Arrived at Lorenzo il Magnifico on the 14th of September after a long train journey looking forward to a shower and relaxation at the hotel. The hotel is a beautiful old building and first impressions were good. The staff welcomed us and informed us that there was a four euro tax charge per person per night which would be charged on check out which we said was fine and as a we had paid for our hotel the only other charges were if we used anything from the mini bar. As I was travelling with a friend we were brought up into the attic area to a twin room which had a sign on the door "privato" which made us assume that it was previously used as a staff quarters or office.The staff kindly brought our heavier baggage up to the room. The attic room while nicely decorated etc was quite small for two people with nowhere to store luggage. There was no window in the room and the entire roof was glass covered with a heavy insulated blind. When we mentioned it to the staff member that there was no window he offered to draw the blind and as it was very hot we asked him not to do this. After thinking about it my friend and I went to the reception again to tell them that we were not happy with the room due to its small size and lack of window which was not properly indicatd on their pictures advertising their rooms and we also advised the staff that my friend was quite claustrophobic and would be unable to sleep in this room. The staff member at the desk said that the room was standard and the hotel was fully booked but that he would talk to his colleague and see if there was anything they could do. we waited in the lounge area for a further fifteen minutes and then they showed us a downstairs room of the garden/ parking area which was slightly bigger we took this. There was not an adequate numberof towels in the bathroom when we contacted reception they asked could we wait a half an hour for towels however my friend said no we needed the towels as soon as possible. The towels were eventually brought to the room. When using the shower it went form hot to cold and the wash hand basin did not drain properly however we thought there was little or no point in complaining as the staff just didnt seem to be bothered . we decided as we were just in florence for two nights to spend all our time out of the room and enjoy the city.The room was also in a poor state of repair with paint chipping off the walls. The bath towels were old and worn with holes in them.
While the breakfast was ok, the coffee was like tar and when I complained to one of the staff from the kitchen they just went "ok, ok, ok ! like I was being a complete nusance and why was I bothering them. when I came down to breakfast the next morning the same staff member that I had complained to about the coffee gave me the dirtiest look while going out of her way to say "bon journo " to the other three or four people who came in.
when checking out of the room the staff didnt even ask if we had a nice stay or was the room ok after having to change it, just asked for the four euro tax charge. I was speechless but releived to be leaving the awful hotel.The hotel staff were with the exception of the guy who handled our luggage extremely unfriendly to the point of ignoring guests in the hotel. They also seem to have no training in how to deal with complaints and seem to take complaints personally and get annoyed instead of trying to sort them out. while florence is a beautiful city I would not ever stay in this hotel again and unless major changes were made in staffing and management and basic facilities, I wouldnt dream of recommending it to anyone. It is scarcely deserving of two star status let alone four star !
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC