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Back to Florence B&B
Dear Kristin,
Our trip to Italy was fantastic. In Italy gave us good guidance although we were dealing with a challenging time frame. We enjoyed taking the trains from Rome to Florence to Venice and back to Rome, using the time between hotel check out and subsequent hotel check in for traveling between cities. The hotel in Florence had the best coffee, was quiet and well located just steps away from the Uffizi. We enjoyed a walk near the Boboli Gardens and up to a hill overlooking Florence, tours of the Uffizi, the Accademia, and other museums as well as walks around the Duomo and through the market where the vegetables, salamis and other foods were so resplendently displayed.
The help that we received from In Italy allowed us to make the best of those ten days in the lovely country. We cannot wait to go back.
Mary G.
Hello Kristin!
We had a wonderful time in Italy and we appreciate all of your suggestions. We loved the Hotel Abbazia! They were very friendly people and we felt very welcome; the location was great!
Our time at the Florence B&B was not so great. While the location was great, the people were not very friendly and really made us feel like we were bothering them by asking for anything. It can be difficult to travel in a foreign country and not speak the language. Where the people at our other hotels were patient, friendly and full of ideas and suggestions, these people definitely were not. The accommodations were okay at best. It just wasn’t a friendly comfortable experience for us.
I would like to thank you for all your help while I was booking our vacation. I would really have been lost without it.
Thanks!!
Lorri R.
Hi Jessica and Kristin,
We had a fabulous time in Italy and using your agency was one of the best things we did. While I was a little nervous about doing everything via email or the internet, the results were better than expected.
Milan - We stayed at the Hotel Zurigo. This hotel was very nice for a 3-star hotel and within a 10-minute walking distance of the Duomo and Galleria - some of the highlights of Milan. The breakfast was very good with many selections of beverages and bakery items. The staff was very helpful, especially when I needed a taxi in a hurry (due to a missing voucher) or we would miss the 'Last Supper' exhibit. The concierge got us a taxi within 5 minutes and we made the event in time. They were also extremely accommodating with our rooms since our arrangements were a bit complicated. We were grateful that our two rooms were just across the hall from each other on a private floor (the top). We would recommend this hotel to our friends.
Lake Como - Our favorite accommodations of the entire trip! I was a little apprehensive because the price was the most economical of our vacation. Wow, we weren't prepared for the amazing view of the Lake and Bellagio from our private balcony. Our only regret was that we weren't there longer. Even though this hotel appears to be at least a hundred years old, it was kept up very nicely with a beautiful lobby and a modern tiled bathroom. The view from the restaurant (we only ate our complimentary breakfast there) on the 5th floor and verandas was breathtaking. The breakfast was also excellent with a great variety. Who knew what a gem Grand Hotel Cadenabbia would turn out to be?
The hotel referred us to Rodrigo's restaurant, just up the street. You hadn't mentioned it on our voucher but we would suggest it to anyone. The prices were reasonable and the food was excellent, we especially enjoyed their pizza. It was nice to be able to walk just a couple of minutes to dinner.
Florence B & B - this was a nice hotel on a quiet street near the main piazza of the city and the Uffizi. We loved being this close to the action while not having the noise of the city. For a budget hotel, we were impressed with their efficiency and nice accommodations. We stayed in their recently upgraded rooms and were pleased with the nice bathroom and room.
Our splurges - we decided to book private tours through you. My husband was apprehensive at first due to the cost, but these proved to be the highlights of the trip. I would recommend this to anyone - if you are trying to do Italy on a budget, do it with less expensive rooms and even food if necessary but don't cut on the tours. I was traveling with my husband and 21 yr. old twin boys. They had never shown much interest in art and were apprehensive of an entire morning viewing just that in Florence. My husband later exclaimed that Florence was 10x better than expected and I will say that is directly related to the fact we booked private tours through you. Valentina was very impressive and guided us through the art, hitting only the highlights (this helped to avoid art overkill) and explaining each piece's significance in detail. In both the Uffizi and the Accademia, we left feeling like we knew more than the average visitor. Valentina made the visit meaningful and not mind boggling, as museum overload can be. Our friends visited there a day earlier and didn't enjoy the Uffizi as they just wandered aimlessly. Valentina and her knowledge of the pieces and their historical significance made the difference. We would highly recommend her to any visitors on your site.
Rome - Trevi Apartment, it was great to be in the heart of the city - near the Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon - yet it is quite and safe since you have an armed guard at the head of the street because the apartment is located next door to the Quirinale - Presidential Palace. We liked being in the center of things without the noise. The metro was close by and the best gelato - Crispins, was just down the street (tell others about them on your site). Marco was very helpful when we called for directions to drive into the city and where to park (yes we had a rental car and it worked out very well). Marco reviewed a city map for us with areas of interest and was very accommodating, even coming back to help us when the satellite tv wasn't working right. The separate air conditioning in each room was really nice - but the unit in the twin room had to be shut off because it dripped. My only concern was the 3 flights of stairs to get to bed at night. If you don't mind stairs - this is great, if you do - don't stay here.
Tour - we did the full-day Coliseum, Catacombs and Vatican tour. Kiran (sp) was our guide. We were a little worried since he was nearly 25 minutes late, but he was apologetic (traffic?) and made up for it during the day. Whenever their were time delays during the day due to traffic jams, etc., he made up the time when we did get to our desitnation and probably spent more time with us than scheduled. Since he is working on his PHD in Art History, his wealth of knowledge was incredible - I can't imagine a better guide. He was fascinating and stated the stories without slant or opinions which allowed us to think on our own. His knowledge and insights, with extra details I'm sure most guides don't have, were well worth the time. We also appreciated the fact that English was his first language - it was easier for us to understand him. It was wonderful to walk past the long lines at the Coliseum.
