Sempione Hotel Florence

Excellent location. Near the train station and walking distance to all the sights. Great air conditioner.

Near most attractions. Not a good hotel if you drive. There is no parking. Vehicle must stay in a remote lot with a cost of $30 per night. No food at the hotel, but numerous nearby restaurants. Heat/air available only on the designated turn on days in spring and fall. Bathrooms good. Small rooms, typically European.

We took a 3 bedroom and it was tiny. The bathrooms were super small and it was tough to shower without elbowing the walls. But it was a great location, had decent breakfast and free wireless.

We loved the location of this hotel. Within 10-15 minutes of everything! We stayed for 5 days. However, our room, #24 had the SMALLEST shower I have ever seen. I have been to Europe several times and still the smallest shower in existence. The room was small, but for Europe average size. Forget when they say they have a blowdryer...it was faster just letting my hair air-dry. It took my cousin 45 minutes to dry her short hair.The breakfast was decent and good for Italy, croissants, pastries, ham, cheese, hard boiled eggs. The American coffee will put hair on your chest, but use the free steamed milk and sugar and it is delicious.We loved the "night" clerk at the front desk named [...] - as he was very helpful and friendly. A great guy who welcomed us "home" each night. However the day guy, (wore glasses, so unfriendly I never asked his name) was downright rude. He always appeared busy and didn't want to be bothered with us tourists. So we called him "Mr. Happy" and went about our day. If he is the owner, he needs an attitude adjustment, if he is hired help, he needs a customer service course or take lessons from [...]. Another comment on this site, refers to this guy, he just always appeared too busy to smile, or help out. He was the worst thing about the hotel, but we decided to treat it as fun...."will Mr. Happy smile today?"Anyway, except for the small shower in room 24 and Mr. Happy, we had a GREAT time. We actually didn't stay in the hotel very long. We were in Florence! Who stays in the hotel? Also, this hotel is near the train station. We braved the fact that we spoke no Italian, were from Ohio and never even take the bus or train system in the states, but it was EASY to get to the train from Florence to Pisa. I highly recommend using the train system and I will no longer be afraid to do so. It was just an hour trip from Florence to Pisa by train, then just walk straight from the Pisa train station for about 20 minutes and holy cow there is the Leaning Tower of Pisa! DO NOT Do restaurant the guide recommends on the Sienna tour: We also took a day trip to Sienna and San Gimignano via a tour on Orbitz. I have to say this tour was disappointing. Yes, the driver was great, but Sienna was so touristy and our guide recommended a restaurant in Sienna that tried to rip off about 5 people on the tour. A lot of people paid for their lunch, then had to litterally argue to get their change back. My cousin and I ordered 2 waters, a salad and a pizza. The pizza never arrived but they charged us for it anyway. We complained to our guide who recommended the place and she did little to help any of us out. DO NOT do the restaurant the guide recommends in Sienna. It was call "Il Bandito" or something like that and they lived up to their name and ripped us all off! I know a woman from North Carolina had trouble getting her change out of them and another couple too. It was a great disappointment that Orbitz sponsored this tour. In all fairness, they may not know that the guide is running a little side business and is allowing this restaurant to rip people off. Other than that the guide in Sienna was very difficult to hear, and therefore, it was again a disappointment. I would have rather just toured Sienna on my own and I would have got the same from the experience. San Gimignano was wonderful!