This is a nice hotel with nice rooms and I would recommend it to anyone as long as you don't want to be closer to florence. When we go back to florence in the future we will not be staying at the hotel villa betania. We got a little tired of dealing with the buses and the taxis. For us , a more central location would have been ideal.
The staff at villa betania are very pleasant and the breakfasts were fine. Typical continental breakfasts served outside , weather permitting. A lot of the reviews mentioned " the gardens". I think that was a big exageration. The outside area is simply gravel, trees and some bushes. The area has a huge amount of potential and could be beautiful but when we were there it just looked rundown and tired looking. A few flowers or hanging baskets would have been a nice touch.
Nice hotel with good rooms and a quiet neighborhood. It's a good value as long as you don't mind walking a lot or paying for the taxis. After walking all day long we never wanted to take that long walk back to the hotel.

This was my second favorite hotel we stayed in, in Italy. I can't say enough lovely things about the front desk staff! They were helpful in all our questions and when we arrived with no luggage (our airlines lost our bags) the very polite and helpful staff made phone calls on our behalf to the airlines to try and track down our bags.
Although it is a little far from the heart of Florence, and up a rather large hill. It was actually a nice walk each day up and down to go into town. There is a bus that can take up up the hill if its a little too daunting.
The rooms are nice and clean, and the hotel grounds are very nice as well. I would highly recommend staying here to any traveler heading to Florence!

We were there for only two days and nights, but it was a perfect "home base" for us. The receptionists there all spoke English. One gentleman there in the evenings was actually from Iowa, an ex-pat living in Florence. The breakfasts were very good, many choices and we took the opportunity of eating outside at the little tables in the back garden. There were lots of areas outside made for sitting. Even though it was a hotel, it still had the feel of a villa, a private home. There is a fresco on the wall in the stairwell off the main lobby that will take your breath away. You can walk down the hill to Florence, but it would be rough to walk back up that hill to the hotel if you aren't in great physical shape. There are buses, but the nearest bus does stop running after a certain hour at night. Taxis from the center of town are not expensive. The thing that we enjoyed most of all was the peace and quiet there. We have stayed in Florence before in the center of town, and the noise from the thousands of Vespas that seem to run all night was deafening. This hotel has great air conditioning and excellent plumbing. Great for long hot showers. We had no complaints. I would definitely recommend this hotel.

We have just returned from a long weekend in Florence and stayed at the Hotel Villa Betania. As others have mentioned, this hotel is about a 30 minute walk from the centre of town, although buses are regular and leave a few metres from the entrance arch. Taking a taxi from the Santa Maria Novella train station to the hotel cost about 15 euros, which didn't seem too bad. We were happy to walk though, as it gave us an opportunity to see the sights as we went - several are within walking distance of each other.

Our room was clean and well appointed, with an electronic safe, a compact but modern bathroom with shower and a queen-sized bed. Breakfast was a cold buffet, but was very tasty. The highlight however was the helpfulness of the staff on reception - they spoke very good English (luckily for us...!) and answered all of our questions in a friendly and helpful manner. The hotel is also set away from the road, which made seem more peaceful than most city hotels I've stayed in. Not sure if there is a lift (elevator) though - if you have trouble with stairs then that could be a consideration.

Don't expect a pool or gym, but if you're looking for a clean, comfortable hotel with friendly and helpful staff, I can recommend this highly.