Hotel Helvetia & Bristol
PRICE:
Frommer's Very Highly Recommended
ADDRESS: Via dei Pescioni 2
CITY: Florence
COUNTRY: Italy
POSTCODE: 50123
PHONE 1: 888/770-0447 in the U.S.
PHONE 2: 800-505-050 toll-free in Italy
FAX: 055-288-353
WEBSITE: www.hotelhelvetiabristolfirenze.it
This Belle Epoque hotel is the most central of the top luxury properties in town, host in the past to the Tuscan Macchaioli painters as well as De Chirico, playwright Pirandello, and atom-splitting Enrico Fermi. The attentive staff oversees the rather cushy accommodations outfitted with marble bathrooms, large, firm beds, and heavy curtains. Most rooms have at least one antique work of art on the fabric-covered walls, and all are well insulated from the sounds of the outside world. The large 17th-century canvases add an air of dignity to the plush sofas of the lounge, while the Winter Garden bar/breakfast room is tricked out with trailing ivy and a splashing fountain. Prices, though, are starting to get a little exaggerated. In 2005, the hotel added a restaurant with outdoor seating.
Copyright: Excerpted from
Frommer's Florence, Tuscany & Umbria, 6th Edition, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

Florence
, Italy