Hotel Alessandra

This place felt like such a hidden gem! The rooms were large, very clean, and the decor was charming and traditional. The staff was incredibly friendly and accommodating during our stay, helping us book cabs and holding our bags before and after check in & check out. The location was great and decently central so everything we wanted to see felt like a convenient walk away. Overall, it was a great value for the price and I would absolutely recommend it to anyone I know visiting Florence. Only thing I will flag is that you do have to go up a few flights of stairs to get to the small elevator that takes you to the lobby. We had large bags so it was a little difficult getting everything up to our rooms, but that was the only downside to the area.

Stayed here in Sept 2025 and it was perfect. The location was amazing on a wonderful quiet street with restaurants and shops but in the evening it was very quiet. It is only a 5 min walk to the Ponte Vecchio Bridge but far enough away that you don't hear or see all the traffic from that. It is also an easy walk to the city center and the city on the other side of the river. It is well lit so you feel safe walking to it in the evening. Rooms were great, we stayed in the Duomo-view suite. It was very spacious and the beds were comfortable. We had a TV and minifridge as well as closets and a desk. The bathrooms were a good size with tub showers so there was room in them and if you have traveled through Italy you know that this is important. The "Duomo View" was accurate you could see the top over the buildings outside your window. (See pics) There is an air conditioner in the rooms. It is controlled from the main desk. If you talk with them they will turn it down, and it was very comfortable in the room for a warm September with temps in the 80's outside. It is a 15 min walk from the train station which is nice but most of the walk is on cobblestone so if you are pulling a suitcase just be aware it is a tough pull sometimes. The breakfast was very good, it was the typical Italian breakfast and the coffee was great. They were very accommodating when I asked for a tray to take my coffee to the room to enjoy there and they were very appreciative when I returned the tray later that morning. Now the one thing to note (as is stated in other reviews) there are alot of stairs. This hotel is basically on the 3rd and 4th floor of a 4 story building. So, from the street there is a set of stairs to the lift/elevator then another set to the lobby. Our room was then on the 4th floor(see pics). Even with all of this I would stay here again in a heartbeat! You just need to be aware if stairs are a problem for you. The lift/elevator is not big. My wife and I fit in it cozily or you can throw your bags in there with a person. This is an amazing place to stay for the price in Florence. I would absolutely stay here again in a heartbeat. The staff is great and incredibly helpful. They provided great dining suggestions and accommodated all our requests! Thank you all for a great stay!

Our room was clean, with a high ceiling and a lovely view that made it feel bright and spacious. The staff were very kind and attentive. The hotel is located on the second floor and reached by an incredibly narrow elevator — we didn’t want to take any risks, so we used it one person at a time. They also serve breakfast at the hotel, but since Florence is a food lover’s paradise, it makes more sense to skip it and enjoy the city’s amazing cafés and restaurants instead. Every evening, walking back to the hotel and listening to the live music in the square was simply magical and romantic.

We were set to stay in Florence for three days before joining a tour group for the rest of our vacation. I chose Hotel Alessandra because it seemed to have the best combination of price, location, and overall charm/vibe. We were not disappointed at all. We were delayed a day when a connecting flight was canceled. When we arrived to check-in we were told that they felt bad for us that that happened and that we'd get free breakfast for the days that we were there. They definitely did not have to do that, but every part of the staff was above and beyond with kindness and helpfulness throughout our stay. The location was superb with the entrance in a quiet alley (Florence is one of the safest cities I've been in, so don't worry about that; the whole city is mostly quiet alleys and that's where you'll find a lot of the best little restaurants), but you are truly right in the middle of things with great shops, restaurants, and landmarks all very, very close. I'm sure all of the rooms are different because of the age of the building, but ours was palatial, with parquet flooring, huge windows overlooking the river, and a full bathroom with tub. There was also air conditioning and heat available, but we lucked out to perfect weather and mostly just had the windows open the whole time we were there. A couple of tips: 1. Stairs. The building was built in the 1500's so there are a lot of stairs. The lift doesn't start until the first landing, so there will be at least a few stairs every time you come or go. BUT… 2. While the lift looks strange (built into the middle of the stairwell, don't be afraid of it. It functions perfectly and is part of the experience.

Ciao Andrea, Monti, Lorenzo, and Matteo! Grazie mille!!! My mom and I absolutely loved our stay at your beautiful hotel in the heart of Florence! The location couldn’t be better. Everything is just a short walk away, from amazing restaurants to all the iconic sights. Everyone at the hotel was so kind, welcoming, and incredibly helpful. Our room was spacious, spotless, and had the most beautiful views. I truly can’t thank you all enough for making our stay so special. There’s even a small lift that fits one person, convenient for getting luggage upstairs! I’ll definitely stay here again next time I’m in Florence and will be recommending your hotel to all my friends!

