Porcellino Gallery

“Central and characterful”

The hotel is very centrally placed opposite the leather market of the Porcellino statue and just 200m from the Palazzo Vecchio, Uffizi and Ponte Vecchio. The hotel is really a B&B, set on the first floor of a 16th century building, full of character and original features, yet modernised sympathetic… more

The hotel is very centrally placed opposite the leather market of the Porcellino statue and just 200m from the Palazzo Vecchio, Uffizi and Ponte Vecchio. The hotel is really a B&B, set on the first floor of a 16th century building, full of character and original features, yet modernised sympathetically. The door from the street can be accessed via a code, and the reception is up four half flights of stairs as the ground floor ceiling height is high. There is no lift. The reception is an attractive and pleasant seating area, with free coffee (Italian style only). There is then a door through to the apartments which is locked in the evening. The hotel has nine rooms it seems, some of which, like ours, are small suites. We had a bedroom, bathroom, sitting room and small walk in wardrobe. All the rooms were rather extravagantly decorated in pseudo historical style, ours with a four-poster bed. The seating in the sitting room was not excessively comfortable though – one good armchair and a rather uncomfortable bench-style settee. The bedrooms are arranged around a lounge area and a dining room which were used for breakfast, served on a table in the corridor. The choice of food was good – no cooked breakfast, but there were slices of omelette and cooked ham. There was a good range of bread and pastries, cereal, yoghurt etc. Coffee was made to order and decaff was available. Each day there was one person who came and made the breakfast and attended to check in etc, not the same person each day though they were all very helpful. On checkout there was a room where they could store bags, but access was limited to their working hours so you need to collect bags before 5pm. If you arrive after 5pm they can send video instructions so you can access the hotel and collect your room key. This worked fine for us, but you do need to warn them of any late arrival. Overall, it was a good place to stay, full of character, but limited in terms of not having evening reception, and by the lack of lift. Whilst there was no restaurant, there are three on the ground floor of the same building – a pizzeria, an osteria and an Irish bar, and of course a multitude in the surrounding streets. It wasn’t cheap, but then nowhere in Florence is, but was good for getting the feel of the city.

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“It’s just Okay”

If you are expecting a nice hotel experience, not even close. Next to the busy leather market. They start setting up around 5 am and you will hear it until 11pm. It’s not US ground floor. It’s two flights of stairs to get to reception. No lift. Usually 1 staff member until 5pm and then you are on y… more

If you are expecting a nice hotel experience, not even close. Next to the busy leather market. They start setting up around 5 am and you will hear it until 11pm. It’s not US ground floor. It’s two flights of stairs to get to reception. No lift. Usually 1 staff member until 5pm and then you are on your own. Rooms are very small and perhaps the firmest mattress I have ever experienced in all my travels. This might be good for a light traveler staying a night or two. I stayed a week and never again will I make this mistake.

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