FH55 Hotel Villa Fiesole

1. Arrival – Reception & Welcome • When we arrived by taxi from Florence airport, we had a professional and very friendly welcome from the team at Reception. First impressions really matter, and Luciana and the team were superb. We knew we had arrived at a leading hotel and throughout our stay we were not disappointed. 2. Room • Our bags were taken to our room, and we were shown to the first floor, room 211. This room was immaculate, and the bathroom facilities were great. • Throughout or stay the room was cleaned to a very high standard daily. The towels were thick white and fluffy, the bed was fantastic, and the sleep quality was superb. • The view from this room down across Florence is spectacular. 3. Restaurant • The restaurant has an outside terrace where the tables look out across Florence. We had breakfast and rinks here which was amazing. The wine cellar is extensive. • There is also a garden terrace with pagodas and soft furnishings, great to relax, have a drink, meet with other guests or have some peaceful quiet time too. The views from here are as spectacular as the restaurant and we often sat and soaked up the amazing sunsets from here. 4. Hotel & Location • We felt the location of the FH55 Hotel Villa Fiesole was superb, it is away from the bustle of Florence whilst still close enough for a short journey in. A short walk from the hotel you will also find bars and restaurants, roman ruins, wonderful woods to walk or run in and the hotel grounds are great with a small but sheltered and very relaxing swimming pool. 5. Staff • This hotel is managed by a team of outstanding professionals. The Breakfast & Lunch Manager – Nicola directed his team like a conductor guiding an orchestra. When Nicola was on shift the professionalism and smooth operation was evident. He was aware of every table and the service was always exceptional. The hotel GM – Beatrice Pieraccini is outstanding. Beatrice works hard to ensure guests are looked after and has developed a team of professionals that extend her vision to ensure her guests get five-star treatment and always feel like VIPs, which we did. We highly recommend the FH55 Hotel Villa Fiesole to anyone looking for an exceptional stay in Florence.

This hotel is difficult to review because in reading previous posts, both the five star and one star reviews have some truth to them. Your enjoyment of this hotel will depend on what you are looking for, what kind of group you are with, what your transportation opportunities are, and possibly which room you are assigned. The good things are the view, the distance from the chaos of Florence, the cooler weather in the hills, and the helpfulness of most of the staff. We had “Garden Rooms”, so I can only comment on them. Our first room was very noisy both late at night and early in the morning because it is right below the restaurant. It had a sewage-like odor, and we eventually had them move us to a different room with no odor, but similar noise issues. Noise also came from groups of corporate guests congregating in the patio right in front of our row of rooms. This made this seemingly private and idyllic space a public party area at times. The WiFi is non-existent in the Garden Rooms; in spite of multiple complaints, this was never resolved. All these issues have been mentioned in previous TA reviews, and clearly they have not been remedied. The decor in our rooms was OK, but certainly nothing to Instagram about; makeshift electrical outlets, broken toilet seats. The bed and pillows are comfortable. The shower is adequate, but the bathrooms are tiny, and climbing out of the tub is quite treacherous because it is significantly raised above the floor level. There is a towel “warmer” that is not actually heated, and if you turn it on it gets cold and drips with condensation; not an enhancement for the towels. There is nice storage space and a safe in an anteroom between the bedroom and the bathroom. This anteroom nicely separates the bedroom from the bathroom from noise and light. There is a refrigerator with items for purchase, but even water is 4€ for a small bottle. There is a Nespresso machine. The a/c worked well. No drinking glasses are provided in the bathrooms, so we had to use coffee cups to brush our teeth. There isn’t an ATM in the hotel - so if you need cash for a driver or guide make sure you get it before you come to the hotel, otherwise you will need to travel into the town. The maids did a good job. However, at 680€/night, everything should be much higher quality. There is a tiny, unheated, pool with about 10 chairs in a location that should be picturesque, but seems more sad than relaxing. Aside from that, there isn’t much to do on the hotel grounds. The main negatives are related to the food and transportation options. There is only one restaurant. It has both an inside and outside area, each with great views. The included breakfast is adequate, but not impressive. There is an “all day“ menu until 7:30 pm, which is quite minimal; some triple decker sandwiches, pasta with tomato sauce, and some appetizer choices; no pizza, meatballs, fish filets, or steak. It’s OK for one meal, but not a place one would frequent repeated

We had a great experience with the hotel. The staff was amazing, the room was clean, quiet and the size was good for us. The location is nice and quiet, and the view is amazing!! We travelled with a baby and the hotel provided us everything we needed. I want to thank Nicolas for the service and the attention!

Fantastic view of Florence at not too far distance by car from downtown Service es exceptional in all aspects but particularly by the crew at the restaurant and the afternoon concierge who all go out of their way to let you experience Florence at its most