Customer service is 5 stars! Our first night was not so pleasant due to the street noise got no sleep in room#1. We addressed it with Andrea the next morning, he mentioned they were booked but give me 10 minutes to see what I can do. He relocated us to another room, super quiet, bed comfortable , and spacious. The staff here is very welcoming, super close to the town center, the roof top quiet place over looks the bell tower. Great personal touch they give |You a bottle of wine to start your celebration! |They have glasses and beverages in the reception area if you need anything. The shower is lacking space to place your shampoo or any other item due to no shelves. The temperature is great, and if you want to sleep in the window shades are great. Set your alarm so you don’t over sleep. Down side they have have a small , 1 person lift but have to slep your luggage up 3 flights of stairs to get to it. Locating the address on the street, the bell is located to the left of the door, they automatically let you in, had a tough time navigating this at first.

An excellent place to stay in the heart of Florence. A building typical of the city's architecture. Beautiful and well-maintained. The rooms are adequate, perfect for relaxing after a day of exploring Florence. The mattresses, pillows, and sheets are super comfortable. The service is excellent. From the moment I booked, two months before my arrival, they contacted me with tips on how to get there, how to park closest to the hotel, and other advice for a better experience in the city. They were always attentive to my requests and responded quickly. I highly recommend it.

Down a side street between the Arno and the piazza is a small hotel. The only markings is a small plaque next to the heavy wooden door. When you open it you come face to face with a long flight of old stairs. Lug your bags up about 30 stairs and you find a rickety old elevator. Take that up another floor and you open up to a small old lobby with a sitting room adjacent. The staff greets you warmly and laughs about the stairs. This is old Florence. The basic room was spacious but spartan furnished with 2 twins pushed together, an old armoire, several antique dressers and a small bathroom. Everything was charming but old. Breakfast was very tasty and the staff incredibly friendly. He tried to teach me basic italian and recommendedd restaurants. A great place if you are looking for budget friendly and pack light.

Great hotel. We upgraded to river view which was amazing. Service was so nice and helpful. The staff scheduled taxis for us and helped with directions. Note: tiny elevator and if handicap need to walk many stairs to get to elevator. If handicap I would not recommend. We loved it.

The staff, owner, and property exceeded all expectations. They were so helpful and instrumental in us enjoying our time in Italy. Would recommend again and again!

Our trip to Florence was amazing and Hotel Alessandra was one of the reasons for that. Aside from the minor flight of stairs (reminder this building was made in 1507), everything from the service to the room was spectacular!! They put us in a newly renovated room that used to be the owners own bedroom as a child! It was super spacious and the bathroom had a tub, not something you find in Europe. Also, they will help you carry your bags up and down the stairs if need be. The owner came in our room and explained all the amenities, like Netflix! He was so incredibly passionate and made us feel like home. I would recommend this hotel for anyone staying in Florence. It's reasonably priced, great new renovated rooms (ask to have these rooms) and perfect location of the city. Grazie!

One of the best places I've ever stayed. The manager and staff were so incredibly welcoming and nice. Also, this location is so great and convenient for anyone who is new to visiting Florence. Everything central is within walking distance and super close by! The building itself is old school but that is its charm. I wish I would've stayed here and in Florence for more than a day. Beautiful city! I hope to be back soon.

Hotel from the 1500's - keeping in mind that there are a number of issues relating to the facility like: * Accessible entrance * Elevators * Structure * Layouts (rooms and bathrooms) There are plenty of reasons why my rating is 2 stars... Pros: * Very inexpensive * Close to everything in Florence * Great customer service * Good breakfast (continental style) Cons: * No recent updates to facilities, pretty torn down * the building had a very moldy smell * elevator is a huge issue for anyone * rooms smell like vermin - had to sleep with window open * no sound proofing at all - you could clearly hear neighbors - CLEARLY * AC unit practically useless I wish the outstanding service could compensate for the cons of this place. The owners should fix minor details and upgrade their look; unfortunately today I must give them this review.

I stayed at Hotel Alessandra for a few days before my study abroad program started at the end of August. It's a beautiful, cozy, and quaint bed & breakfast located close to Ponte Vecchio, the Duomo and other major sites in the city-center. I read about Hotel Alessandra in one of Rick Steves' guidebooks on Florence and he highly recommended them. I booked a single room with a separate bathroom but ended up having the bathroom all to myself, as no one else had booked the second single room (without bath). My room was definitely a "room with a view"; I could see all the beautiful terra cotta rooftops around Florence. My bed was comfortable and there were extra blankets, just in case. The room also had air conditioning, a tv, my own sink, and armoire. It's a simple room but provided all the amenities you could need. The bathroom was huge and extremely clean. I absolutely loved the breakfast that they served every morning. There was an array of pastries, sweet breads, and wheat/white bread for toast, cheese and prosciutto, yogurts, cereal, granola, and fresh orange juice. You could also ask for coffee drinks like cappuccinos and caffe lattes. However, what really made my stay at Hotel Alessandra so enjoyable was the amazing service. Monti and Andrea were so incredibly sweet and helpful. They both answered my many questions and always provided service with a smile. They even told me that I could call them if I needed anything while I was studying abroad, so sweet! If you're planning on visiting Florence, do not hesitate to stay here.

