Residenza Il Maggio

A good hotel. Close to the American embassy and very close to the city center. Had a good Indian restaurant Gandhi and supermarker Carrefour close by. Overall a neat stay. Just lacked the feeling of a hotel.

This is a great location 10 minutes walk from the main train station, the block is very quiet, and patrolled by the military due to the American embassy being close by. The roads around are closed, so you do not get traffic noises, but the lady upstairs can be a little boisterous. There is nobody at reception, but Albina can be contacted by email or phone if you need her. She is very helpful and provides a basic continental breakfast after 830am. We had room 4 with no window, sporadic heating (sometimes sweltering hot... sometimes turned off), this room gets very humid and hot when the shower has been in use. The beds were extremely firm and felt like wooden floor boards with a tiny bit of padding. I have not encountered this in a hotel the western world in more than 25 years travelling the world (only in Indian youth hostels, log cabins and tea houses trekking in Nepal). The rooms are spacious and clean, very rustic and luckily, pretty cheap. There are lots of good restaurants close by and the duomo is a 15 minute walk away.

This was seemingly a residence in a building converted into separate hotel bedrooms with a cute joint area that now holds the reception desk and breakfast area. It's locally owned which is great, but that did come with a drawback. They come in during the mornings to check in with the guests, do the room service, and serve breakfast, etc. If they're not in, which is most of the time after noon or so, you have to call a number to get into the building. We didn't have phone service so we weren't able to contact that number and were effectively locked out. Luckily, we did have wifi, so I contacted an Italian friend to call the number and they got the code for us to get into the building instead of getting buzzed in. But something to keep in mind. We didn't need anything during our stay, but had we needed it, I'm not sure how we would have gotten in contact with the family. Aside from that, the rooms are cozy, clean, and in a very safe part of the city because the guarded American consulate is on the next block. It takes about 10 mins to talk to the Ponte Vecchio or the nearest train station. The view of the Ponte Vecchio and the walk to that area are gorgeous, especially during sunset. Don't bother with the breakfast if you're looking for something filling. There's fruits, cereal, milk, toast, and jams, but not meats. It's only two euros, but it wasn't worth it for us.

The hotel is actually a large apartment with 5 rooms, but the rooms are very roomy, especially the bathroom I had. I think I've never had such a big bathroom in a hotel. The breakfast was quite limited and the toast was too crunchy. The service was superb. The area is very safe, as the US-embassy is right next door and there is always a soldier on the street, and just a 15 minutes' walk to the old bridge and city centre. If you arrive by car, please be aware of the ZTL (Limited traffic area) and the best is if you park your car at the Garage Europa for 24€/24 hours. It's just a 5 minutes walk away from the hotel and by far the most spacious parking in Florence.

If you are on a budget travelling and would like to have a nice and tidy place to stay in Florence, Residenza II Maggio B&B would fit all you required for a B&B. This B&B is located next to the river and on the same street as the US Embassy, so that you would definitely feel safe in the place. The host is helpful and easy to be reached with email. Given it perfectly safe location and comfortable room, this B&B is recommended. PS: I like that ancient wardrobe