I was visiting Florence in July for the culture. My stay at the Il Granduca was a week long in the twin room with shower. Located on a walking distance from the city center and separated by one busy street, the location was good not being either too close or far enough.
The staff at the hotel was polite and kind. Communication with the staff worked in English, even though some only spoke limited English.
The room was clean and generally good. The air condition worked great, but the beds were cheap. The hotel was quiet at the time of my stay, but the few times there was noise, it would come straight through to the room. While the water supply in the shower did not match the standard in Scandinavia, I found it to be quite good compared to other showers I've experienced in Southern Europe. Some minor details could be improved (e.g. angle of the sink so that objects don't fall in), but overall the room was good.
The breakfast was somewhat simple, but reasonable and good enough to get you going. The table on which it was served however was shaky and felt totally impractical with lowest layers of the table about at knee level.
The wireless Internet connection in the hotel was with an extra fee starting from 2 euros for 20 minutes. You would buy a card with the username and password, which would be registered in your name. The signal would not reach my room and the only way to use it was from the lobby. From there the connection worked.
+ Location
+ Price (paid about 50 EUR/nigh for twin room with discount)
+ Air conditioning!
- Bed
- The table on which breakfast was served
- Wireless did not reach the room (and was with a fee)
