This hotel (actually every complaint I made was answered with "this is not a hotel, it is a Garden Inn") looks quite attractive in the lobby and bar but it stops right there. They had our reservation information incorrect. There was no two bottles of water provided But they would sell them to us. there was no shaving cream, tooth brushes, toothpaste shampoo etc provided There was no concierge. The front desk covered that job but they repeatedly did not know the answers to my common questions. They did not know the length of the tour for which they sold tickets They charged $95 for a tour that their own literature indicated $90. They corrected the charge when I brought it to their attention their General manager refused to answer six different phone calls. their elevators were inoperative on three occasions (Once because of extended cleaning, once because the service elevator was inoperative and they took over the passenger elevator to move baggage) On three occasions my card key did not work the printer on the computer PC did not work. Eventually they summoned a geek who came in and got it working again they failed to make one wake up call They did not know of the nearby banks operating hours They did not know of a nearby hairdressers location, hours or even if it was open They were unaware of a nearby supermarkets operating hours When asked about transportation to Ponte Vecchia etc they said we should hire a taxi ($22) even though there was a trolley a short distance from the hotel. The dining room was supposed to be open for service until 2230 however wwhen we showed up at 2225 they refused to allow us in even though there were several people still eating. The hotel charged extra for breakfast We finally left the hotel two days early because of our repeated disapointments.

We stayed here only one night on our last day in Italy. We chose this hotel because it's a stone's throw away from the airport of Florence. We had to catch a morning flight, so we wanted to be close from the airport to avoid the rush. We found this hotel refreshing, maybe because it was strikingly different from the houses where we stayed for the previous two weeks. The hotel is full of up-to-date gadgets you can expect from a business hotel in US, and offers convenient facilities such as 24/7 free internet and business center, and self-service pantry shop. Everything is shiny and bright. Modern and tasteful decoration. The staffs were kind and efficient, and the room and the bathroom SPACIOUS. It is quite far from the city center. It took us about half an hour to the center by bus. The surrounding area is under construction (kind of development project is going on). Our stay here was uneventful and we rested up before our flight. However, I would not choose it for my vacation, not only because its distance from the historic center, but because it made me feel as if I were in US. It would be excellent for a business traveller. The price/quality value is exceptionally good.

I spent an extended weekend with my two teenage kids here, 2-5 May, and was very positively surprised! I travel a lot on business, typically staying at the large, international hotel chains, which do provide all necessary services and efficiency for business travellers, but typically are so clinical, inpersonal and frankly, boring. So while on holiday trips I try to stay at small, family-owned local hotels. For this trip though, on short notice, the only thing I could find was Hilton. It was to our great surprise and pleasure that this particular Hilton turned out to be a very unusual combination of small scale personality and warmth, with a very friendly atmosphere, while still being efficient and providing a level of service to be expected from business class hotels. All staff we dealt with, reception, restaurant, bar, house keeping etc, were very friendly and did their utmost to make our stay as pleasant as possible. Getting an extra bed into our room was no problem, and wasn't even charged extra for. I typically try to avoid having dinner at hotel restaurants, particularly while staying in Italy, where excellent restaurants are to be found everywhere (if you care to stroll away a few min from the tourist traps) but for practical reasons we decided to have dinner at the hotel the first night. The food turned out to be very good, and we ended up having dinner at the hotel each night. The hotel is located some distance from the historical city centre, but local buses take you to/from there in 10-15 min. The room rates were also a positive surprise, you'll get a lot of value for your money. All in all, we are extremely pleased with our experince staying at Hilton Garden Inn.

We travel extensively and have often received excellent service. However, we have rarely been motivated to seek out a property's General Manager to praise the efforts of the staff. We were more than happy to do this in Florence. From the Front Desk staff to the restaurant and bar personnel, we were always greeted warmly, our requests were always attended to quickly and with the highest professionalism. After each day of touring the city, we returned to our hotel and felt like we were returning home. If there were a higher rating than Excellent, the staff at this hotel - to a person - would definitely deserve it.

Only during the first few minutes inside this hotel, we knew the staff was going to be an issue. During our check-in the staff was rude and lacked service skills. Although the hotel only had one guest computer working at the time, they didn't work well with us to ensure we had a turn in using it. When a group of teenagers decided to create a "list" that would not allow us to use the computer until 1am, I complained to the manager (this is after waiting over an hour patiently). He was not concerned, and even told me to take a bus downtown to use a library computer. Our whole trip in Europe was uneventful, except for this one hotel. They need to work on their service skills, and appreciate those from other countries who decide to spend their money at their location, especially those Diamond members who work hard to stay within the Hilton family.