IL Tornabuoni Hotel - The Unbound Collection by Hyatt — Hotel in Florence

We are on an eight-week European vacation.

WAZE told us we were ‘at our location.’ We looked around and our Hyatt Hotel was nowhere to be found. No signs, flags, nothing. Bicycles, kick scooters were wizzing by. Cars were honking at us and we turned and still no hotel. We stopped and called the hotel, and ‘our savior,’ Frederica answered the phone, asked for our location, which was a few blocks away. She told us to just wait and she will walk to us – in the rain – to assist us.

We waited a few minutes, and she appeared with a huge, beautiful smile along with a driver who got in the car and drove us to the hotel. YAY!!

The Hyatt brand does not exist anywhere on the building only the Italian name, Il Tornobuoni.

Frederica – knew everything about the hotel and more. She explained to us the room we booked and took the time to show us three other rooms and got approval for a upgrade for a reasonable price increase. Rooms are lovely, but the suites are incredible. Huge difference.

The suite we selected truly gave us the ‘sense-of-place’ experience we were hoping for.

But, it was Frederica who helped us to have a truly exceptional experience in Florence with personal guidance, directions and recommendations. She was able to accommodate every, single request we had and so much more. We felt she truly ‘manages’ the hotel, as the staff all love and respect her as well. No concierge available at this hotel so front desk handles everything.

From the standpoint of a 4-to 5 star experience, the amenities for us – met the 5-Star criteria. Furniture was custom made. The bathroom amenities/products were designer, the towels were plush, the robes were amazing, the hairdryer was of great quality, even the laundry bag was so upscale and the bed was very comfortable.

While the bathroom only had one sink – the shower had two rain shower heads as well as a hand-held piece….all with great water pressure too. The floor was of black and white tile that we love and more importantly – it was heated to keep those feet nice and warm.

The wardrobe was extremely adequate as well and the windows opened too – for nice fresh air.

Our room – which was actually a suite – was to ‘live for.’ It had true, hand-painted frescoes covering all walls and ceilings and actually told a story.

The housekeeping staff were wonderful and our room was always spotless, with the extras we requested at check in like extra down feather pillows. The location was fabulous and we walked everywhere to all the shops and historical sites.

A few things to mention: The top floor restaurant wasn’t ever opened and the small three-meal-a-day restaurant just ‘didn’t do it for us.’ They need to work on the F&B. The General Manager never seemed to be around, in this 60-room hotel, and when you did see him, he really rarely acknowledge his guests. Some of the other Front Desk staff weren’t very knowledgeable and one even gave us the wrong directions.

Frederica is the very best thing about this lovely oasis in Florence, and after being in the hospitality world for more than 25-years with a large, major worldwide hotel chain, Frederica is the epitome of gracious hospitality. We were so very lucky to have had the pleasure of getting to know Frederica and we will never forget her and her...

Location, Location, Location ...

This amazing hotel is located in the heart of Florence, just a short walk away from sites like Uffuzi museum, Pitti Palace, Basilica di Santa Maria Novella, Piazza della Republica and Piazza del Duomo. It is nestled on a very classy street surrounded by high end stores like Omega, Burberry and Ferragamo. IL Tornabuoni has recently been moved up a Hyatt category from 4 to 5 but is still well worth booking with points. It is also now no longer bookable with most Hyatt free night certificates. 🙁

This charming boutique hotel has all the important amenities such as a cafe / restaurant / bar, a nice breakfast area and a small fitness center. There is also a little area downstairs called the cave where you can pick up water and some small sweets.

The breakfast buffet was enjoyable with all the expected hot and cold breakfast items. Beyond your regular items, the buffet also offered sauteed vegetables, mackerel, bakery spread, charcuterie spread, freshly squeezed juices and even champagne. But what stood out to me is the service provided by the breakfast staff. They were always very attentive and were always looking to help. A special shout out to Samuele for going above and beyond and Sachin for always providing service with a smile. I always feel breakfast buffets outside the US are leaps and bounds above what is provided at a Hyatt Place / House or even a Hyatt Regency.

Our only small gripe was with the room. We were a bit disappointed as we were placed directly above the restaurant which permeated a foul smell into the room which smelled like a wet dog. They offered to spray the room with a scent but that would have just covered the bad smell with another. They also did not offer to relocate us. As the smell wasn't extremely strong, we begrudgingly lived with it for our 3 day stay.

All in all, I would highly recommend this hotel if you are in Florence to see the major tourist attractions. It is more convenient than any other Marriott or Hilton properties and the service this hotel provides...

This hotel was ok - we stayed here for four nights. Compared to other five star hotels at a similar price, it was lacking. I would not return. In retrospect, I wish I had booked at hotel Lugarno - stayed there before and it was much much nicer.

Pros -location: centrally located -pretty hand painted frescoes in room -complimentary water -complimentary room upgrade: this was well intentioned but they gave us a room with two king beds. I would have preferred our original room which I chose carefully as we are two people. I sort of felt like our original room was given to someone else and they stuck us with this room with no view.

Cons -does not feel like a five star hotel. The staff is nice enough but does not go above and beyond. For example, when we arrived we weren’t offered water or any refreshment. No one put our luggage on the luggage racks. I asked to make the refrigerator in the room cooler and no one did anything. When you are paying over $1,000 a night, I do have a higher expectation of service. -room view was of a dirty courtyard. No balcony. -body wash in room was very heavily fragranced with a masculine cologne scent. I could not use it. -no bathtub in room -small closet area -rooms felt unfinished - no area rugs or carpets which I thought was very strange. -no lobby area or courtyard to sit and take a pause. -we booked tickets to a Boboli garden tour through the concierge. Rather than just bringing us the tickets, they kept leaving notes in our room to come pick them up. But the concierge closes by 4:30pm and opens at 8am. We were out and about during these hours. -there was a note in the room from the manager but it was printed with a signature and a little bag of 3 macaron. First of all, take the time to write a note, not use a pre-printed one. Second of all, the cookies were stale and our cleaning lady...