Il Rivalta — Hotel in Florence

On arrival at the hotel, slight issue with finding a temporary parking space as the allocated parking was taken up by a white van. The hotel staff came and sorted out the hire car and took us into reception. Quick check in by friendly staff and then taken up to our room in the main block, no.421. The bellboy took us to our room , through a warren of passages newly decorated. On entering our room, we thought that we were in a 5 star hotel. Lovely furnishings and what turned out to be a very comfortable king size bed. The bathroom, with a jacuzzi was very well appointed. My wife, an interior designer , was very impressed with the room. The usual items were all there for use: kettle, mini bar fridge, safe but also slippers, an iron and ironing board and an umbrella- which came in useful with the odd shower here and there during our stay. We had booked a central location but did not realise how close it was to all of the sights. The Ponte Vecchio bridge was just a bridge away, less than a 3 minute walk. The breakfast was within the hotel. Good choice of food catering for all types. The staff were lovely bringing us fresh coffee or frying us eggs on request. Plentiful buffet with the only downside being that the scrambled eggs, bacon and bean stew were tepid at best - would have been nice to have it hotter. Otherwise, breakfast was great in getting our energy levels up for visiting beautiful Florence on our doorstep. All sights within 10-20 minutes walk. |We also booked another room, no 207, in the older part of the hotel, for our children, 18 and 20 years old. They thought they had been taken to the wrong room as it was massive- 18 foot high ceiling with a massive canopied bed, jacuzzi and large seating area with two sofas. The only negative thing about the hotel was that to get to the old building or the restaurant for breakfast, was that you had to go through a lovely open air courtyard , which if it was raining then you definitely needed the umbrellas. |Parking was off site, which as in any congested city, trying to find a space outside the hotel itself was a but hit and miss. The valet parking was very efficient, which just needed a call from reception to get your car back within half an hour from calling. We did go to the outlet centre North of Florence for a bit of retail therapy by car. A delightful stay for all of us , with lots of beautiful architecture, good food and drink and lovely people at the hotel . The location, room comfort and attention of all of the staff made our short break wanting all of us to return again as soon...

I’m not a big reviewer but I couldn’t pass up this opportunity to warn anyone who is looking to stay here. There is 1 good thing about the place, the location.||Here are the cons:|1. Rooms are dirty, after checking in and I walked into the room, I can still see the water marks from the mopping, I reckon this is from the housekeeping just finishing up the preparations, which is fine except when looking at the water marks, you can clearly see it was a rushed job. They were actually still cleaning another room right across from mine as well and they were really out of breathe trying to get things done. I dare not take my shoes off or touch any surfaces after seeing that.||2. 1 tiny elevator in the whole hotel. Be prepared to wait in line for the elevator.||3. Dirty and worn down, from lobby to hallways. Couldn’t emphasize this enough but they claim to be a newer hotel, the place looks like it’s been opened for 30 years without any up keeping.||4. Staff- I actually didn’t have a problem with the staff except for the fact that in front of the lobby is an outdoor courtyard. When we came back down after checking in there were 3 of them just sitting there smoking (including the person who checked me in). This was literally 5 steps away from the lobby entrance, quite unprofessional.||If you’re looking for a 2 star hotel at a 5 star price, this is your place. The vibes were completely off. After we left to go walk around, I couldn’t stand the thought of being there so I went back and took my all our luggages and just checked out and moved to a different place. There were other complications with that as well such as not being able to get even a partial refund, wasn’t much flexibility because of the fact that they couldn’t sell their rooms and that I booked a non-refundable room (usually some friendlier places will allow for a refund if you’re unsatisfied, this place of course, doesn’t).||My standard is high but it’s not extremely high, trust me when I tell...

I’m not a big reviewer but I couldn’t pass up this opportunity to warn anyone who is looking to stay here. There is 1 good thing about the place, the location.

Here are the cons: Rooms are dirty, after checking in and I walked into the room, I can still see the water marks from the mopping, I reckon this is from the housekeeping just finishing up the preparations, which is fine except when looking at the water marks, you can clearly see it was a rushed job. They were actually still cleaning another room right across from mine as well and they were really out of breathe trying to get things done. I dare not take my shoes off or touch any surfaces after seeing that.

1 tiny elevator in the whole hotel. Be prepared to wait in line for the elevator.

Dirty and worn down, from lobby to hallways. Couldn’t emphasize this enough but they claim to be a newer hotel, the place looks like it’s been opened for 30 years without any up keeping.

Staff- I actually didn’t have a problem with the staff except for the fact that in front of the lobby is an outdoor courtyard. When we came back down after checking in there were 3 of them just sitting there smoking (including the person who checked me in). This was literally 5 steps away from the lobby entrance, quite unprofessional.

If you’re looking for a 2 star hotel at a 5 star price, this is your place. The vibes were completely off. After we left to go walk around, I couldn’t stand the thought of being there so I went back and took my all our luggages and just checked out and moved to a different place. There were other complications with that as well such as not being able to get even a partial refund, wasn’t much flexibility because of the fact that they couldn’t sell their rooms and that I booked a non-refundable room (usually some friendlier places will allow for a refund if you’re unsatisfied, this place of course, doesn’t).

My standard is high but it’s not extremely high, trust me when I tell...