Hotel Pitti Palace al Ponte Vecchio — Hotel in Florence

I probably should have educated myself on Italy's very different requirements than America's for what is "4 star." That being said, it still is being used as an advertisement for this hotel and with that advertisement comes a level of responsibility.

The pros: Great value, great location, staff was friendly, free internet which was fast, clean linens. Hot water, good water pressure, clean toilet, clean towels (and plenty of towels). The general basics for "being in a safe and reasonably clean room that I can be comfortable in" were totally covered. In that sense, I was happy.

The cons: (All of this applies at least to room 302)

The bathroom has noticeable, visible black mold all near the shower along the ceiling. This is unsurprising as the window is bolted shut and there is no fan, so there is really no way to stop the bathroom from getting mold. The bathroom needs a window that opens or an exhaust fan. The sink fixture also leaked heavily whenever the sink was turned on.

The AC is next to useless, it started at 24C and actually, despite being on maximum fan and the lowest temp, the temperature INCREASED the entire time we were in the room until it was at 27C at nearly 10PM. The swing arm had also been ripped off the AC unit. I know I'm American and we are obsessed with ice-cold AC, but this unit was barely able to hold the room at 80F.

The walls are dinged up massively. Every single wall in the room has heavy black marks all over it, chipped paint, and gouges a good 2-3 feet up the wall from the baseboard. Heavy dust in the corners and along the baseboards. I am talking freight-elevator style damage on every single wall. This doesn't actually affect the functionality of the room but this is clearly YEARS of damage without any attempt at cleaning or repainting. Why? Paint is cheap and repainting would take a pair of handymen an hour or two to fix and it would dry overnight. It's a simple fix, just either 1) no one has bothered to do it or 2) no one bothered to inspect the room and notice.

Windows had greasy handprints and nose-prints from where someone's kid had pressed their sweaty face up against the window 5 or 6 times. It was still wet. No one even bothered to wipe down the windows. Like with the dust all over the floor by the bathroom door, I found myself having to wipe down the windows myself, which was annoying.

There were several 2-foot holes sawed in the hallway ceiling outside the room. Not sure what the issue was, but I see similar things in other reviews. Even for a large pipe leak, this is at best (at least in the US) a two- or three-day repair job. Like with the walls, it doesn't REALLY matter but it causes concern among guests and should be a priority. Just visually displeasing.

The drapes are literally impossible to fully close without leaving a 3-4 inch gap. Trust me, we tried, but they would slide back open. Given the sheer inner curtains, this means that at night people can just see into the room. Not the end of the world, but strange and reduces the feeling of privacy.

The summary: Great standard hotel that will give you a clean, comfy bed, hot showers, and is located in a very central area, which is wonderful.

Room cleaning work is not focusing enough on things that aren't IMMEDIATELY visible on walking in. The walls desperately need repainting and there are a ton of maintenance issues in this room alone. This isn't even the type of thing that should need to be reported - at most nicer hotels (and remember, B&B Pitti bills itself as 4 stars), the maintenance staff should regularly be inspecting for things like mold and leaking bathroom fixtures and damaged walls and air conditioning units with large pieces missing. That should not even last a week before being noticed. Given the nice furniture and fixtures, the feeling I was left with was a hotel that spent money on renovation but either can't afford to or doesn't care to keep up with the maintenance that comes with putting yourself out as...

This was our first time visiting Firenze and decided to stay here for a week. The hotel is located on an excellent location close to numerous interesting spots such as Palazzo Pitti, the Ponte Vecchio and the city centre. This makes it easy to freshen yourself up a bit after strolling through the city and wanting to eat somewhere. Another benefit is that you don't have to travel a lot (lets just say not at all) because you are almost literally directly standing on the Ponte Vecchio. The only negative thing I found on this was that it could be quite noisy early in the morning (which is due to the single glass windows). This shouldn't be a problem on the other hand if you have earplugs.

ROOM ===== Our room was on the 5th floor and had a great view. The double bed was big enough for us both, the bathroom had plenty of space as well and there was a minibar in your room (filled by the staff). On the wall there was a slightly adjustable flatscreen tv.

The thing that I missed in the bathroom was a small shelf and that the window cannot be placed on tilt position. If there is wind, then you are facing the risk that the people on the other balcony can see you shower (and when you get out).

Another thing I found was that you cannot adjust the tv channels to your own country. It is only possible to watch Italian channels and a couple more (I thought CNN was one of them). Not really a problem if you spend a lot of time out your room, but if not, it can become a problem (especially because Netflix does not work either, and live streaming from your computer seems to lag a lot).

Furthermore, there was more than enough space in the room to store your luggage and clothing. There was also a small desk with a drawer underneath and a water boiler on top of it (also filled with things like tea etc.).

One of the other things I liked as well, is that there are pictures on the doors of the rooms so that you can see what the view is of other people/rooms.

SERVICE AND STAFF =====

The staff members were very friendly and helped us to get around in the city. The lady at the reception even gave us a map, some explanation and marked some interesting spots for us.

We were too early to get into our room at arrival but it was no problem at all for them to leave our luggage behind. The staff neatly labeled our luggage (based on room number) so it could easily be identified later for retrieval.

The staff who where responsible for the breakfast were very friendly as well and cleaned used tables very quickly after people left.

BREAKFAST =====

The drinks and foods that you could choose from was not too large but more than enough for me. You could choose out of several breads (even from Tuscany itself), drinks (coffee, tea etc.), fruits and yoghurt (which you could also add muesly to).

RESTAURANT ===== I cannot say anything about the restaurant (for in the evening) itself because we did not use it.

In the end we had a good experience and enjoyed our time in Firenze. With this reason, we will definitely come back one day, and this will probably be the hotel where we will...

It is not standard procedure that we write a review after we return from having spent time in a hotel. However, neither is standard procedure of all hotels to offer what the B&B Hotel Firenze Pitti Palace at Ponte Vecchio in Florence [Pitti Palace] offers its guests. We are referring to the truly outstanding service we received while staying at Pitti Palace. ​We first stayed at Pitti Palace many years ago. From the beginning we were extremely impressed with this hotel. It was not just a case of a comfortable, elegant, attractive, and well-situated hotel (it is located in the heart of Florence, right next to Ponte Vecchio), with two terraces that offer a stunning panoramic view of the city. There was clearly something special about it, something that made it stand out among all other hotels we had visited. ​We are happy to state that the high degree of professionalism and the outstanding dedication to service exhibited repeatedly by its employees throughout the years ̶ we are referring in particular to Elisabetta (from the hotel front desk) ̶ are the reasons for our wanting to return to Pitti Palace again this past summer. Elisabetta definitely made again our experience at the hotel outstanding. She seems to have an intuitive, profound understanding of the process of hotel service. She is keenly interested in serving her guests promptly and efficiently. She appears to possess an incredible energy and capacity for work: during our visits at the front desk, it was clear that she always went well beyond the required duties, showing at all times a generosity and a dedication that are truly uncommon. And Elisabetta was not alone in providing oustanding service. Other staff members were equally courteous, efficient, and helpful: Elena, Romina and Ikram (also from the front desk); the chef, Raluca and other servers (from the restaurant); and the entire housekeeping team. It is evident that Pitti Palace’s commitment to service and client satisfaction is beyond call. Its employees’ characters clearly radiate efficiency, friendliness and thorough professionalism. At the heart of the matter is that this hotel and its staff are committed to service and not to earnings and hours. In all of our travels, this remarkable service has not been matched anywhere. Needless to say, the Pitti Palace Hotel will have our business any time we are staying in Florence.

Dr. Michael and...