Piazza Pitti Palace — Hotel in Florence

The Piazza Pitti Palace is a truly special place, run by people passionate about Florence and giving guests a stay steeped in history. However, we had a series of unfortunate circumstances that lead us to have a negative experience with the Piazza Pitti Palace. ||We are a family of 5, on week 2 of a 3 week trip to 3 cities in Europe, so we had a fair amount of luggage. We arrived after the front desk had closed for the day. We were aware of this and had a positive experience communicating with the hotel staff before our arrival to ensure we would receive our keys. So far, so good. ||When we entered our room, we all noted a distinct smell. We figured it was due to the ancient nature of the entire building, and wrote it off as that. We continued to settle into the room we reserved, the Pittino Suite. We also discovered a fresh stain on one of the ottomans in the living room; we had arrived in the late evening so just avoided it and would let the staff know about it the next morning, during their business hours. We did so and the staff communicated that the ottoman was removed from the room while we were out and about touring Florence. ||After our 2nd night in the Pittino Suite, we woke up getting ready for our day. A considerable leak occured in the living area; we called one of the phone numbers we were provided and informed staff immediately. We had tour reservations we could not miss so we contained the leak with a trashcan, as well as use towels to absorb any water within range of the leak. Staff were on their way and we left for our tour. When we arrived back in the evening, we discussed options with the hotel staff. Since the leak occurred, we began to conclude that the initial smell we noted upon checking in was from water that eventually leaked. We learned that we would be offered two rooms for the remaining nights we had left in our stay at the Piazza Pitti Palace. In short, we would be moving twice. This was, of course, disappointing, but we decided to move forward with what we were being offered. It is here that translation became an issue, and I was unclear on what we were being offered our 2nd (last) night. ||We moved into our new room, a nice upgrade room with a view and enough beds for our family of 5. We slept, and woke up to pack up our things, and get ready for our day of tours in Florence. I went to the front desk to inform them we had packed all of our things, and it could be moved (by hotel staff) to our next room while we were out touring. I did this in good faith to be communicative and cooperate with the plan. I learned that our next room would have 3 beds (for 5 people): a king size bed, and two twins. Learning this, I expressed this would not be acceptable. It would require 3 people to sleep in a king size bed. I was informed that a refund for this last night would not be considered, because not only were they offering me a new room, but we also were given the option to remain in the Pittino Suite (our original room). Staying in the Pittino Suite was an unacceptable option, because the smell of stale water remained in our minds and gave us concerns for the air we were inhaling while in that room. The weather in Florence was very hot- so opening windows to ventilate was not an option. This became a health and safety issue, in our minds, and we refused to go back to the Pittino Suite. When I pleaded with the staff that neither of their options would work for us, and they still adamantly refused to refund us for one night of our stay, we became very disheartened. We felt that while disappointed ever since the leak occurred, we had cooperated and acted in good faith to make the best of things. I expressed sympathy and understanding that the leak occurred on a Sunday, which is a difficult day of the week to get a plumber. But given the two options of either sleeping 3 to a bed or go back to an unventilated room with water damage, we met our breaking point. While out on our tours, we decided to eat the cost of the final night and booked another hotel. ||Leaks happen, and we get that. It's not lost on us that traveling any where and especially a place as magnificent as Florence is such an enormous privilege, so we rallied to make the Piazza Pitti Palace work. Even being asked to move twice (family of 5, luggage for 3 weeks of traveling- not a small feat) was not what we envisioned when we booked the Pittino Suite at the Piazza Pitti Palace but as long as we could be accommodated, we would make it work. But I find it difficult to remain cooperative when we are given two options that did not meet what we came to pay for in the first place- a space that can accommodate a family of 5 that is free of concern of issues that relate to our health and safety. Unrelated to our stay in Florence, it came to mind that one of my sons has had allergic reactions enough to warrant a visit to a local ER (in our hometown), which is why we did not entertain to stay in a room that give us concerns for the room's air quality and our health and safety. ||I deeply appreciate the overall concept and what is being offered at the Piazza Pitti Place. It is more than just a hotel- it is a way to experience the massive history of Florence by staying in a building that has been intentionally maintained to retain it's history but with enough modern innovations to make it a comfortable place to stay. The staff are very friendly and work very hard. But at the end of the day, the hotel did not meet our needs and refused to refund us. I didn't ask for a refund of nights we already stayed- only for the last evening when I felt that what we were offered did not meet our needs based on the size of our family and our concerns about health and...

