I just read the other reviews of this hotel and felt I needed to chime in. I have actually stayed here twice, once on a tour of Italy with my college age grandson and once with my husband. In one case, it was a matter of necessity--no decent hotels were available in the center of Florence, and, in the other, it was a matter of choice, a choice that I admit was motivated by price consideration.

The Good:

The hotel has a shuttle which goes into town on a regular basis. The drivers were friendly amd efficient. It drops you off and picks up near the train station (both times I arrived by train). And the train station is right in the heart of town--an easy walk to the cathedral, the gallery.the ancient music museum, Medici chapel, and most of the other sights you would want to see, The Hop-On Hop-Off bus is across the street from where you are dropped off and is a great way to see the lovely suburban Tuscan area above Florence.

The restaurant was reasonably priced and the food was lovely--important when you are staying at a hotel away from town. Even my husband who is a gourmet was pleased with the food at dinner. (We are not big on breakfast, and I don't recall eating it here. I suspect we made our way into town before eating.)

The area is quite--even with the hotel filled--something which Florence is not.

Prices here are reasonable if you are looking for a full service hotel and not a B and B.

The Bad

You can not just walk out of the hotel and explore, something we love to do in most cities. People who want to explore Florence (as opposed to the Chianti countryside) should remember that they will probably need to get up early, head into the city and spend much of the day there.

The TV was dated as was much of the furniture--although we found the beds to be as comfortable as you would expect from a Sheraton in the US.

The hotel was clean both times I was there, but I agree that the rooms need updating--better yet a total makeover. I can't speak to the pool--can't say that I come to Florence to swim.

Not So Ugly

On the whole, I would prefer to stay (as we did later) at the Westin on the river (at three and one-half times the price) The views were better. The lobby was more luxe. Our room was certainly nicer. The location was nearly ideal--next to the cathedral would be better--but the river views are superb. The question here is one of balance. There was nothing basically wrong with the Sheraton.. The shuttle made it easy for us to get into town and see what we came to see. We came back to a comfortable bed and a good, fairly priced dinner.

Whether I would stay here again would probably be determined by a number of factors including what else was available and what the price was for the various options. It is really not so ugly unless you are accustomed to luxury on an expense account.

There are hotel's worth staying in and then there are one's better to skip. This sheraton is horrendous. I have attached photo's so you can see for yourself. For the price around 110 euro you might as well stay in florence proper in some clean motel (that go for 70 euro), because, it can very well possibly be nicer then this hotel, cheaper, more convenient and free wifi. How sheraton allows this hotel to be part of their line is beyond me-. This hotel has not had an update since the 80's. The phone is still from the 80's. the Tv remote and probably the Tv are also from the 80's. The ice machine was broken during our stay (also probably from the 80's). The heat was broken in our first room. The front desk passed it off- that the heat only goes on during certain times of the day, and since we are Americans he thought we would enjoy a colder room. I was not sure if he was serious or trying to get us to leave him alone- I was unaware that "Hotels" do not give each room its ability to decide on its own temperature- they were probably trying to save money. As most of the lights in the surrounding lobby area were shut off. The lobby couches were rubbed out (see photo's) The decor in the rooms was no better then an 80's motel. I can't complain about the distance from the city center as this is clear on the website. However, it seems way farther then written on the website. In addition the website forgets to tell you that the complimentary shuttle by the train station will have no signs in the train station about its whereabouts and information did not know either. When we told the front desk it tooks us 35 minutes to find the pickup area (after seeing a novotel shuttle and asking the driver where would the sheraton shuttle be) he told us the train station does not allow them to hang signs. I told him at least mention that on your website and try to give some simple directions- (maybe the website is also from the 80's). Also this hotel is off a highway with absolutely nothing in walking distance, keep this in mind. Would not think this is an Spg category one hotel, let alone a category 3 hotel. Again do not stay here thinking i might be far ot but at least i am staying in a hotel- think more like motel six- also there's no cable and only one channnel in english- (no news in english) the english channel has movies on it that were produced in the 80's and never made it so imagine how bad these movies are- there is not even an option- that i saw of purchasing movies or upgraded tv. shockingly the hotel had wifi for purchase- but it is outsourced by swisscom. BTW the swisscom works for 24 hours- not by hotel days. If not for florence's beauty and my wife's great attitude this very well could have ruined our whole trip- Sheraton please add this to your motel line when you open one up and category one motel.

I am attending a conference at the Sheraton Firenze so decided to stay here. What a mistake. It is miles from the city centre and not easy to get to (the bus takes an hour then you have to walk 20 minutes beside the highway, there is an infrequent/crowded shuttle and the taxi cost about 20 Euros). The internet connection costs 20 euros a day and crashes all the time, funny when you think this is an ICT conference. The hotel facilities although clean are tired. The air conditioner is turned off for the season although it is warm outside and the pool is the colour of some amazonnian frog.

If you want to see Florence, DO NOT STAY HERE. If you are on your way somewhere else then I suppose it is fine. A classic highway motel.

Reasonable; commute into town not a problem with the shuttle bus (15 mins), and taxis easy to get home in the evening. Clean, spacious rooms, a bit dated. Breakfast buffet a little ropey but priced accordingly.