Hotel Bavaria

The staff were lovely, and I’m already missing Florence after such a special stay. The Duomo is only two minutes away, so the location is super convenient. I had a single room with a shared bathroom, and the room was really comfortable with a useful sink. Staff cleaned every day, so everything was well maintained. There are two shared bathrooms, both renovated and good, and they stayed clean. I had no noise problems, though that can depend on the other guests, even though my room was the first one. Getting to the room means climbing the stairs in a traditional building, but two floors was completely fine, and there are light switches for nighttime. You also get keys to enter when nobody is at reception. It was perfect for me traveling solo, and I’d come back with more people too.

The staff were very friendly and suggested some great local places to eat and sights to see. This is a cute little hotel just a block from the Duomo. The rooms are quaint, and the shared bathrooms are kept very clean. That setup is reflected in the price. The hotel is on the second floor with no elevator, so expect to carry your luggage upstairs. I was very pleased with my stay.

The rooms looked decent, with high ceilings, and ours had a private bathroom. Most rooms use a shared bathroom, and there’s also a lovely large shared space. But those positives couldn’t make up for how cold and uncomfortable the stay felt. The management were unfriendly and unaccommodating, and we left uneasy. I rarely post negative reviews, but other travellers should know what it was like. Getting around the building was difficult. There’s no elevator, and guests have to carry their own bags up 78 stairs, which we counted. We knew that in advance, but it was still a real struggle with big bags and suitcases. Our shower leaked, leaving the bathroom floor slippery. We took a few extra towels from a cupboard in the common room to mop up, thinking guests could use them. Within minutes, a staff member came upstairs to say we weren’t allowed to take towels and should have asked at the desk. We were also told towels aren’t replaced during a stay, even when wet or dirty. That felt especially unhelpful given the leak. There were two cameras in the common room, and we felt watched. The same staff member seemed to appear almost as soon as we moved around the shared spaces, which made things feel tense instead of secure. The next day, while my mum was in the bathroom, that person knocked and briefly opened the hotel room door just to remind her about the towel rule. It felt intrusive and unnecessary. One staff member was always nice, smiling and warm. A special thanks to him. We only saw him a couple of times. The communal kitchen fridge also stopped working, and all our groceries went off. Nobody apologized or offered help. The rooms may look decent, but the atmosphere was cold and unwelcoming. We wouldn’t stay again. I hope the hotel treats guests with more warmth and understanding in future, minus the one nice staff member, because the space itself could be pleasant with better hospitality.

The location was good, though the hotel doesn’t have all the usual modern conveniences. Our room had a fan and windows that opened all the way, which was helpful. It’s supposed to be a non-smoking hotel, but I’m not sure if that applies to everyone in the building or only the guests. I have asthma, and smoke spread through the whole floor and common rooms, making the stay quite difficult. Unfortunately, we ended up confined to our room.