The hotel was decent, but it's really in a great location really close to the Ponte Vecchio and just a short walk to the Duomo. For also being there during the busy season (early August), the price wasn't bad too, around $120/night. As for the hotel itself, the entrance is tucked away in an alley so it could very easily be missed. Once you go through the entrance, it's a bit confusing because the hotel starts on the 3rd floor but you wouldn't know that unless you go into the elevator. The elevator is pretty slow and tiny but does its job. The rooms aren't anything special, in fact they look a bit quaint, but there's a/c so I couldn't really ask for more when I was there during their heat wave. Free wifi and breakfast/coffee in the mornings as most places do.

MONTI!! That's the name of the nicest, most helpful, most endearing person I met in my entire European vacation. I wanted to pack him in my suitcase and bring him home with me. He was the receptionist that greated us when we got to Hotel Alessandra and kept popping up at the desk and bringing an even bigger smile to our faces. He is the best!! As for the hotel, it's great. Sure, the trip up the stairs was long and steep, and we could barely fit out suitcases inside the tiny elevator, but I thought it added to the charm. We had one of the rooms that share a bathroom. There were two bathrooms near my room, although I really only used one during my stay. There was never a wait and no one ever knocked while I was in one, so I guess I chose the right times to go! Our room was cute. It was a "double" bed, which in Europe means two singles pushed together. Huge ceilings, big beautiful windows and a small washing station. The beds weren't particularly comfortable and the pattern throughout the room was sort of laughably Victorian, but I enjoyed the kitsch. We never made it up for breakfast, so I can't speak for it. Overall I enjoyed my time here. The location is great, the decor is enjoyable, the wifi free and the price was right. But really, Monti was all I needed!

We stayed here for 3 nights and then returned for another 2 nights when we did not like our lodgings in Lucca. We LOVED this place! It is family owned and run by Andrea and his mother. The owners are quite lovely people, and went out of their way to be accommodating with our reservations (we changed the dates, and later asked for additional nights). The price is very reasonable. All of the staff spoke excellent English. The hotel is is a great location! It is on a charming, cobblestone quiet street that is a very short walk to the action. There are several nice restaurants on the street as well. The hotel itself is in an old grand building and has been remodeled into a hotel on the third and fourth (American floors) floors of the building. There are nice, large rooms with private bathrooms, which include a bidet. The furnishings are simple, but appear to be antique. Our first room had a great view of the dome and the terra cotta rooftops of Florence. The bed was king sized, and quite comfortable. They provide a really nice free breakfast in a lovely dining room. It is Italian style food-croissants, a Italian coffee cake, cheese, yogurt, cereals, cantaloupe, scrambled eggs and, of course, cappuccino! The only downside is you do have to walk up some stairs to reach the hotel reception and rooms, although there is a tiny elevator for part of the way. If you have serious mobility issues, it may not be the place for you. However, we could overlook that. We felt it was one of the best managed hotels that we have ever stayed in, and we looked forward to returning there after a busy day of sight seeing and walking all over Florence. It was a really pleasant experience staying there, and we would definitely come again! PS there were lots of fluffy white towels (another reviewer complained about the lack of towels?)

I've got a lot of little issues with this place. we'll start with the good- the staff are the friendliest people on earth, full of awesome recommendations. it's cheap and in prime location. they have a nice little secluded balcony thing, I highly suggest buying a bottle and going up there to relax. now to talk about what I wasn't thrilled about- it is 3 or 4 (can't exactly remember) floors up, fine for me bc I'm not lazy, but my lazy new husband whined in my ear the whole time. also, the elevator looks like a death trap, nope I'll lug my suitcase up the stairs rather than getting in that. there were mosquitos in our room. they do give you a thing to plug in that helps but ew. the rooms are big, but they're dated. you have to call the front desk to turn the air conditioning on and off. breakfast selection is pretty nice though

This hotel was our home base for 7 nights in Florence. We found it perfect: Reasonably priced, close to most sights, near many restaurants, clean, and quiet. The entire staff is pleasant and very helpful. Breakfast included scrambled and hard boiled eggs, ham, pastries, cereals, some fruit...essentially everything we desired. Wi-fi was free and adequate. Our room was quite large, with a decent view of an adjacent (non-working) bell tower, a courtyard, and a sliver of the River Arno. The room had a safe for valuables. Lavatory facilities were modern and spotless, although as in many older hotels, the lavatory configuration was a bit odd (long and narrow). We would -- and will -- stay here again. In a heartbeat. All that said, I recognize that this place would not be everyone's cup of tea. The primary potential issue is the stairs: you climb one flight to reach a tiny (but perfectly workable) lift, then take that lift (or climb a second flight) to get to the lobby. This did not bother us -- we are in our 60s and 70s but we are fit. But if you have any physical problems, this is not the place for you. Otherwise, I recommend this hotel without reservation.

