Terrible! Noisy, dirty, unfriendly. Awful

I find it hard to believe that the people who wrote the reviews on here stayed at the same hotel!! We are not complainers and this is the first time i have felt compelled to leave a review but it was so bad. we stayed in the part of the hotel with the shared bathroom.

to be fair the location is good - less than 10 min walk to the main train station.

BUT. We were put in a shabby room RIGHT beside the reception/breakfast area. We could hear EVERYTHING. the night alarm buzzer, the telephone in reception. After the first of 4 nights we asked to be moved and were told that he would ask the boss. when we came back i got the impression that no one had asked the boss anything and we certainly weren't going to be moved.

the bathrooms were dirty and run down and i am pleased we took flip flops. our towels were thin hand towels.

our room had a sink and bidet which was handy. However, the website is totally miselading as the hotel in relaity looks NOTHING like it does on the site.

the decor was bad but to be expected as we weren't paying for fancy.

the noise and lack of respect by the staff was the worst thing. despite being told of the noise (i am sure we weren't the first!) we asked the staff to stop slamming the door every 2 minutes while they made breakfast. they continued to do it!!

i asked them to reserve tickets to the uffizi. they never even bothered to book them or tell me that they couldn't. i ended up doing it myself without too much hassle - but why offer this service to guests if they can't even be bothered doing it or telling you that they haven't.

Apart from the hotel Florence was wonderful!!!!

Courtesy and quality in Firenze

Very convenient relationship between quality and price, this hotel is located 5 min walk from the S. Maria del Fiore duomo. The staff is kind and available, and eventually will supply to reserve tickets for the visit at the Galleria degli Uffizi and to provide any information about the city.

Rooms are simple but wide and with personality. Ancient "cotto toscano" floors, big and comfortable beds, clean bathroom and sheets give you the needed tranquillty to sleep tight, along with the double glasses windows.

If you want to find something that could be improved this could be breakfast, but I am italian and very sensitive to the subject.

Don't be put off by initial impressions!!

Initially we were booked at the Ascot Hotel further down the street, but I then read the comments on Trip Advisor and decided I could not stay there. The booking was changed to the Kursaal Ausonia and this turned out to be a good decision.

The communal areas in the hotel are fairly basic and there is work in

progress. This could be off-putting initially on arrival but do not allow it to deter you.

The sign outside indicates that it is a one star establishment but the welcome we received was five star. There is a small lift which is helpful as reception is on the second floor.

Our room (no.8) was newly renovated and contained all we needed for our three day stay (apart perhaps from a kettle, but this is not usual in Continental hotels). The bed was large and on the firm side, the bedding spotlessly clean, the wardrobe adequate for our needs and there were several sockets and a TV. A bonus was the fridge in which we were able to keep our water cool.

There was a radiator in the bedroom and a heated towel rail in the

Bathroom although as the weather was warm these were not required.

As our room overlooked the Via Nazionale it was noisy but with the window and shutters closed the noise was muffled.

The en-suite bathroom was of three star standard if not higher. The floor and walls were tiled and the room was fitted with bath, excellent shower (over bath),WC, bidet and basin. There was also a hairdrier and a stool. The towels were clean and fresh, and toiletries were provided.

Our breakfast consisted of a choice of cereal, yogurt, rolls, croissants,tea, coffee or chocolate. There was a drinks dispenser in reception for the sale of soft drinks, water and beer.

We used the safe at reception for our passports.

The location was excellent as it was only a short walk to the station and to all the main attractions.

I hope that this is helpful to others who are planning a visit to

Florence.

Beautiful Place

My girlfriend and I stayed in this hotel for 3 nights. The hotel is simple but very well organized, clean and welcoming. Although the entrance doesn't look that nice, the hotel staff was wonderful. They helped us in everything we asked for and made our stay enjoyable. Our room was nice and clean. Most of the furniture is from wood, and the bathroom is new and well-equiped.

The hotel is very quiet and is situated near the railway station. It is a 5-minute walk to the Duemo (more or less the "center" of the city) and most of the other sites are a few more minutes (by foot) from there. We enjoyed siestas in the afternoon, and were glad to explore the city again after a short rest in this hotel.

We wish to recommend this hotel to you and to anyone who wishes to see Firenze "from the inside". This hotel is a wonderful place in the city center, and will be an excellent base for excursions.

Wonderful place to stay!

I took my wife and parents to Florence and we stayed in Hotel Kursaal. It is a simple place, but clean, comfortable, and with very friendly and helpful staff. We loved the continental breakfast in the morning (especially the cappucinoes!), and it was easy to come and go as we wanted. The fact that we did not have bathrooms in our rooms was not a problem. The two bathrooms which were close to our rooms were clean, had showers, and we never saw other guest even in them! Enjoy!

Wonderful hotel in Florence

It's an excellent hotel near the main railway station. The place is quiet and nice, close to the main monuments and tourist attractions. The the staff is very kind and solicitous.

Kursaal is the place

We are a group of 30 Irish art lovers. We stayed in the Hotel Kursaal, via Nazionale, in Florence, two weeks ago. We really fell on our feet. Paola, who along with her husband, owns and runs the hotel, is a qualified guide. She brought us on a 3-hour walking tour that was the best guided city tour I have ever had. She also guided us through the Uffizi, and everybody was impressed.

The hotel is simple, spotless, absolutely central, five minutes on foot from the Duomo, which you can see out of some of the bedroom windows.

The price, off season, was excellent, and the atmosphere and service in the hotel super. Go and have fun!

Great place with good rates

The place is very nice. The location is good. It is close to the train station and also close to the old city. The rooms are very clean and the staff is great.

Good Little Hotel

My husband and I stayed at this hotel for 2 nights in October 2005. We had a really tough time finding it because we soon learned that in Florence, there can be a few different streets with the exact same name (as in this case). We had to end up going into a local store to give them the name of our hotel in order to get directions. That is the great thing about Florence..the locals can point you the exact direction of how to get somewhere based on the name of the place you are looking for.

When we found the hotel, we were very happy to discover that it had a little elevator so that we would not have to lug our luggage up a ton of stairs. The people working the checkin desk are extremely friendly and it is a very nice family run place. Our room was extremely clean (we soon learned from our travels that Italians in general are fantastic housecleaners) and everything was very well-kept and the towels/bedspreads we were given were in very good if not practically brand-new condition. We were very comfortable in our room and had a great stay here. The walls are somewhat thin so you can hear the neighbors opening and closing doors, and sometimes, blasting their tv sets. Of course, it is the luck of the draw and you have to hope to have good neighbors.

The hotel serves a very simple breakfast of coffee, and a few plain dinner rolls with butter, jam and cream cheese on the side. I believe there was also yogurt available too.

The location of this hotel was very close to the super-popular San Lorenzo Market which was bustling with tonnes (about 4 long blocks) of streetvendors selling leather products and all kinds of interesting Italian souvenirs.

Unfortunately, the hotel is not so close to the train station. Mind you, it is not super far, but since the streets are very narrow and always crowded, it makes it very difficult to wheel your luggage for a 15-20 minute period. It is a huge nuisance if it is raining as well as 2 people cannot walk past each other holding umbrellas without smashing one another with them.

My suggestion is, if you want a guaranteed clean nice little place that has a lift, then consider staying here. If you don't plan on staying in Florence very long, try to choose a hotel that is super close to the train station (if this is your mode of transportation). It will make your life a lot easier.

Central Florence is quite small and everywhere is walkable. I have posted some photos of the hotel for you, but you can easily see better photos on the hotel's website: (-)