We were referred by friends to this B&B...by the time we booked our two nights, they only had 1 night in one location and 1 night in the other location (there are two locations, on opposite sides of Piazza della Republica, each with about 6 rooms--one is La Dimora del Centro and the other, La Dimora degli Angeli. There may be separate Yelp listings for each, but because we stayed in both, I'm wrapping my review into one...) available. Because our friends had so highly recommended this place, we were willing to switch rooms for our second night. From before we met face to face, the service was above and beyond...
Partially my fault, we realized at 7pm Monday evening (the day of check-in) that we were to arrive by 7:30pm, as reception closes. We raced down from Piazzale Michelangelo, using google maps as our guide. Unfortunately, apparently several one-way streets were recently reversed, and not yet picked up by google, so we had a very difficult time getting there. Once in the vicinity of Piazza della Republica, I got out of the car to try to find the place (I had also emailed urgently telling them we were on our way--it was a little difficult since we only had a wireless hot spot and no cell phone). Finally, after running around, I had the Hard Rock Cafe call for me, and the lovely woman (whose name escapes me--Silvia??) came to get me (it was about 7:30pm at this point). She guided us to where we could leave our car (for the garage valet to pick up), and then took us over to our room at the far end of Piazza della Republica to La Dimora del Centro--we were in the Caterina room (which had a king-size bed), and it couldn't have been more lovely! Amazing sweeping views of the piazza and the Duomo (we fell asleep with a gorgeous view of the Duomo!)...simply gorgeous, and the room was done very nicely.
Unfortunately, my boyfriend fell ill in the middle of that first night, and it was bad enough that we felt we needed to call a doctor. Barely speaking the language and not knowing how to dial out, I finally called Claudio (the owner) and he called a doctor for us, who arrived within the hour. My boyfriend ended up being fine (high fever, chills, but quickly recovered, though we were glad we had called the doctor--we really feel we dodged a bullet though!), but needed a day of rest (we both did, as we'd each only gotten a few hours of sleep)...I was worried at this point about changing rooms, because he, especially, just needed to sleep, and I didn't want to have to have the gap between checking out of the first room & waiting for the second room to be ready. Claudio to the rescue again! He was able to have our second room, Beatrice, at La Dimora degli Angeli, cleaned and ready for us early, so we had a seamless transition. He was so kind and understanding of our situation (especially after being woken at 4am!!)...he even offered to go out and get our breakfast/lunch (from the cafe they offer breakfast tickets to), because he could tell that neither one of us was in any condition to go out again.
We ended up sleeping most of the day, which was SO comfortable--we loved our second room more than the first (though there was no direct Duomo view from the bed, but if you looked out the window to the right, there it was!), but for both, the room temperatures, the beds, and linens were ridiculously comfortable, and both the bedrooms and bathrooms were decorated very tastefully--overall one of my favorite places we stayed over the trip, and I think we ended up staying in about 5 different places!
Though our stay had some unexpected turns, we were thoroughly pleased with this B&B, from the location & room decor, to the compassion and graciousness we were shown throughout. Claudio & his team went above and beyond any expectations, and we were just really blown away by their kindness & accommodation. We will stay here again for sure on our next visit to Firenze, and we will absolutely recommend this place to anyone who will listen!! Just be sure to book in advance, because I have a feeling they book up quickly! read more