First, my husband (were he to ever write a review) would probably give this place 4 stars so that just goes to show how two people can have the exact same experience but view it differently. Our "specifications": We had a deluxe room, with river view, private bath, on the 4th floor. I believe we paid around $225 (USD) per night, which is pretty cheap for this area. The good: the price is in-line with a 2 star hotel, which is what it is. So, set expectations accordingly. The location seriously cannot be beat. Quiet street that is 1/2 block from everything you will want. So convenient!! The room was large, had windows that opened up with a view of the river - - - however if you didn't look straight ahead, the views to left or right were of very crappily kept neighboring balconies. That is not the Alessandro's fault but again, setting expectations. The bad: the stairs are not a non-issue. We were traveling for 16 nights and had heavy suitcases. You have to lug it to the 2nd floor to get to the elevator. Granted, my husband carried the bags (and he liked the place) but I thought it was a pain. I have claustrophobia and elected to walk the stairs rather than get in the tiny elevator but it is a hike. I think I read on maybe Tripadvisor that the staff would help with bags ..... not the case with us for sure. The room was hot. You cannot control the AC - it's either on or off and 'on' wasn't very cool. Maybe I didn't encounter the infamous 'Monti' but I didn't find any employee especially friendly or helpful. Yes, they made a dinner reservation for us but damn, I don't think that's worth raving over. No one else was really overly pleasant. Breakfast was ok.... I mean, we didn't starve, but don't get too excited. It was hard boiled eggs, coffee and some pastry. Here's what I absolutely didn't like: every time you left the hotel, you were required to leave the key with the front desk staff. First, I have no idea why. They said it was for our protection and that if we lost the key, it would be 50 euro to replace (btw, I'm in Italy for 16 days, I can afford 50 euro if I lose the freaking key). Second, attached to the key was a fob that was required to turn the lights on or off. That meant when you left the room, the a/c wasn't working - - - and it was hot when the a/c was ON! Third, they claimed that's how all European hotels did it (the surrender the key policy). We stayed in 4 different hotels in 4 different cities & the Alessandro was the only one who required that, so I'm not sure that is a standard "policy". The location really is worth all the other stuff but I would likely not stay there if I returned. My husband tho, said he would! He found all the things I mentioned part of the Firenze experience! :) :) P.S. - - - I just checked their website... under photos of 'superior rooms', our exact room was images 6 & 7 and yes, I think that's accurate to what it actually looked like. Check image 4 - with the caption "superior room overlooking the river" - - that was taken from the window of our room. However - - notice how the angle is towards the right? That is because whatever is eye-level immediately on the left (which is not Alessandro property) basically used their balcony as their trash can. There was junk and scraps everywhere and it was disgusting. But the view straight on & towards the right certainly was pretty!

My wife and I stayed here in October, 2016. The staff were super nice and very helpful suggesting places to go. The hotel is close to the Uffizi Gallery, Ponte Vecchio, and Duomo. We wanted to be at the Uffizi when it opened in the morning, and staying at the Hotel Alessandra made that easy. The rooms were on the large side for Italy. Our view was nothing special. It's on a quiet street. The price was good for Florence.

Spacious rooms, incredibly friendly service, fair prices, and a great location. Perfect!

I chose A-OK because it wasn't Yay, I'm a fan. We did encounter Monti and he was a dear. Upon our return he would say - Amore, you have returned. The first room I had had a shower in it like the one I encountered while in Venice in 2001. Take a shower and there's water all over the floor. And they're not very generous with the towels. But the room was fine and the AC worked in my room very well. I will say I wasn't enamored with breakfast. They do the same thing every morning. Hard boiled eggs, yogurt, cereal, toast, pastry, prosciutto and cheese, American coffee, espresso, and latte. I would have liked scrambled eggs, but to be fair, there certainly was enough food. For us "older" travelers, the stairs were a B - - - -. We had to climb 28 steps to get to the elevator. Monti and the owner's son were very helpful. The rest - not so much. I also have to say they were very accomodating in that we would take 2-day trips to another city and were allowed to leave our luggage in a separate room while gone and pick it up again when we returned. The hotel is situated on a quiet side street near lots of restaurants and places of interest. Also to be fair, when were returned from one of our side trips, I was given another room with a much better bath. All I really care about is the bed (comfortable and clean sheets), the bath, and the air conditioning. They were batting 3 for 3.