Italy hotels
Advice/suggestions/recommendations on hotels in Italy:
Venice: Ca'Alvise or Hotel Bonvecchiati
Florence: AC Firenze or Albani
Rome: NH Giustiniano or Boscolo Exedra
Sorrento: Conca Park or Hilton Sorrento Palace
Thanks
Ron
Hermitage, Pennsylvan USA 1/9/13
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I'll give you my 2 cents on Florence. I don't have a lot of experience of hotels in Florence but it's where I grew up so I'll tell you about location.
The AC by Marriott is a business hotel not ideally located for a tourist who wants to walk to the various tourist sights. It's a long walk (25-30 min) to most of the places you'll be visiting.
The Albani is better located. Near the station and not too far from the Central Market of San Lorenzo.
The ideal most central location for staying in Florence is in the area once surrounded by the XIII century walls.
To get an idea it's the area circumscribed by the orange line in the map below:
http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mura_di_Firenze_nel_XIII_secolo.jpg
It's probably a little more expensive than the rest, but Albani is not too far from it.
I took my new wife on our honeymoon to Italy in November. She had never been to Europe, so I decided to go to Venice first and we stayed at the Molino Stuckey Hilton (I am Hilton Diamond member). This was designed to slowly introduce her to Italy. The hotel is located across the Guidecca Canal from the rest of Venice, but they have a shuttle boat that will take you Zattare and San Zacharia. From these docks, it's an easy walk through Dorsaduro and San Marco. It is fairly new hotel and is a good choice for an American style hotel. I had considered the Pensione Guerrato and Locanda la Corte as well.
In Florence, we stayed at the Accademia hotel. It is across the street from the Medici Chapel and a 15 minute walk to the Uffizi. Great location as it is near everything...train station, Duomo, museums and churches. Short walk to Oltrano area as well.
In Rome, we stayed at the Hotel Smeraldo near Campo de' Fiori. Lots of sights within walking distance and plenty of restaurants nearby as well.
We enjoyed each one and would return.
I stayed at the Hilton Sorrento Palace in 2005. The hotel is nice and we stayed on the executive level. We received a bottle of wine or limoncello each evening (free) and having access to the executive lounge was nice...there is nice terrace with a small pool there that overlooks the Bay of Naples and free wine! It's a very nice hotel, but a little off the beaten path. You can walk into the main part of town or take a taxi. the hotel also overlooks citrus groves.
I'd skip the Molino Stucky for precisely the reason stated, "American Style hotel" and it is far from the "action" in Venice and there tons of excellent Venetian hotels. My favorite is the Bisanzio and everyone on Helpline has their own favorite. Both your hotels have very good Trip Advisor reviews and the Ca' Alvise seems a lot less $$ than the Bonvecchiati.
Ron:
Your choices in Rome are quite far apart.... The NH is near the Vatican in Prati, which is an excellent neighborhood, although you will often need transporation via Metro or bus or tram (all convenient to the location) to get to the historical center and most anything other than the Vatican and St.Peter's.
The Boscolo Exedra is right in Piazza dell Repubblica, a lively (maybe too much so?)area, one of the most dramatic piazzas in Rome. Close to Termini, good transportation access via Metro and bus, walkable (IMO) to many places in the historic center.
I think they are both nice places, both good locations depending on what you want access to most easily. There are a lot of really great restaurants in Prati, and they are more off-the-tourist-path than in the centro storico. It is also quieter in Prati at night, and there is good shopping on via Cola di Rienzo.
Stayed at the Hilton Sorrento Palace years ago, but LOVED it. It took about 10-15 minutes to walk into town. Every room has a private balcony overlooking groves of fruit trees. Especially loved the 6, yes 6 inter connecting pools. Very relaxing, music nightly, good food, wonderful staff. VERY relaxing place.
How about Starhotels Metropole in Rome? Good trip advisor reviews. Seems like a good location. Any thoughts?
In Venice we stayed at Hotel Ca Foscari Palace.
In Florence Hotel Calziouli
We liked these both. In Rome we loved the location of our hotel and loved the staff near Piazza Berberini butmay do better.