Residenza d'Epoca

This centrally located, family-run property has just twelve comfortable accommodations and is very welcoming to travelers with children.

• The property’s intimacy, which makes it feel like you’re staying in a friend’s elegant home
• The beautiful ceiling frescoes
• The conveniently central location

It’s easy to picture Lucy Honeychurch from E.M. Forster’s A Room with a View staying at this family-run bed-and-breakfast, right on the corner of Piazza della Signoria. Housed in a residential building on Via Magazzini, the Residenza is lovingly run by Alessandro and Sonia Pini, who bought the house in 2000 and transformed it into a whimsical, utterly Florentine hotel. Each of the ten rooms and two apartments, spread across four floors, is named after an important Italian artist or personality, and each features unique design details. Giotto, where I stayed, had beautiful ceiling frescoes and views of Palazzo Vecchio. The décor and furnishings throughout are simple, but the bathrooms are modern and some, like Botticelli and Brunelleschi, even come with large bathtubs.

There’s no room service or haute amenities, but the staff goes above and beyond to make a stay special; the family clearly loves their hometown and their passion for its restaurants, sights and cultural activities is contagious (they freely dispense advice). Thoughtful details abound throughout, including linen breakfast napkins that are tied together with velvet ribbon, the double-paned windows in the rooms facing the Piazza (which is bustling even at night) and the bountiful breakfast served in the top-floor lounge overlooking Piazza della Signoria. But if you require around-the-clock pampering, the Residenza is not for you. The apartments are usually rented by the week, but the hotel makes an exception for families. Be aware that during high season, the Residenza books up quickly due to a loyal return clientele; two American travelers I met at the communal breakfast table said that they would rather visit another city than stay anywhere else in Florence.

Value-conscious travelers looking for a smoothly run family hotel in the historic center should definitely book here.