Not nearly as bad as trip advisor reviews suggested

Hotel Leonardo was not brilliant but was OK. Good location, but bring ear plugs. If they could sort out the coffee machine and air circulation, it would probably help! However the staff were generally helpful, dealt with any complaints, and they delivered breakfast at 6.30 am on our final day. We nearly cancelled our visit because of the trip adviser reviews. Had we done so, we would have missed a fantastic trip at a very reasonable price

Adequate, but not ideal

We ended up at the Leonardo da Vinci because our booking at the Hotel Carravaggio had a bathroom problem and there were no other rooms. So we did not choose this hotel and had been expecting something very different, which no doubt added to the disatisfaction we felt. Trying to look at it objectively, it was totally adequate - clean everywhere, comfortable bed, and close enough to still walk anywhere.

That being said, we were not happy to be much more removed from the center of Florence - it takes about eight minutes to walk from this hotel to the edge of the center and it's not the most pleasant walk, although it's not bad.

There were also a few small things wrong with the room, like the safe wasn't working, a previous guest's hat was left on the nightstand, and one of the windows wouldn't close all the way (we didn't mind because it was very hot the entire time we were there). As a native of New York City I wasn't bothered at all by the noise, but it should be noted that this hotel is EXTREMELY close to the train station, so much so that not only do you hear each train rumble in and out of the city, but you hear most of the announcements for which train is boarding as well.

The breakfast included was only barely adequate - cereals, rolls, yoghurts, and some biscuits were about the extent of it, but of course there was some coffee, tea, and juice. No fruit, no meat, no cheese, nothing hot.

We had been expecting wireless interent in our old booking but didn't have it here so that was a let-down, and the TV was small (but thankfully we had MUCH else to occupy us and needed it not at all). The "internet point" is one computer in the lobby in a very stark and uncomfortable location - I'd only have used it in an emergency. The shampoo and soap provided by the hotel was very minimal and should not be relied on for more than one person's use.

But to end on a bright note, the bathroom was beautiful and comfortable with a nice large shower (no bathtub in our double-bed room) and the room was filled with a beautiful light in all through the day, with large windows to let it in even if there wasn't any kind of view.

Hotel Morgue

What a horrible place to stay in. Why would they even name this hotel Leonardo DiVinci.... it should be HOtel MORGUE!

It's so cold and uninviting. Stuff is horrible, not helpful at all, clueless!

This hotel is located in the ghetto.... quite a walk from the center and not in a good area, dark and dirty.

The hotel is supposedly ultra modern... well it's very cold and plain. The beds are super stiff, cannot get a good night sleep because the beds are stiff and the street is noisy.

SHower is horrible... eveyrhting gets wet, including the hairdryer w/ which your're supposed to blow dry your hair and get electricuted.

Breakfast is non existant. Coffee and Water and Rolls.... stale rolls...

THEY CHARGE SO MUCH FOR THEIR ROOMS and the hotel is horrible.

We paid 200Euros/night. I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS HOTEL!

Needs training, improvements and more light...

As one of the other guests mentioned, this hotel had the potential of being good but we found it run down. Stains on the breakfast room upholstery, lights missing etc. The hotel is truly dark...The location (even though 15 minutes walk from the old city) is a bit on the seedy side, especially at night. The staff was courtious but clueless at times. We left our passports and tickets at the reception's safety deposit box (since the one in our room was highly sophisticated but not working) . When we wanted to retrieve it the staff was unable to locate the key to the reception's safety deposit box. After a scramble of 15-20 minutes and numerous trials, the staff ended up phoning the owner who advised them of the key location. It took at least another 15 minutes to find the correct key and open the safe. During this ordeal the clerk at reception was very courtious but ineffective.

I would not go back to this hotel. There seems to be so many others closer to the old city and more interesting looking.

I would recommend a thorough training of the staff, better breakfast fare and an extra towel near the showers so the whole bathroom floor doesn't get soaked .

June 2005

Modern but soulless in Florence

We visited this hotel in October, 2003, when it seemed to be in a state of conversion. Parts of the hotel had no lights, some downstairs loos had no plumbing, there seemed to be very few staff, and those there were were not helpful. There was no effort to provide a satisfactory breakfast - there was one roll per person, tea or coffee only when you had made sufficient nuisance of yourself, synthetic orange juice, and until we complained, only one person on duty. After remonstrations by our tour leader some slivers of ham and cheese appeared on the next occasion. Outside of breakfast, the bar and restaurant were closed. This would not have mattered too much except that there was no where to eat close by and the nearest eateries were 15 mins away on foot and closed by 9.30. You could not even get a glass of water in the hotel. The stairways were dark with some just-above-floor lighting, and one of our party fell and sprained her ankle. The bedrooms were modern but not convient - there was no where for my husband to look into a mirror to shave without doing gymnastics. The ultra modern bathrooms were good to look at, but a nightmare to use - the shower had no walls or curtain, and the water simply rained down on everything - you had to keep the towel outside the room or it would have been soaked, and the loo paper was always sopping. The situation was not good either, very noisy traffic all the time, and a long walk to get to the train station to pick up a bus to go anywhere. I just couldn't imagine how they justified a 4 star rating - which was what we were told they had.

Ultra modern but.....

We first saw this hotel on an internet site. The ultra modern design really intrigued us and we decided to stay there for a long weekend. First, the good points. The Leonardo is indeed a styled hotel. Everything from the bathroom faucet to the elevator chime has been thought out to the same level of ultra modern design. The staff is polite and accommodating. We received a sale price of 130 Euros a night in the beginning of May '04 which is a great price for this city. There is plenty of free parking right behind the facility. Now the bad points. The facility is located near the train station in a commercial, unattractive area. The road in front is very busy at all times of the day. The sound from the traffic pervades into the room. In the front of the hotel the noise level is surprisingly unacceptable. There is air-conditioning but it was turned off when we were there, making opening the windows necessary. The breakfasts buffet consists of bread, a simple pastry, coffee, mineral water and artificial orange juice. The worst we experienced in Italy. All in all the helpful staff and fantastic design could not make up for the problems with this hotel. I can not recommend it.