We recently stayed at the Relais Cavalcanti which is a B&B. In Italy I found the B&B's to be small hotels and not rooms in someone's home.

All rooms at the Relais Cavalcanti have private baths and are quite large by European and NYC standards.

If you click on the hotel name you'll find plenty of reviews, including mine that will help share the excellent qualities you'll find there.

We found it very affordable - especially compared with hotels and other B&B's. I don't see how you could beat the location, regardless of how much you want to spend.

Any concerns please feel free to send me a private message.

Since you are starting from scratch it would be helpful to do some basic research on your own. The Florence Overview portion of this website has sample itineraries and a good guide book will be very helpful.

1) What is affordable? Look at venere.com and florenceby.com for listings by location then check out the reviews here to make a decision.

2) What do you care about...art, churches, etc.

3) Check these forums for hundreds of suggestions on this same aubject.

The best advice is to spend some time researching on your own to get a general idea and then post with specific questions. Your questions are far too generic for anyone to be able to offer any useful advise.

hello cgianis:

I stayed with my family at "Alexander Hotel", 4 stars. Very safe, clean, confortable, well equipped, with private bath and with very friendly staff, 15 minutes historic centre, nearby buses stop.

The breakfast very complete and delicious.

http://alexander.hotelinfirenze.com/

In Milan you must see:

The Duomo, The Vittorio Emmanuel II gallery, La Scala Theatre and Castello Sforcesco. You can find all these place in same area.

In front of Duomo there is a great shopping called "La Rinascente", where you can buy the latest of fashion.

Where to eat?...There are a lot of possibbilities to eat. I have two adolescent daughters, so we eated at Mc. Donald , and pizza al taglio around Duomo area.

Enjoy!!!

excuse, i wrong, the Hotel i stayed in Milan is Holiday Inn, with similar characteristics.

I stayed at Alexander too, but in Florence.

bye!!!

Today is not obviously my day .... i talk you of Milan and not in Florence

Hi there - we loved Florence, although I wouldn't recommend our accommodation although it was well-situated (don't go too cheap is the moral)!

There is a lot to see in Florence in terms of Renaissance art, architecture, historial buildings, etc and it is lovely to walk around especially as the historical centre is pedestrianised.

Get yourselves a guidebook and a map and see what takes your fancy. Places like the Uffizi Gallery and Accademia (to see the statue of David) attract a lot of visitors so I would recommend you take a look at the Florence Museums website and note the telephone booking number - you may have to call in the middle of the night from NYC, but for a small charge (payable only when you take your reservation number to the ticket booth at each place you have booked) you can jump the queue. The Bargello is well worth a visit and you probably don't need to book. The Museo del Opera del Duomo (prob. not spelled correctly) is really interesting - just behind the Duomo. I'd recommend you climb either Giotto's belltower or the Duomo for fabulous views.

There are lots of restaurants and pizza places - we went for a guidebook recommendation one night - Trattoria del Gobbi on Via Porcellana, which was really nice with a good selection of Tuscan dishes. other times we noted places we walked past that had interesting, or sometimes 'tourist' or set menus and which were well-patronised. If you are on a tighter budget and busy with things to do/see you can buy pizza by the slice in bakeries - some of them have seating areas so you can have a drink and a bite to eat.

Florence is a lovely, compact city with a lot to offer the visitor.

Since you are American

you should check this weblink

and you may be able to save 10% on your hotel.

I found one of my hotels (I already had the reservation) and they were happy to accomodate me.

And I don't know what the prvious poster calls too cheap.... you can find a good moderate hotel if you want.... but remember the less you pay the harder you need to look and the more you need to check reviews.

yourwaytoflorence.com/the-fiorino-effect-flo…

Scarpenter - 'too cheap' = about the cheapest we could find online because we were on a budget and knew we would have to spend more on accommodation for the Rome leg of our journey. It was about a 1 star place and although we certainly weren't expecting great things, the ensuite bathroom was a bit grotty and the included breakfast was awful - weak coffee, watered down orange juice and a pre-packaged croissant which was just fluff. You get what you pay for and I wouldn't recommend the place to my worst enemy!

Grecofan:

Sounds like you made a bad choice when you picked your 1 star hotel. If you had selected the 1 Star that I picked in the same area... the Hotel Montreal I don't think you'd have posted this warning about the cost.

I read your review of the Palazzuolo when I was looking for a moderate hotel and since many seemed to agree with you...I passed it by without ever looking back.

Read my review of the Hotel Montreal and just know that I am not related to anyone there and have nothing to gain from sharing my opinions.

I don't always give 4 and 5 Star reviews but I did quite a bit of research for my Florence/Rome trip and I was very happy with my 4 choices which I researched on Trip Advisor and other sites.

Great places at a moderate price are not as easy to find as Great places at top prices... so places like the Hotel Montreal are good places to share.

I was also able to save 10% at the Hotel Montreal with a special deal for Americans that I found through the Florence Tourist Office.

scarpenter4 - This thread is going 'off message' I feel! The problem with reviews of anything is that they usually reflect subjective opinions and no two people will think exactly the same thing about somewhere. Better to look at as many reviews as possible and average them out. My last post perhaps put things a little more strongly than I intended, but I would rather make a positive recommendation of somewhere/something than a negative one - which was why I never named the place we stayed, but provided other more positive information about Florence in general.