy, or really anywhere else in Europe.  Stay in a charming, authentic place with character.  It really adds so much to your trip. 

We’re going to Florence for part of our honeymoon and we’re staying at Hotel David.  Certainly not as fancy as the one you’re looking at, but lots of character 🙂

I just looked up where that place is.  Totally jealous.  Don’t forget to find a place to park your car if you’ll have one, though, and good luck with that.  We picked our hotel because it had a garage and we wanted to be able to drive out of town. 

PP is right, though, the best places we stayed were B&B’s and little hotels.  Except the Fairmont in Monte Carlo.  🙂

@almostmrsj: Can you provide me the info on your cooking class?  That was one thing I was looking at doing!  🙂 Was it a full day class?  We are only going to be in Florence for 3 or 4 days.  Is that enough time to take in the sights? 

@GG_Vega: 3 or 4 days is plenty for Florence, Pisa, and some of the rest of Tuscany.  Make sure you buy tickets in advance for the museums in Florence if you want to see the good art or you’ll spend the while time standing in line. 

Go to http://www.cookinginflorence.com – email Laura – her picture is on the left.  We took a 1/2 days private class in her apartment and also did a market tour/shopping with her.  It was so worth it.  She’ll customize the menu for whatever you want to learn to cook.  She speaks English well and was a really good teacher and taught us a lot about Tuscan culture, etc.  Her partner runs the winery and makes really good Chianti – we need to get some more, somehow.  We also brought home some olive oil that we ran out of.  🙁

@GG_Vega: That hotel looks beautiful and it’s in a very central area obviously, close to the Duomo. 

When visiting Florence I always eithe rent a flat (so that I can have a kitchen to bring all my market finds home to cook) or I stay here: Link!  becaues it’s on my favourite piazza in the city (Santo Spirito) and in the Oltrarno area which is a bit less touristy yet still very central. 

Go to the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo (seriously–it’s a lovely museum…although after the incident detailed in the link below, it might not be as laid-back as it usually is), but don’t be like this embarrassment to the United States: