We stayed at this hotel over 10 years ago for a business trip, and enjoyed it so much that we wanted to stay there again. Our rooms overlooked the Arno, and the decor was in true florentine fashion. The staff was friendly, and the concierge recommended great dining establishments that the locals frequented. My son left his brand new Gucci shoes in his room, and the hotel was nice enough to ship them back to us within a week. Overall, we had a great experience. The only drawback was that at check-in I presented the American Express Platinum Card hoping that at least one of our rooms would receive an upgrade to a suite. Amex promotes this as one of the benefits of the card, but to be honest I have never received an upgrade with this card in 20 years of traveling.

This is the Grand Hotel, 5 star, superb service and ideal location. Florence is a small city that can be travel by foot to anywhere. The hotel is right in between the train station and all the major tourist points.

We capped off our 2007 cruise with a drive from Civitavecchia to Florence, where we spent four magical evenings in the Grand. We booked rooms using Starpoints, and were pleasantly surprised to be given a two-room suite with terraces on the bedroom and living room facing the Arno river.

Service was spectacular, and we never entered or exited without the requisite Ciao and Buin Giorno from the staff, who were very helpful and pleasant throughout the stay.

The room was frescoed throughout and it felt so much like being transformed into Renaissance Italy that we had to force ourselves to leave to tour the city!

This was one of the most memorable stays we have ever had in Italy - the location was easy walking distance to the Uffizi, Accademia, Santa Croce, San Lorenzo, and the Pitti Palace across the Arno.

Would stay here again and again (even though I know I would never be able to afford that room without the points!).