Hotel Crocini shares its street with the US Consulate and the community theater and by virtue of that fact is located in a pretty quiet area of the city. The people are charming and generally speak English which was helpful when discussing issues like where to park our rental car etc. The room had the highest ceilings I have ever seen (seriously, they were probably at least 20ft high) and the key was an honest to God skeleton key like you'd see at an antique store but it still locked the door no problem. Breakfast was a nice variety of pre packaged pastry, lunch meat, cheese and different drinks and aside from the hot water in the shower taking a very long time to warm up (a fairly common trait in old buildings) it was a very comfortable stay.

a very safe area, great location (about 15 min. walk from smn train station), very quiet, ask for a room facing the garden (although the street side is not noisy as well), breakfast is great, more than we expected, staff is very kind, welcoming, helpfull, all are speaking good english, they gave us great recommendations. lorenzo the manager is soooo cool and friendly. he gave us all the information we needed and more. we felt at home. rooms are cozy. toilette and shower small but very clean, towels are changed every other day, no big mirror in the room (normal size mirror in bathroom), but some big mirrors on the corridor. mattress are tooo soft. central heating, we have been told that some rooms will have air condition from december 2010, elevator for the suitcases was very helpfull. all in all it was absolutly a good surprise concerning the price we paid. we also liked the coffee shop- 1 minute away..

We stayed there for 3 nights. The staff was really helpful and this was the only best thing about the hotel. They tried to show us where to eat, where to visit in all time we asked. Wi-fi was also available in the rooms and that was also great! Room and the bathroom were always clean. Otherwise, I do not think the hotel actually have two stars since the corridor as well as the rooms need a real refurbishment such as bathtub with full of rust, broken window hinge, a mirror not even reflect an object right in front etc. I understand that the hotel is tried to be antiquated but a little refurbishment would definitely give the meaning of two stars. Breakfast, on the other hand, is poor enough like all in Italy. If oyu keep your expectations low, you may survive...But the coffee was nice. To sum, you just get what you pay for at the end of the day..

My sister and I went on our first ever Sisters-Only trip to Europe. Needless to say, we both loved the experience and Italy.

Staying in Florence for 4 days was a very good decision! And so was booking at Hotel Crocini, at the affordable price we paid! The hotel staff were very helpful; their breakfast buffet from 8am-10am was more than adequate (they served Tiramisu one morning that I could not get enough of), location can't be beat! It is far enough from the downtown area to avoid the throng of tourists, but still close enough to just walk to it and all the attractions as well.

Word of caution: This is an old building, and it smells like it. It has that old world smell, similar to when you open an old bookcase with old books in , sort of a musty smell. It did not bother us that much though because the smell is limited mainly in the corridors leading to the elevator and within the corridors to the rooms. Once inside the room, the smell is not as strong plus opening the windows eliminates it altogether.

Corso Italia, the street the hotel is on, also has the American embassy at the end of the street so there was always Military Police on post at any time of the day or night which made our walking back to the hotel, even in the evenings, quite safe and pleasant. Plus, the River Arno is just a stone's throw away, it's pretty nice to take a walk or run along the river and have the hotel within close walking distance. Picturesque as heck! =)

We stayed in Room # 21 which was very large, ultra high-ceiling (by american standards) , had a very cute little balcony good for 2 people to stand on, overlooking the garden/parking lot, our room was quite airy when you open the windows and most importantly it was very quiet. The beds were soft and comfy, enough table/counter space to put your stuff on. There is a small TV with basic cable (found only 1 channel in English) , the bathroom was well equipped, quite large in terms of square footage BUT the shower stall itself was very small. I could hardly fit in it and I am a relatively mid-sized Asian woman. Thankfully I was not traveling with my hubby, otherwise, he would not be able to get in that shower stall at all. This is definitely the one thing hotel management should look into improving.

Internet was a little bit pricey @ 1 euro for 15 mins, 3 euros for 60 minutes and 5 euros for 120 minutes. A few other hotels we looked in the area at were offering 1 euro per hour of internet use. However, if is worth noting that the hotel did offer free wifi connection for those who brought their own laptops. So that's a definite plus.

The hotel staff was great, very helpful with questions about where to go, where to eat, buy groceries etc. Having 24/7 staff manning the front desk is invaluable especially for us since we had an early flight out of Firenze and they kindly helped us with booking taxi ride arrangements at 4am. Over all a good experience and I would stay there again, if on the same limited budget. Other than the bathroom/shower stall being small, this is a property I would recommend to my friends/family.