We stayed at the Hotel Royal in 2007 and I was just reading the reviews out of curiosity and am amazed that the hotel has received such poor reviews. We went out of season so the cost was reasonable - ?60 per night for a double including breakfast. We thought the hotel was lovely andthe staff very friendly. The town centre was walking distance. I used to live in Florence and now work in tourism and for ?60 per night I thought this was excellent value for money. Spotlessly clean, ok so the bar wasn't brilliant, but we had a drink, breakfast wasn't brilliant but we ate and we didn't have a car so didn't need to pay for parking. I would definitely stay there again - the hotel is beautiful and old and Florentine and typical.

I booked a single room for 5 days at the Hotel Royal in Florence. The price of the single room was 200$. I was staying to Florence for a conference. I did not have much time available. Disappointment no1: I arrived at the hotel late in the evening. When I saw the room, I was so surprised! The room was literally 2x2 square meters. It was like a wardrobe. It was extremely small and the window was like a small hole in the wall. I could not believe my eyes! So, I went to the reception and asked them if they had a double room available. Disappointment no2: The reception was very rude. He gave me the key of the room and he commanded me: ‘Check the room and bring the key back to me immediately!’ Disappointment no3: This double room was bigger and its price was 270$. I decided to stay. I thought of working on my computer for a while before going to sleep. At my surprise, I noticed that there was no socket to charge my computer! Disappointment no4: I thought then, that I could read instead. I took my book but.... there was no bed-sit lamp next to the bed. Disappointment no5: I said to myself that everything was fine. I needed to call my partner to inform that I had arrived safely in Florence and to tell him how horrible Hotel Royal was. I tried to call but there was no signal. I called the reception to ask what is digit for calling numbers abroad and he did not know. I tried every possible combination and I did not finally manage, leaving my partner worrying. Disappointment no6: I decided to go to sleep. I could not sleep because the light of the street was getting into the room. Disappointment no7: Also, there was a lot of noise from the street, even though I requested a quite room. Disappointment no8: After several hours, I managed to get some sleep. In the morning, I went downstairs to get my breakfast. It was horrible. They did not even have fresh coffee! It was all a joke. Disappointment no9: I decided to stay as I did not have the courage and time to start looking for another hotel. My only concern was my mother who was going to stay with me 2 days in that terrible place. I informed the reception about her arrival. My mother came and she stayed 1 night in my room. When I was about to leave the hotel the next morning, the reception tells me that the charges are higher now that my mother came and she randomly quoted the room for 310$. It was then that I flipped! They wanted more money but they did not even bother to bring a second towel for my mother! (They only provide 1 towel). I expressed my disagreement to the reception who instead of listening to what I had to say, she was replying back to me. After staying 3 nights, I packed my suitcase and I went to another hotel! So, in summary, do not stay in Hotel Royal in Florence! 1. The staff is very rude 2. The rooms do not have sockets to charge your phone/computer 3. The rooms do not have a set of towels 4. The rooms do not have bed-sit lamps 5. The rooms are very noisy especially those looking at the parking of the hotel. 6. The rooms do not always have telephone that works 7. The breakfast is ridiculous 8. The price is expensive for what you get.

We stayed in Florence for 2 nights and decided to book the Hotel Royal because of the private parking and the good location to the historical city. The hotel looks like a little palace with a big garden, swimmingpool an private parking. The rooms are very clean, beautiful and quiet. Everything seems to be perfect except the staff and the breakfast! The whole staff was very unfriendly! The breakfast was an ordinary breakfast and not a buffet. You could not take seat in summer at the beautiful terrace in the inside garden to eat your breakfast. But if you would prefer to sit outside in the sun you had to pay Euro 5!!!! Also you had to pay Euro 15 to use the swimmingpool! The fee for the parkingspace was about Euro 20 per day and - you had to pay it on arrival not together with the hotel bill. If you decide to have a drink before you go to bed - don't do that! They have no varity of drinks and the staff is not to be keen on serving the guests. Summary: the hotel ist very nice and quiet, the rooms are clean and beautiful, the location is perfect, the price is ok - but not the staff and the breakfast! Also the rules of the hotel are curious!

We are two women friends visiting Florence then Venice and taking a Cruise in Greece with the Costa Mediterranea. Stayed at this Hotel Sept 1st, 2007 till the next day. First I must say that the parking lot is not very convenient (little rocks) for rolling your suitcase. A taxi must drive you up in front, ours left us in the middle of the road? Plus you should not give any tip to the taxi driver since the price was included. We had to take a cab lots of time because it is FAR from the main tourist attraction (Ponte Vechio ect). People are not to smilly at the front desk. The breakfast stop being served at 9:30 so we mist it then we ask where we should go close arround...well they didn't know??? The room is small and the beds are awful. Both our twin beds were tipping on one side, not very comfortable to sleep on it because you think you are going to fall off the bed during your sleep. The inside is very very dark and quite old with antiques every where you look. But Florence is just so beautiful to visit, but 2 days would be enough. Then we took the train for Venice because the train station is not a walking distance from this Hotel believe me. So we took a Taxi 14 euros worth every penny. If you buy a train ticket in advance and want to leave earlier you could change it (but you pay 4 euros per ticket , in the train) not at the ticket counter of the station. For conclusion look somewhere else I'm sure you will find a better place AND WORTH the difference.

I'm Italian, and I decided to spend one night in Florence with some friends from Rome. I contacted the hotel for a last minute planned visit in Florence for a weekend. I had the hotel name from a friend of mine who stayed there long time ago. I was surprised not to receive any confirmation of my booking sent by fax to them. Although if I arrived to the hotel at 13:00, the reception (not friendly at all) told me that it wasn't possible to check in until 14:00! The facility is quite old and not well maintained, but the most horrible experience of the whole staying was the breakfast on the following morning. People "serving" the breakfast were able just to complain and shout the customers. Cappuccino was horrible (made of water!) so as the rest that they call "buffet" on their website, that is a very short choice of few items (the bread looked very old). For sure the service we had was not the one we should have had for the cost of the room (140€ for a Double room is a real theft).