Cheap Hotels in Florence, Italy?

February 27, 2008 5:09 PM

I need to find a cheap hotel in Florence, Italy during a large conference (April 5-10, 2008). All the conference-affiliated cheap hotels are booked. What are my options?

I'm a grad student. I'm hoping to attend CHI 2008 in Florence, but I just got my travel funding situation straightened out recently and I'm discovering that the only remaining unbooked rooms available through the conference organizers are in upscale hotels that cost 200+ euros per night. I'm willing to stay further from the conference venue than the officially-sanctioned hotels, assuming I can get a room for less. I know hostels are an option, but I'm going to be traveling with dress clothes, a laptop and some other equipment, so the stereotypical hostel-as-dormitory-with-no-secure-storage worries me a bit. What are my options for finding a cheap but somewhat secure hotel or hostel?

posted by Alterscape to travel & transportation (11 comments total)

This place was about 60 euro a night (including a very basic breakfast) when we were there a couple years ago (2006). It's clean, private, secure and (as a bonus) the views are beautiful. Nothing fancy and occasionally it gets loud at night (it's located at the Duomo, more or less), but owned by a very nice couple.
posted by thivaia at 5:59 PM on February 27

Hey, a fellow grad student going to CHI! My housing situation is already figured out (a bunch of students from our school are sharing an apartment), but hopefully I can offer you some leads.

I pretty much never even look at the conference-recommended hotel list for these things as they are always super expensive. I found my accommodations here: http://www.cross-pollinate.com/

I highly recommend the cross-pollinate site for scoping out possible accommodations, though I eventually found the home page for the guest house I was interested in and contacted them directly.

You might also have some luck browsing TripAdvisor under B&B's & Inns or Specialty Lodging for guesthouses, hostels, and apartments.
posted by sanitycheck at 6:36 PM on February 27

Thivaia, we both know that that breakfast suuuucked. But, Alterscape, I too recommended the Soggiorno Battistero. Very basic place, but cheap and well located.
posted by greta simone at 7:10 PM on February 27

Wow, that dollar sure has plummetted, hasn't it. So I guess everything's expensive. Anyway, I stayed at Hotel Accademia on a Rick Steves tour last year. It's right there in the historic center, which is fairly close to your convention site. Looks like it's 50 euros for a single, depending on season. That sounds pretty good compared to the prices listed on your conference site. The hotel was just fine, little brioche/yogurt/cheese n' lunchmeat (yeah!)/cereal/juice/coffee breakfast included and a computer for guest use (gotta buy an internet card). Good enough for Rick, good enough for you. If your room overlooks the back alley, though, see if you can move. The ubiquitous scooters and early morning alley commerce noises really magnify in that echo chamber.

Housekeeping note: we resolved that that other thing in the bathroom must in fact have been a bidet and not some kind of foot-sink or something. Why it had a drain stopper, though, was a real puzzler. Why would you want to hang on to butt rinse water? And the angle on that little nozzle is not very asshole friendly, I'll tell you. But I suppose you have to get your squat on and give it a shot at least once. When in Rome and all. Don't burn yourself.
posted by Askr at 7:14 PM on February 27

When I was in Italy last, I booked rooms through Venere. It's a good site, I really do recommend it.
posted by miss lynnster at 10:22 PM on February 27

ditto Venere. we stayed at Hotel Bologna; very nice for the price.
posted by flowerofhighrank at 10:43 PM on February 27

If you do get stuck, I stayed at Ostello Santa Monaca, which offered fairly sturdy looking personal lockers (byo padlock) in the dorms as well as the (free) option of leaving things in the safe deposit box in reception. Pretty minimal facilites, but at €17/night it suited me.
posted by jacalata at 2:22 AM on February 28

Thirding Venere.com; it's never let me down booking accommodation in Italy.
posted by hydatius at 7:09 AM on February 28

Hotel Villa D'Annunzio

http://www.polihotels.com/hotel-dannunzio_en.php

Cheap, peaceful (ex-monastery), 10-15 minutes bus ride from the centre.
Small pool in the garden. I liked it.
posted by leigh1 at 8:54 AM on February 28

bedbreakfastalighieri.it
[e-mail]
a reasonable bed and breakfast, in the center of town, at a walking distance from the train station. Clean, and located in a tower.
posted by francesca too at 1:37 PM on February 28

try http://www.hotelalessandra.com/english/eng_prezzi.php?lingua=uk&pagina=prezzi

Hotel Alessandra.
posted by greenchile at 7:05 PM on March 2