Detailed Review
A warm welcome awaits you at the Hotel Savoy in the heart of Florence. Located on the historic Piazza della Repubblica, close to the landmark Duomo and just steps away from the main fashion houses, museums and galleries, this is the ideal base from which to visit the key attractions of this beautiful and historic city. The hotel’s elegant decor offers a chance to experience the best that Florence has to offer. All 102 bedrooms are stylishly designed to offer maximum comfort and many have large walk-in wardrobes. We also have fourteen marvellous suites, two of them, the Suite Brunelleschi and the Suite Signoria even feature a state of art steam bath with chromotherapy and aromatherapy facilities. Many have superb views of the Piazza or the Duomo. The bathroom mosaics, crisp Italian linen and parquet floors combine to create a cool and soothing ambience. As a tribute to the designer fashion houses in the city, you will also find quirky images of shoes throughout the building! A cool haven amidst the bustle of the city, the Savoy is conveniently central and ideal for dropping off your shopping and enjoying a refreshing drink on the piazza before continuing with your sight-seeing.
Press Quotes
"a stylish, upbeat hotel... attracting both a business and leisure clientèle plus a fair share of celebs." Conde Nast 08
Independent Reviews
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"An elegant and modern Rocco Forte hotel with a central Piazza della Repubblica location and Stark-esque, contemporary rooms."
Central location on the Piazza della Republicca, though rooms with views can be noisy, especially in summer, as the city parties late into the night and the stone walls echo with revelry. Nevertheless, this is the best five-star in the city, though traditionalists will prefer the Helvetia and Bristol.
Hotel Savoy
By Jamie Dunford Wood
The Savoy is another addition to Rocco Forte’s encouraging stable of hotels, and being an Rocco Forte hotel you know what to expect: architectural integrity in the rooms (although here it has as much to do with stiff planning laws as the vision of designer Olga Polizzi); tasteful fabrics and interesting visuals on the walls; subdued colourways and matching hues; deeply comfortable beds and classic marble and travertine bathrooms full of expensive shampoos. Not to mention the location - an important aspect of any Rocco Forte hotel whether here, right on the Piazza Repubblica, or in Rome by the Piazza del Popolo.
The Savoy is a true city hotel. Other than your room, there’s not much point in lingering here, because the public rooms are minimal and the restaurant, while good, spills out onto the street and is just one of a number of great places to eat within a few hundred metres. Two minutes in one direction is the Duomo, two minutes in the other the Piazza Signoria and the Ponte Vecchio. While the Russie in Rome provides, in its garden, a haven from the Roman bustle and heat outside, there is no such luxury here. But since downtown Florence is largely pedestrianised, this is an appealing place to stay, as the sights and shops and restaurants are on your doorstep. However one caveat - Florence at night is noisy. Fire-eaters, Charlie Chaplin mimics, buskers and all manner of street life entertains until the early hours. Ideally you will want to stay out until midnight - Florence has so much to offer by night as well as by day and the historical magic of the city really comes alive after dark. But if you have a room at the front, don’t expect to sleep well on an early night; book a room at the back for some (relative) peace and quiet, or on the 4th or 5th floors.
The approach to the rooms along the wide travertine corridors feels a bit like the Starship Enterprise - walls, floor and ceilings are in cream, with the odd splash of colour introduced on the walls - the theme here is shoes, as, although this is an Rocco Forte hotel, the building is owned by Ferragamo. Inside, the rooms are parquet floored with fabrics in mint greens and beige or beige and mulberry, with specially designed dark wooden modern furnishings - you find them in Rome too - and large fabric bedheads with wall-mounted reading lights.
Deluxe rooms are a little bit bigger than the classics, but have bigger windows which make them feel lighter. The tallest ceilings and windows are to be found on the second floor, whose rooms also have little balconies (as have 4th floor rooms). The 5th floor feels more cramped. The bathrooms are mosaiced to look like Roman baths, with sunken tubs and single sinks - not large, but adequate for a city hotel. Service in the small reception downstairs is efficient but only one elevator sometimes makes progress upstairs a little slow. Restaurant and bar service can be variable - few hotels have managed to crack the Italian disease, and this is no exception. But breakfast is delightful on the street in fine weather, watching the city wake up. All in all, the tone of the hotel is cool and tasteful, and the location counts for much.
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Condé Nast Traveller 2008 & 2007 Gold List
