ibis Firenze Prato Est

The staff were super nice and always helpful. They even arranged a cab for my 0630 airport flight, and breakfast was great. I was here for work because I could walk from the property to my office. It's also beside the mall and a short walk from the train station (Calenzo). The room temperature was a struggle, though. The shower wouldn't hold a steady temperature, and the air conditioning wasn't turned on, so I had to open the window. I brought a fan, which helped a bit, but then a huge number of mosquitoes and bugs came in and ate me alive. With the window closed it was too hot to sleep. Even if the A/C had been running, its blower barely moved any air. I ended up buying screen at a store and taping it over the window. I'm not sure I'd stay here again.

The room was dusty, and although the front desk staff were polite, the hotel's policies didn't feel customer focused. My main problem was the room charge being held on my card before I arrived, then being asked to pay separately at the hotel. I booked through the AllAccor member app with the pay-at-hotel option, as I'd done at other Ibis hotels. At midnight on arrival day, the room cost was blocked on my card. When I asked when it would be returned, I was told 'nei prossimi giorni'. It took 11 days for the money to be released. I find that completely unacceptable: the amount was held automatically before I could even arrive, but I then had to wait for the hotel's administration to release it. Other Ibis hotels I've stayed at, admittedly not in Italy, don't handle it this way. I don't object to security payments, even though other hotels in the chain don't do this and could charge for the room after a no-show. My issue is the long wait to get the money back. Imagine filling stations using the same approach and taking that long to release the funds. I was a loyal, regular Accor customer, but their support was completely lacking. I note the hotel's reply, but if the team can't see how cumbersome and unfair this is for customers, I'm cancelling my AllAccor loyalty account and won't be a customer anymore.

We stay here for work, and it's in a very convenient spot for us, close to Prato and not far from Florence when we want to enjoy ourselves. The rooms are spacious, and the hotel is very clean. The staff were smiling and pleasant, definitely worth a special mention.

The air conditioning runs, but doesn't cool the room. The WiFi keeps dropping, and you have to ask reception for a new access code every day. The room key card doesn't work, so you have to go back to reception and wait 20 minutes, including while the reception ladies are on a call. And breakfast is horrible, the scrambled eggs smell awful. Go with JR hotel or Star hotel Vespucci instead. Don't be fooled by the flashy photos they've uploaded.