Hotel Horto Convento Firenze — Hotel in Florence

I chose the Hotel Horto Convento for my recent 4 night stay in Florence based on the positive Trip Advisor reviews & its location across the Arno River from the congested tourist area. As a senior solo woman traveler, who prefers to be away from street crowds and noise, this hotel did not disappoint. It’s located in San Frediano, an Italian neighborhood adjacent to the now popular with everyone, San Spirito. It was a 3 minute walk to Piazza del Carmine, more than a handful of restaurants, a laundromat, ATM, and the Brancacci Chapel. From there walk another 3 blocks to find the S Brino gelato shop. That’s where the locals go for their gelato! I loved the location. A Taxi from the FLR airport brought me to the hotel for €39. The taxi drivers all seem to know where it is. I only used a taxi twice but it is easy for those who would rather save their steps for the historic district. ||I booked through Agoda, (owned by booking.com) as I use it in other locales & there are rewards. As only one person, I chose a classic king room which had free Wi-Fi and breakfast included. I received a timely booking confirmation email and the hotel staff offered planning advice through the Agoda app & then communicated by direct email as well. ||From my arrival to my departure the staff was amazing. Shoutout to Eugenio, Georgio, Giovani & Cherish for your special attention and to the breakfast servers, Lara & the older gentleman. I had not been to Firenze for many years.The reception staff were happy to answer my thousand questions. ||This exquisitely decorated modern convent renovated for a hotel is about 6 years old but looks brand new & everything is immaculate (with daily room housekeeping also). My room on the 2nd floor overlooked the entry - and as you can see, the Horto Convento is in a private garden setting. There are outdoor guest spaces in the front with comfortable lounges and a fountain, and outdoor seating in the back adjacent to the restaurant, with green space there as well. I never heard any traffic. And while other reviews have mentioned thin walls, there were lots of other guests, but I never heard them in my room. The bathroom was compact but efficient with its good rain & handheld shower. The room was bright with a good design, & the lighting was terrific. The high ceiling made the room feel larger than it was. Reception had ample converter choices to help with my charger needs.||Other reviews describe & praise the cocktails. I don’t drink, but the bar is beautiful with a full range of creative offerings. There’s a refrigerator & mini bar in the room, along with an easy to operate safe. ||With this hotel choice, I hit the jackpot! I loved the Hotel Horto Convento. I had perfect weather for the 2nd week of April & when I checked out, I didn’t want to leave! I would stay there again in a minute. Hopefully I’ll...

The main reason we do not recommend this hotel is because you can hear EVERYTHING happening in the rooms next to you. This was the worst experience at a hotel. Other than hearing all their conversations as if we are all sitting together literally (even heard the voice on speaker on the phone in the next room lol) but the worst part was hearing people having s*x in both rooms surrounding us, YUCK! That was horrible (I am still trying to forget the disturbing sounds lol). When we complained they told us that this was a complaint they get frequently and there is nothing they can do as it was an old building.

Besides this, the room is pretty basic and the service was disappointing. We asked for a kettle and mugs for tea and they brought the kettle to us tied in a transparent plastic bag?? and without the mugs lol. They gave us a hard time when we asked for tea (although our booking literally says coffee and tea included). They even wanted us to pay 2 euros for each bag of tea… Literally wasted almost 2 hours of our time and so much frustration just for that tea situation.. All this for tea?? This is literally a standard at allll other hotels we stayed at. Also one of the espresso shot mugs was dirty when we arrived to the room (we didn’t bother to complain, just didn’t use it as we understand mistakes can happen - but considering everything after that, it seems this reflects the overall service) - picture of mug attached, not sure how that was missed lol. We also asked for an iron and it was not clean & not working properly - it left stains all over our clothes and burnt my partner’s shirt. At minimum I would expect them to clean the iron before sending it to guests. Honestly so much happened in the few days we were there, I could write much more but the conclusion is that the service is lacking. We had MUCH better experiences at other 4 star hotels...

This was our second visit to Florence, and we chose to stay on this side of town because it’s quieter and less touristy. The property is about a 20-minute walk from the main attractions—pleasant when the weather is nice, but a bit challenging in the summer heat. That said, the neighborhood has many great restaurants nearby.

The property itself is beautiful and tranquil. We stayed in a family room on the ground floor, which was clean, spacious, and had a lovely view of the outdoor breakfast area. The staff were generally friendly, but we did experience one unfortunate incident.

On our second day, I accidentally left my sling bag on a chair after breakfast. About an hour later, I was able to retrieve it from the reception desk, but my credit card was missing. I had left the bag open when I stepped away to use the restroom with my kids, and my husband forgot to bring it with him when he went looking for us in the courtyard. Since I had my phone with me, I didn’t realize the bag was missing right away. It’s worth noting that the staff on duty that Sunday were different from those we interacted with...