Since Florence was our main destination in Italy, we splashed out on 10 days at the the Morais, but it was ultimately disappointing. First problem is the distance from the centre: it's just outside the city in a pleasant stretch of country, but that means you're at the mercy of the taxis, at 12-15 euros a go. That adds up fast, and the taxi quality was variable, with some dodgy fares attempted: you need to know what's reasonable when you get in. So with the wait & the 20 minute ride, you can easily lose 90 mins each day fighting the taxis. If you are there high season, then you also spend a lot of time hunting one for your return. For the hotel's price, I would like to have seen a daily return taxi fare included in the tariff. The distance also means that there's no food nearby, save one average restarant (which you'll only use once, and which you can't walk to: the road's too busy). There is a restarant in the hotel, and while the food was reasonable, the bill was ridiculously high; most nights no-one dined there. So more taxis back to town to eat each night. We travelled with two small kids, so this got tedious fast. Meanwhile breakfast was OK, but humble for the price. Which brings us to the Rules. The owners liked things done Properly. No food in the rooms (with small kids? yeah sure). None of your own wine consumed. Don't drive up to reception during breakfast. For these prices, I want my wishes to be uppermost. I'm not sure the service philosophy is there yet. They were very affable, and tried hard to arrange things (with varying success: our laundry returned monochrome, and their car hire suggestion failed to deliver) but we did feel like the difficult cousins sometimes, apologising frequently. Then there was the Smell. One of our rooms developed a sewerage smell early on. We've got a baby, so we assumed it was us somehow. After a while we realised it really was the toilet, as we found it in other places in the hotel. At times it was very difficult to stay in the room unventilated (but without insect screens, the viscious mosquitoes ate you if you left the windows open). We vividly demonstrated the smell to the staff, and they agreed it was awful. So now for this price, you'd get moved, perhaps upgraded, yes? No. "we have some air freshener". By this point it was our last day, so we didn't start throwing things. In hindsight, we should have. And you should too, if you get the same situation there. What was good. Everyone was friendly, and fine with our kids. The pool was great & warm, with a lovely view across the valley. Beds & AC ok, and everything quiet (however beware the nearby tunnel works, hinting at a big road passing nearby soon). Showers only in our rooms, which was odd for the price, & not good for very small children. Now if this was a three or even four star, all these shortcomings could be overlooked as bearable, especially in Italy. However this was an expensive hotel by most people's standards. It was a our biggest outlay in Italy, and our expectations were disappointed.

We have spent 3 nights at la Marignolle on our honeymoon trip to Italy. As we have done a little reseach in advance and new what we are getting we were not dissapointed. The short drive (or taxi trip) to the city is well worthwhile. It is a very small hotel that feels more like visiting your friends house/villa with garden - for me a nice change from a large hotels with no personality. Lorenzo (owner/manager that my wife referred to as Antonio Banderas) was very helpful in advising us where to go, what to do, where we should eat, etc. He even helped us to organize accommodation at another hotel on the coast we were heading for. There is no restaurant at the hotel but they offer to prepare a meal for you if you ask in advance. We had a dinner at a Bibe restaurant few minutes walk from the hotel and can highly recommend it. Relaxing by the pool was definitely a big bonus after a whole day walk around Firenze!

We stayed here in July 2007. Rooms, garden & pool are excellent; quiet relaxing and private. I would say, however, that it is somewhat overpriced. The breakfast is very sparse and a bit boring. If you want eggs, meat, cheese etc. you must pay extra! Really, this is uncalled for. Also, one night we stayed in to eat. The hotel does not provide evening meals as such but will prepare something for you which is very nice and accomodating. However, what they prepare is food which does not have to be cooked - salad, bruschetta, melon etc. It was the most expensive meal we had in Florence! Tut! Tut! Also, taxies into and back from Florence will set you back about 20 euro each way. Beautiful place; lovely staff but think about what you want from Florence before deciding on this accommodation.

It is a rare thing to find a hotel which gives such a high level of personal attention and service. This hotel is small, beautiful and very peacful.I Instanly relaxed and felt at home. Florence is only a short drive away, the hotel will arrange trips to the museums which takes any hassel away. There is a fantastic restaurant within walking distance and the owner picked us up and took us home each evening. Overall this was a wonderful holiday in a fantastic hotel.

I really enjoyed my stay at Marignolle this past month. My friend and I visited during the last week of November through a package booked at Luxury Link.com which included 5 nights accomodations and a wine tour with Lorenzo, continental breakfast in the hotel every day and transfer to and from the train or airport. It is a small hotel and very cozy and also very quiet--I think 7 rooms. But the rooms are good size and beautifully decorated---and the staff is very nice. It was extremely relaxing and peaceful to stay there in November, when the hotel is not very busy. A couple things to note: 1) If you are going into Florence city center, you will need to take a taxi. It is not possible to walk--too busy and narrow streets to be safe. The taxi cost (for two people) between 10-15 Euros each way. The staff will call a taxi for you and it will arrive at the hotel in a few minutes. Usually we just went into the city a little later in the morning and stayed all day, and then ate dinner a little early and then had the restaurant call the taxi for us. We just gave the business card from the hotel to the taxi driver and had no problems getting back at night. 2) The hotel asks that you bring no outside food or drink into the hotel. This is understandable, however when you ask them to fix you a meal (there is no restaurant) it ends up being expensive for what you get. The meal we had the staff fix was extremely delicious (thanks Valentina!) but it was a little pricey. These are just two pieces of info so guests will be prepared. We truly loved Marignolle--and plan to go back!