This was the second stop for myself and four friends enjoying a two week tour of Italy from South Africa. Having already realised from our first hotel that the Italian hotel grading system appears hugely different from that in South Africa - De Rose Palace was still quite a shock to us. To give you an idea, this would be like a two star in SA, definitely no where near a four star as advertised. Firstly the hotel is terribly old fashioned and in need of a refurb, and even has that old smell about it. As we checked in, as two ladies (our male friends were arriving a day later) - we were not once offered any help with our luggage. We eventualy found our room and once again were shocked at the size of the room. Having experienced lovely soft duvets at our previous hotel in Rome, we were now disappointed to see the return of sheets and blankets. In my mind, these should be banned in this day and age ... especially as I remember from my early hotel management training that blankets are not washed in a hotel anywhere near as often as they should be. Although the room itself appeared clean enough, it had the type of carpet where you did not want to walk around barefoot - really grubby and again that smell. The most disappointing thing for me about this hotel though, was the breakfast - it was as basic as one can get ... so much so, that on our second morning, we decided to buy breakfast elsewhere. It is also served in a downstairs dungeon room ... with smelly carpeted stairs to lead you down there. There is a toilet for guests to use down there too - but beware, it is not attached to the wall and leaks badly! The one good thing I will say about the hotel is the free wifi and not a bad location - it is two steps from the river front and about a 12 minute walk to the Ponte Vecchio.

Me and my husbund have been in Florence from September 28th to October 2nd. Florence is one of the most beautiful city in Italy and this hotel made our experience more exciting.
The hotel gives you all the comforts you need. The staff is nice and friendly, the room was very comfortable and clean.
Each morning we could enjoy a pretty good breakfast. If you're looking for some good hotel in Florence I can definetely recommend it.
Kara and Michael.

I have traveled many years for business and pleasure and I would put this hotel way on the bottom of the list. The room was good and was clean, but the staff was indifferent, unresponsive, uncaring and basically I felt that I was burdening them if I asked them anything, like if the air conditioning was working (it wasn’t), where to eat, how to get somewhere, etc. Also there is no place (except the warm lobby) to sit and have a glass of wine, no terrace or patio – there were places out in the middle of the street area you could sit. Also this hotel is a long walk to anything.

We stayed for 3 nights in this hotel. Unfortunately, it fell short of our expectations. Definitely not a four- star hotel! Upon checking in, the man at reception immediately told us to write an excellent review for De Rose Palace Hotel. We thought we would do so, but sad to say, the room was dark, the bathroom was dirty and drain clogged, and on our last night, air conditioning in our room was not working and we had to sleep with the windows open. Location though, was okay, as well as the breakfast spread.