Check out my reviews of the Hilton Garden Inn Florence.  During my Italy vacation, I stayed at American hotels because I wanted to use points for award reservations and for more modern conveniences.  These hotels are not found in the city center (as most American International brands are not usually in the center of town) but they were all easily accessible, modern, clean and luxurious.  I booked award reservations 4-6 months out from my arrival and found availability.

Featured photo by Jason Briscoe.

Hilton Garden Inn Florence Novoli (previously Hilton Novoli)

Via Sandro Pertini, 2/9, FLORENCE, 50127

Hotel Review:

The Hilton Garden Inn Florence Novoli is a very modern, updated, clean hotel.  This is a really, really nice hotel.  I am surprised to see Hilton change it to a Garden Inn which is a lower tiered category of hotel.  Maybe the level of Garden Inns is going up and I need to adjust my expectations.  Check out their site pics for yourself.

As I mentioned, this is a very modern hotel.  There is onsite gym, restaurant, wi-fi, etc.  I didn’t use these but I am sure they would be up to par.

One thing that wasn’t up to par – and I read on customer forums before I went there – was that the a/c wasn’t working.  I told the front desk but for the 2 nights I stayed, there was no a/c.  The hotel staff provided fans but that only circulated the hot air.  The windows wouldn’t open more than 3 inches.   It’s as if the hotel put an ultra-modern window in there (maybe for winter) but didn’t think about summer.  I was there in May and it was cool and lovely outside.  That is exactly the type of air temperature I would have loved if the window would open fully.

Everything else I loved about this hotel.  Did I mention super-clean and modern?

When I was at this hotel, the roses were in full bloom.  There is a trellis in the back courtyard with climbing roses and they were in full blossom.  Beautiful.  I saw roses in bloom all over Italy – maybe that’s a thing (which I really love).  I regret not asking where to get seeds for those roses.

Neighborhood:

Another wonderful thing about this hotel – even though the location is not in walking distance of the city center – is that it is near a retail shopping strip center sort of thing.  There are cafes, dining, shopping, etc in walking distance which is really nice.

Be sure to check out The Coop (or Cooperative).  This wonderful supermarket is more like a Whole Foods or boutique grocery but without the expensive price tag.  It’s filled with Italian artisinal brands and also has pizza, pasta, cheeses, breads, etc that you can take-away on the go.  The supermarket section has many locally made products that are certified as authentic Italian.  The prices are very reasonable and these items make for great souvenirs.  I got my breakfast items from The Coop every night.  You could easily get a pizza or sandwich to go for the day and pick it up in the morning.  Check it out at e-coop.it

Getting to/from:

To get to the Hilton Garden Inn Florence from the SMN train station, take the local bus 22 going towards Novoli (stop: Ragghianti).  You can also access the city by the local bus ($1-2 euros one way).  To get the bus, exit the hotel entrance and walk 5 minutes on Via Sandro Pertini to the main road, Via di Novoli.  Cross the street to take the local bus 22 heading towards city center (Novoli stop: Stradella).  If arriving at the hotel, exit the bus and you’ll be on the right/closer side to walk down Via Sandro Pertini towards the hotel.

Other:

Hilton’s loyalty program, Hilton Honors, will be changing in late February to include new perks.  One of them is variable pricing on award reservations as well as the option to pay with points and money.  That is great news for this hotel because you may be able to reserve this hotel for as low as 16,000 points (with $0 cash).  When I stayed the points needed were closer to 30,000 (which is now the high range).  Not sure if May is considered a peak for this hotel but if you book in advance or in a non-peak time, you may be able to get a better deal.  This hotel is a steal at 16K points.  Check out how many points are needed here.

City tax of $4.5 euros per person per night applies to all non-residents of Florence.  If you are a resident of Florence, what are the odds of you staying at this hotel in your own city, hmmm?

Recommend (Y/N): Yes

Not only would I recommend this hotel (even with the a/c issue) but I would also stay here if I am in Florence again.