A Room with a (Fabulous) View: The Hotel Palazzo Guadagni in Florence.

When I first came to Florence at age 18, my then boyfriend taught at a language school for foreigners on one of the city’s most beautiful squares, the Piazza Santo Spririto. The Palazzo in which his school was located stood on the corner of the square. It was an imposing renaissance building with an elegant loggia on the top floor.

Hotel Palazzo Guadagni, my favourite hotel in Florence. Spot the lovely loggia on the top floor.

What attracted me most to the building was that the top floor was occupied by the Pensione Sorelle Bandini, a small hotel that never failed to sweep me into an “A Room with A View” fantasy.  Whenever I’d come to pick up my boyfriend from work, I’d gaze up at the pensione and feel nostalgic for a period I never knew, wishing that I were staying there at the turn of the 20^th-century with an eclectic gaggle of friends. But I never did stay there – until last week.

One of Firenze's best kept secrets.... even if you are not staying at the hotel you can have tea or a drink on the loggia

Today the pensione is called Hotel Palazzo Guadagni, and it has been beautifully restored and refurbished without losing any of its original atmosphere or charm. I booked late, only one day ahead, so my room was probably one of the simplest, but it suited me perfectly.

View from my window at night - Palazzo Pitti

The room was clean and generous, about 40m2, newly painted in mauve with a large bed, chest of drawers, table and chair – all antiques. There was a rather anachronistic mini bar with a small television next to a large window, which provided a fabulous, direct view of the Palazzo Pitti.  The bathroom was – happily – new, but decorated in authentic Italian style, with the tiles painted in a colourful motif.  Even the bathtub was marvelous: made of lovely old-fashioned enamel instead of cheap-feeling fiberglass.

My room at the hotel palazzo Guadagni in Florence - I love the simplicity

I woke at 8:30am to the bells of Santo Spirito with the sun pouring into my room and the sound of birds chirping.  Although it was October 30^th, the sun was warm enough for us to sit on the famous loggia for breakfast and look down at the bustling market below.  Sheer bliss.

View from the loggia onto the flower market in Piazza Santo Spirito

This is my idea of a lovely hotel.

Link to Hotel Palazzo Guadagni

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