Having Kiran as a guide for the Coliseum and Vatican was well worth the cost. Before we went inside the Sistine Chapel, he spent at least 30 minutes reviewing the panels using a story board in the courtyard. Once we did get inside, it was much easier to take it all in with the insights he had provided. I appreciated his knowledge of the real gems vs just artifacts so we didn't waste time wandering.
We will definitely use In Italy again and I will recommend you to my friends traveling to Italy. Now, when are you opening up infrance.com? This is a service I really could've used!
Thanks,
Meridee C.
Dear Kristin,
We did have a good trip but are glad to be home after extensive travel in both Ireland and Italy.
The accommodations at the Villa Cinque Terre were excellent and lived up to our expectations and more. Worth the few extra Euros to have the view of the water. The desk agent, (Enrico, I believe his name is who has worked with you personally) was most gracious and helpful. His patience as we navigated about and directions as to train travel helped immensely. Please let him know how much we appreciated if you do contact. Breakfast choices were exceptional and a cheery place to base for the couple of nights we were there.
However, we were quite disappointed with the accommodations in Florence at the B&B you recommended. Although the location was excellent, our room faced the alley/street and was very noisy day and night with clanging, talk, workers, and occasional cars. Breakfast was very minimal with corn flakes, a sweet rice crispy type of cereal, fruit cocktail and limited rolls. So much a change from the fine experience we had had just a day before in Cinque Terre. Did see a few rooms facing the courtyard, but I think we had chosen an upgrade with our reservation and this certainly didn't seem so. Definitely would not recommend this B&B to anyone traveling to Florence. As stated, the location was the only thing going for it plus the fast taxi service on our day of departure.
I did enjoy working with my contact at In Italy and would certainly use you again or recommend to others to investigate your properties, but please take another look at the Florence site before praising so lavishly.
Sally A.
Hi Kristin,
We just got back from our trip to Italy last Friday and I just wanted to let you know all went very well and we had a great time.
In Florence we stayed in Florence B&B; great hotel, nice staff and so close to all the sights. And it was very quiet at night even though it is in the middle of town.
In Chianciano we stayed in Palazzo Bandino; our absolute favorite place. What a great place to stay. We stayed in for dinner every night (3 nights) since the food was really good and we met some nice people over dinner. The staff again was very nice and our room (we stayed in the little cabin next to the main house) was great.
Next we went to Lido di Camaiore were we stayed at Villa Riviera Toscana. The hotel was very nice and we had a great room with a large balcony. The downside was that the season was over and there were only very few people in the hotel. I had read before that they serve really good food at the hotel but not this time of the year. There was only one restaurant open in Lido di Camaiore; the place was just closed for the winter. We had booked the hotel for four nights but decided to leave a day early and go back to Florence for the last two days.
The car rental and museum tickets worked all out perfectly. And also the Airport hotel worked out great at the end of our vacation (we had a 6:00 am flight out of Florence).
Thank you for all your help, you made planning our trip so much easier. The website was also of great help as we printed off many pages with info to bring on our trip. Thanks again and we hope to travel to Italy again in the next years. We had a wonderful trip.
John and Joke N.
Dear Julie,
Italy was fantastic, a little cold, but it was March. We had everything from warm sunny days to snow while in the Chianti hills.
Florence was wonderful, we explored all over and had a great time doing it. We even accidentally set off an alarm on a statue in the Pitti Palace; don't get too close. The Boboli Gardens are a must for any gardeners out there.
We really enjoyed the staff at Florence B&B. They were especially helpful with figuring out where to go and how to get there. Be warned though. The hotel is on an alley near the Piazza del Signorina and when the vendors bring their carts home at night it echoes through the alley and into the hotel room. Also, the hallway doesn't have carpeting so any noises echo and are easily heard in the rooms. The continental breakfast was filling and my mom fell in love with the steamed milk offered with the coffee. Our first room was nicely sized with a good sized bathroom. It was also positioned toward the middle of the hotel and didn't have quite the alley noise. Our second room was much smaller, slightly more room than the furniture occupies. As my mom said, you have to leave the room to change your mind. The bathroom was infinitely smaller than the first one, it also had a step into the bathroom a step up to the commode, and another step into the shower. It's a good thing we didn't spend much time in the room, we were too busy having fun in Florence.
Our time at Castello nel Chianti was perfect. Penny was exceptional, she made arrangements for us for dinner several times and a tour of Siena. Her suggestions were spot on. We even had a couple of laughs at our expense when we didn't ask for her advise and blundered into a couple of poor choices for dinner.
All in all, it was a wonderful time and I can't wait to go back. I will definitely use InItaly.com again. You took all of the hard work out of getting this vacation planned. I cannot thank you enough.
Take Care,
Dawn B.
Initaly.com was awesome - they helped me plan and book my trip to Italy and were right on with places and hotels. I would recommend anyone going to Italy to use initaly.com
Florence B&B - great place on a very quiet side street, but only a block from all the action. Loved the location and the staff. The staff at the hotel helped with dinner reservations, rent-a-car issues and international phone calls. Best of all the air conditioning was awesome. Florence was hot and the hotel was cool. The room was a good size and the bathroom, shower, etc... were all good.
Villa Cinque Terre - the best place in Cinque Terre, I am convinced. The staff was awesome, the room was great and the shower was unbelievable with 4 different jet systems to shower. The staff helped with train reservations and even booked it on their credit card and took cash from us. When we were leaving early in the morning, they packed us a breakfast to take that was second to none. There was enough food for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I would certainly stay here again and tell anyone going to Cinque Terre, this is the place to stay.
Hotel Alexandra - Great hotel, great location, awesome large room with very cold a/c.....The staff was helpful getting us airport transportation, etc....Another good choice that I would stay at again.
Jeff R.
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