The Piazza Pitti Palace is a truly special place, run by people passionate about Florence and giving guests a stay steeped in history. However, we had a series of unfortunate circumstances that lead us to have a negative experience with the Piazza Pitti Palace. ||We are a family of 5, on week 2 of a 3 week trip to 3 cities in Europe, so we had a fair amount of luggage. We arrived after the front desk had closed for the day. We were aware of this and had a positive experience communicating with the hotel staff before our arrival to ensure we would receive our keys. So far, so good. ||When we entered our room, we all noted a distinct smell. We figured it was due to the ancient nature of the entire building, and wrote it off as that. We continued to settle into the room we reserved, the Pittino Suite. We also discovered a fresh stain on one of the ottomans in the living room; we had arrived in the late evening so just avoided it and would let the staff know about it the next morning, during their business hours. We did so and the staff communicated that the ottoman was removed from the room while we were out and about touring Florence. ||After our 2nd night in the Pittino Suite, we woke up getting ready for our day. A considerable leak occured in the living area; we called one of the phone numbers we were provided and informed staff immediately. We had tour reservations we could not miss so we contained the leak with a trashcan, as well as use towels to absorb any water within range of the leak. Staff were on their way and we left for our tour. When we arrived back in the evening, we discussed options with the hotel staff. Since the leak occurred, we began to conclude that the initial smell we noted upon checking in was from water that eventually leaked. We learned that we would be offered two rooms for the remaining nights we had left in our stay at the Piazza Pitti Palace. In short, we would be moving twice. This was, of course, disappointing, but we decided to move forward with what we were being offered. It is here that translation became an issue, and I was unclear on what we were being offered our 2nd (last) night. ||We moved into our new room, a nice upgrade room with a view and enough beds for our family of 5. We slept, and woke up to pack up our things, and get ready for our day of tours in Florence. I went to the front desk to inform them we had packed all of our things, and it could be moved (by hotel staff) to our next room while we were out touring. I did this in good faith to be communicative and cooperate with the plan. I learned that our next room would have 3 beds (for 5 people): a king size bed, and two twins. Learning this, I expressed this would not be acceptable. It would require 3 people to sleep in a king size bed. I was informed that a refund for this last night would not be considered, because not only were they offering me a new room, but we also were given the option to remain in the Pittino Suite (our original room). Staying in the Pittino Suite was an unacceptable option, because the smell of stale water remained in our minds and gave us concerns for the air we were inhaling while in that room. The weather in Florence was very hot- so opening windows to ventilate was not an option. This became a health and safety issue, in our minds, and we refused to go back to the Pittino Suite. When I pleaded with the staff that neither of their options would work for us, and they still adamantly refused to refund us for one night of our stay, we became very disheartened. We felt that while disappointed ever since the leak occurred, we had cooperated and acted in good faith to make the best of things. I expressed sympathy and understanding that the leak occurred on a Sunday, which is a difficult day of the week to get a plumber. But given the two options of either sleeping 3 to a bed or go back to an unventilated room with water damage, we met our breaking point. While out on our tours, we decided to eat the cost of the final night and booked another hotel. ||Leaks happen, and we get that. It's not lost on us that traveling any where and especially a place as magnificent as Florence is such an enormous privilege, so we rallied to make the Piazza Pitti Palace work. Even being asked to move twice (family of 5, luggage for 3 weeks of traveling- not a small feat) was not what we envisioned when we booked the Pittino Suite at the Piazza Pitti Palace but as long as we could be accommodated, we would make it work. But I find it difficult to remain cooperative when we are given two options that did not meet what we came to pay for in the first place- a space that can accommodate a family of 5 that is free of concern of issues that relate to our health and safety. Unrelated to our stay in Florence, it came to mind that one of my sons has had allergic reactions enough to warrant a visit to a local ER (in our hometown), which is why we did not entertain to stay in a room that give us concerns for the room's air quality and our health and safety. ||I deeply appreciate the overall concept and what is being offered at the Piazza Pitti Place. It is more than just a hotel- it is a way to experience the massive history of Florence by staying in a building that has been intentionally maintained to retain it's history but with enough modern innovations to make it a comfortable place to stay. The staff are very friendly and work very hard. But at the end of the day, the hotel did not meet our needs and refused to refund us. I didn't ask for a refund of nights we already stayed- only for the last evening when I felt that what we were offered did not meet our needs based on the size of our family and our concerns about health and...

Booked this hotel back in the beginning of January 2022. Our trip was for 4/30-5/3/2022. After an exhausting flight from Los Angeles to Florence, showed up only to find they had no rooms available. I showed the woman my confirmation email. She told me they had updated their software about that time and my reservation must have gotten cancelled accidentally. She called a couple of places and no one had rooms available. Then she called another woman who worked there and miraculously came up with an email she said was sent to me requesting full payment months ago. Had I received the email, I definitely would have paid it. The woman said since I had not paid it, they cancelled my reservation. Much different story from the first woman. We were left on our own to find a room on a last minute notice. Which we did, at a much higher price. But we had no choice. The hotel we ended up at truly was in a much nicer location. So, just be aware. And contact them days before you show up to confirm you actually still have a room waiting upon...