We started and ended in Firenze our 3 weeks September/October round trip to Italy. Found Abaco hotel in our Top 10 Florence and Tuscany, Swedish ed. 2009.
It said under Low cost findings "a real pearl between cathedral and the station".
Indeed from the railway station it takes 10 minutes and to Duomo 5 minutes!

We liked this little hotel from the very beginning. Friendly, helpful hosts. Like Aurora we met every morning finding time for a small chat in my poor Italian.
No elevator but climbing up the high second floor in 16th century house was worth it. Nice baroque home furnishing, really high, beamed ceilings. Our room decorated after Michelangelo (painting Doni Madonna we actually found at Uffizi). Near to all we wanted to see, no need for a bus during 4 (September) plus 3 (October) days stay. When lost we could always find to Duomo, then few hundred meters to our hotel.
For the prize the stay was perfect. We decided to return to Abaco for our last 3 days in Italy getting a good deal too.
Anna, Andrzej from Stockholm, Sverige

I traveled Italy for two weeks with my daughter who is 24. We experienced some poor quality hotels/hostiles. We were thrilled to find Hotel Abaco. The staff were great, room was clean, and the price was good/fair. Very safe area. We loved Florence.

The people at Hotel Abaco are GREAT and very hospitable - the location is excellent, but the hotel is HORRIBLE.

We stayed in two rooms - the first room had a shower but no toilet, we used the shared toilet at the end of the hall. The room walls are paper thin and we were right outside of the eating area - we heard everything.

The second room had a shower and toilet, but they were crammed into a space about the size of a small shoe closet. I felt dirty the entire time.

They use old keys - literally huge skeleton keys - and it took me at least 60 seconds to open the door every time I came back to the room.

Breakfast was meager but high quality - coffee any way you like it, fresh rolls, great red orange juice.

And do keep in mind that it's on the second floor of a walk up building - so it equals about 4 flights of "american" stairs. It was quite a trip with luggage.

I loved this quaint hotel. It was clean and the staff were the most friendly and helpful of any we encountered over the 3 weeks we were in Europe. The Asian woman at the desk helped us carry very heavy luggage up the countless steps. The woman who prepared our breakfast was a cheerful and accommodating person. We loved her animated expressions and willingness to communicate even though we did not know Italian. Our stay at Hotel Abaco made our stay in Florence a very memorable one. It is really a bargain. We would eagerly return.