Hotel Sampaoli Florence

Unfriendly Service Except for Leonardo

Hotel Sampaoli is a simple hotel right at the center of major sites in Florence. It is also fairly close to the Santa Maria Station (make sure your train stops there and not at the Campo di Marte station which is farther). Make sure that as soon as you get there, you greet the reception with "buon giorno" (good morning), or "buena sera" (good-afternoon or good-evening) if you want better service. This hotel has little rooms and showers. It is basic but okay if all you need is a bed and a hot shower (if you are going to be out sightseeing all day). Leonardo was very helpful with showing us the major attractions on a free map of Florence. He also recommended good restaurants (we liked ZaZa and Garibaldi - ask him about them). There is no breakfast nor Internet included, but you can find a cheap Internet place closeby at Via Taddea at 1.5 Euros an hour (all other places around there charge up to 3 Euros an hour). Leonardo might not know about this place. We found it when we were walking around. The hotel does offer cheap and good Italian espresso (little cups) for 50 cents. Close to a place where you do laundry (ask Leonardo about this self-service lavanderia), there is a little "bar" nearby at the corner where they have good and cheap cappucinos for 1 Euro a cup and some cheap sandwiches. The house is a very old house (about 1,000 year-old). It smells. The other people working in the hotel reception were not very friendly. There is a McDonald's close to the train station. Ask for a map there and it comes with 2-for-1 coupons (be warned that Leonardo hates McD's, although he listens to North American music). Note that people in Florence are very traditional and not so open as in Rome. Nevertheless, it is worth the history and all of the art. Don't buy jewellery at the Ponte Vecchio shops unless you have a lot of money to blow. The central market in Florence is a great place to find cheap and good quality olive oils, balsamic vinegar, wines, limoncellos, etc, but be sure to look around first because prices vary considerably from one store to another (same with service). Ask first if they accept credit card as many stores don't. Other tips that we learned about which you might find useful are: * Make sure you validate your bus/train ticket before getting on or you can be fined about 30 Euros per person if checked. * Call your museums/galleries/destinations directly for reservations or you can be charged up to triple the price if you go through a third party. * Bring some Euros with you until you can get to a bank or ATM machine in Rome. * Check out the menus at restaurants before sitting down because prices vary considerably from place to place and you don't want to feel ripped off (we paid huge $ for places that looked cheaper and reasonable $ for great food at other places that had an expensive look).

Excellent Find!

I stayed at the Hotel Sampaoli in Sept. 2005 in a 3 bedroomed room, and it was excellent! Considering the priced being paid for the room, I was surprised to see how spacious and well-furnished it was. The staff were a great help, and the hotel is situated in a safe area. Only disadvantage with the place is that when you first try to find it, you may walk passed it if you don't look sharply enough for the discreet hotel sign (as happened to us for 10 minutes!). Great place for travellors and couples, although the narrow entrance staircase may not be so good for large families. Will certainly use this hotel again upon returning to the city, and would definitely recommend it.

What a great fun place!!!

This is a cute, simple hotel/hostel.

Rooms are clean, staff was helpful, location is great. I had a good time. Thank you !!!

Convenient little place, but...

Generally a good place. I stayed here with my parents on a trip in early Oct 2005. The rooms were clean and small to medium size - not bad for a hotel in a medieval city where a lot of the buildings aren't built with modern hotel standards/sizes in mind. The staff were friendly and they offered us a discount as we were staying for 7 nights which they considered a long time. The advertised free internet access was off though which they didn't tell us until we arrived - due to "terrorist activities" apparently (!!) The only problem, and it's quite a big one, is that depite being VERY clean, some kind of insect(s) were living in my bed. I woke up on several mornings with very itchy lumps on my legs, hands and face. At first I put it down to mosquitos the evening before, but one morning just before we left I caught and killed a tick-like insect which had been running across my pillow - it had just bitten me. My parents also compained of bites in their room although they were less badly affected and are sure it was mosquitos - who knows? They need to burn their matresses! Otherwise not a bad spot

Nice & Clean

We stayed at Hotel Sampaoli for a couple of nights in August 2004. This hotel is small and cozy. Our room has a ceiling fan which keep us cool in the summer. The staff is cool and welcoming. We had a shared double room and the bathroom is clean and is always available. Good location from the train station and the Accademia Galleria. Only downside is it's on the 3rd floor of the building and the stairs are pretty narrow (I guess it's quite typical in Florence).

Hotel Sampaoli Stay

I stayed here for a few nights at the beginning of June, 2004. The double room was very cozy with dark wood furniture and soft lighting (65 euros). The reception was friendly and welcoming. I will stay here again the next time I visit Florence.

Great small hotel in Florence!

This is a great hotel in florence. It's located only a few blocks from the train station and the duomo. It's clean, and has a good amount of character. The staff is friendly & helpful. The price is about 60 euro for a double room with a bathroom (no breakfast).

This place is very highly recommended! I'd go back in an instant!

Cozy, but a bit noisy

We stayed 2 nights at this hotel in the beginning of June 2004, we had booked the room 2 months in advanced using recommendations from this site. The hotel is located only two blocks away from the central market, a ten minute walk from the train station and a few blocks from the center of the city in a slightly seedier part of town but very convient for getting around and a well-lit restaurant next door. The hotel is located on a second floor with no elevator. Our room was somewhat small but nice for 2 people, with a nice-size closet, a double bed (with the usual two beds put together), TV, and a couple of chairs. The bathrooms are adequate but lack a shower curtain and tub, so the water splatters everywhere when you shower. Also, if you shower for more that 2 min, the water tends to cool down significantly. So if you're a couple, the second person will get luke warm, if not cold, water.

3 of the 15 rooms are located right outside the lobby, AVOID THESE ROOMS (we were in #5) because or the early and late night reception noise. When we asked to move, the only available room was down the hall over a loud late night restaurant. The young staff seems to rotate so often that we only saw the same person once in the 2 1/2 days we stayed at the hotel, but they all seem to speak English and are friendly. If it hadn't been for the loud lobby, the sand paper-like towels(which we had to request to be changed since they were stained when we checked in, and were not changed the next morning), and the annoying wet floor from the shower, we think we would have liked our stay better. They do have internet access by the lobby and you can burn your digital pics at no charge, which is a rarity in Europe.

Great little place

Very pleasant little place. Quite, safe, and CLEAN.

Staff was always friendly and available if needed. Room was tiny, but immaculate. I used the "shared bath" which was fine.

Neighborhood was quiet, and seems very safe. Don't let the funky stairs leading up to the place dissuade you; once you get in, it's bright, very clean, and very comfortable.

Excellelent value, helpful staff

We just spent a pleasant few days in Florence staying at the Sampaoli.

It's a small two star on the traditional Italian model - an upstairs appartment (in this case a duplex) in a very old building by the University, 100 yards from the Piazza San Marco and about 10 minutes walk from the Duomo or the rail station. This is a lovely neighbourhood of narrow streets, with plenty of bars and restaurants, as well as the wonderful covered market (Mercato Centrale) for all your gastronomic needs. The hotel itself is an interesting mix of student funky (young English-speaking staff, free internet, small library of books in English) and Italian trad (individually decorated rooms with nice solid Italian furnishings and tastefully framed Florentine prints on the walls). Most rooms have en suite showers/WCs although there isn't air conditioning (fans provided as well as mosquito nets on the windows).

If you want A/C ask about their annex a few streets further north. For the price we thought it was pretty wonderful - mainly because in peak season the Florentines arte often pretty brusque with tourists and these people were quite the reverse. (You get your own set of keys to the building so none of that bell-ringing stuff.)