Guest User
October 13, 2023
We just concluded a 7-week-long stay at the Palazzo Belfiore, and it was wonderful in every aspect! We will definitely will seek to stay there again, next time we visit this amazing city. While we were just a couple, I believe 4-person family would have an equally happy time there. Location: just steps from Ponte Vecchio, Palazzo Pitti ( & Boboli Gardens), and Piazza Santo Spirito, in a small, quiet side street. The Oltrarno neighborhood (i.e., south of the river Arno) is more laid-back compared to the full-scale touristy sites on the other side of the Ponte Vecchio. It has tons of charming small workshops in practically each of its little side streets, of book makers, carpenters, artists, etc., and a host of trattorias and osterias to choose from. Apartment: we chose the ground-floor level 'Bianca', which was perfect for us. A loft-type setup, with the main living / dining room and kitchen, as well as a full bath, at the ground/entrance level, and then a half second floor with the large queen bed, a desk, and a second full bath room upstairs, overlooking the living room. The kitchen is fully equipped to cook for 4, with a 4-fields electric cook top, fridge, toaster, microwave, electric water kettle, and a Moka 'machine' (those typical Italian coffee makers). The dining table appears to be extendible (but we didn't try), but seats 4 people for dinner just fine. The living room has a large sofa (that can be extended into a full size double bed - we didn't try, but judging from the seating comfort of the cushions, I believe it should provide a very comfortable 3rd and 4th persons sleeping option). There's also a large closet, mostly for hanging clothes. While there's not a ton of extra storage, between that closet, a build-in set of shelves next to it, the desk upstairs, and the use of the luggage racks (which we placed a the corner upstairs) gave us sufficient options to organize our clothings. And, you certainly don't need to overpack, as the Palazzo has a good sized washer and dryer in the basement (which is not only super-clean, just like the rest of the building, but also gives you immediate access to a nice water refill station, to refill the provided glass bottles at any time, with filtered water (either flat or sparkling - but you can certainly drink the tap water, as well). A wall-mounted TV completes the inventory - and it was easy to hook into our netflix account - but if you're watching a lot of TV, why are you in Florence? ;-). The WiFi signal is robust and we had enough bandwidth for simultaneous streaming on an iPad and Zoom video-conferencing without any issues. Both baths have sink, toilet and shower, and the downstairs one also features a bidet. Since the apartment (the whole building, of course) is from a very, very ancient structure, you will immediately notice the lovely mural painting remnants on some of the walls. Due to the addition of the second level, the upstairs head clearance might require a little gettin