Hotel Balestri

Best for / Tips to get it right

Why this one

Hotel Balestri sits on Piazza Mentana, right where the Arno bends past the Uffizi. Of the 40 reviews we read, 23 mention the location (57%). Guests keep naming the same walks, the Uffizi, Ponte Vecchio, Pitti Palace and the Duomo, all within easy reach on foot. The second thread is the team. 22 reviews (55%) call out the staff, one guest describes being helped home after a night out when no taxi would come, another calls them "extremely guest-oriented." Breakfast gets 17 mentions (43%) and the restaurant and bar another 17 (43%). The evening cocktail bar earns its own praise, one review calls the drinks "original" and the service "exceptional." Rooms facing the river are the ones guests remember, with balconies over the Arno. Some mention the bathroom is on the smaller side, which the same reviewer calls understandable.

What guests keep saying

Two things come up again and again. The location, in 23 of 40 reviews (57%), with guests walking to the Uffizi, Ponte Vecchio, Pitti Palace and the Duomo. And the staff, in 22 reviews (55%), described as accommodating, professional and quick with tips for excursions. Breakfast and the restaurant each appear in 17 reviews (43%). Cleanliness shows up in 10 (25%), with one guest calling the hotel "immaculate throughout." The river-view rooms and the balcony rooms get their own praise, and 6 reviews (15%) mention the bathroom, generally noting it is smaller than expected without it being a problem.

• locationpraised 23 / 57%

  “Nice location and excellent service.”

• staffpraised 22 / 55%

  “The staff are incredibly accomodating.”

• breakfastpraised 17 / 43%

  “The breakfast was also very good.”

• the restaurantpraised 17 / 43%

  “The breakfast each morning was fabulous and we enjoyed the bar for evening cocktails.”

• cleanlinesspraised 10 / 25%

  “True enough, he noticed the smell as well.”

• the bathroompraised 6 / 15%

  “The bathroom is on the smaller side, but that’s understandable and didn’t bother us too much.”

• value for moneypraised 6 / 15%

  “If possible, definitely ask for a river-view room - it’s well worth it!”

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The bit the hotel does not tell you

The hotel has a recently renovated flat in a nearby building, about ten minutes' walk away and two minutes from Ponte Vecchio, used when the main hotel is full. Guests say the hotel arranges a cab to get there. If you want the river-view balcony, say so at booking, some guests who booked a balcony room expected a floor-to-ceiling window and got a smaller one.

Who we pictured staying here