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Reviews of Hotel Merlini

1 out of 5
Hotel Merlini
Via Faenza 56, Florence, FI

Reviews

8.2

Very good

Rating 10 - Excellent. 47 out of 132 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 54 out of 132 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 23 out of 132 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 5 out of 132 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 3 out of 132 reviews" "

8.6/10

Cleanliness

8.8/10

Staff & service

8.2/10

Amenities

7.6/10

Property conditions & facilities

9.0/10

Eco-friendliness

Reviews

10/10 Excellent

Peter

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
The hotel is in a building with a hostel and other hotels. But the lift takes you to a beautifully old-fashioned hotel on the top floor without any noise from lower down. The breakfast room is particularly attractive, with paintings and a view to the Cathedral and Palazzo Vecchio. Breakfast was great too. The staff couldn't have been more helpful (we much appreciated the umbrella they lent us!)
Stayed 4 nights in Oct 2023

8/10 Good

Sharon

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 3 nights in May 2023

10/10 Excellent

Victor

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
nice place
Stayed 3 nights in May 2023

10/10 Excellent

Luis

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 4 nights in Apr 2023

10/10 Excellent

James

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
This hotel was in a very safe location. Owners are very friendly and helpful. Room was spacious, comfortable and clean.
Stayed 6 nights in Mar 2023

10/10 Excellent

Claudio

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
This is a beautiful old building, the top floor of which, contains the Hotel Merlini. The ground level has a bar with karaoke, but the activity dies down by 11pm or so. Even in full swing, the sounds faded away by the time I got upstairs - a benefit to the old style of construction. The room was spotless and well maintained during my stay. The hotel is not a 4 star hotel with pool, concierge, workout room, etc. but I didn't want that. I don't go to Firenze to be entertained at a resort-like compound. I want a place to sleep, wash up, and turnaround to hit the town again. The family that runs it is very friendly and always (24hrs a day) available to let you in - as your room key does not open the front door, it is manned by a family member at all times. At first, I thought that was inefficient, but I am sure it is done for security reasons. If what you are looking for is a clean room, friendly staff, in a simple but clean and well-maintained hotel that is 5 minutes from rail and in the midst of the old section of the city, this is the place for you. I thoroughly enjoyed my stay.
Stayed 5 nights in Sep 2022

10/10 Excellent

Nelson

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Hidden Gem
The outside looks old but when we saw our room it was nice. All the comforts are available. Will definitely refer this hotel to friends
Stayed 3 nights in Oct 2019

10/10 Excellent

Michele

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
A great, affordable place to stay
We LOVED staying at the Merlini (3 nights). The couple who run it are extremely nice and helpful (as we checked out, they even offered my kids a brioche). It is 5-10 minutes walk from the Duomo, 5 mn from the train station. There are trattoria, fruit vendors, pasticerrias (for fresh breakfast items and sandwiches) on the street and the adjacent one. We could see the Duomo from our room. I felt totally safe leaving computers and some valuables in the room. You do need to walk up 4 flights of stairs, and the AC was not working in the room (but I didn't ask to get it fixed, it was fine without it). I'd definitely stay there again!
Stayed 3 nights in Jul 2019

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Travelled with family, Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
The staff was very friendly and helpful during checkin/checkout. Assisted bringing luggage up and down flight of stairs.
Stayed 3 nights in Jun 2019

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Stayed 7 nights in Jun 2019

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Stayed 2 nights in Jun 2019

8/10 Good

SUBODH

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Well located small hotel, helpful owner
Overall, it was a good experience. The owner was very helpful and friendly. Absence of elevator can be a discomfort if you are carrying heavy luggage. The property is located on 3rd floor. Five minutes walk from SMN train station. One can walk to all tourist attractions from the hotel.
Stayed 2 nights in Jun 2019

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Clean and comfortable. Good location. Short walk to Duomo.
Stayed 1 night in May 2019

10/10 Excellent

Cristiane, Suwanee, GA

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
The hotel is located in a great location where you can do everything by walking; close to the train station and the main attractions in Florence. The owners, Rosario and Gabriella are lovely, they make sure everything is perfect for you. I love staying in there and when we come back to Florence we will stay at Hotel Merlini again!
Stayed 2 nights in Apr 2019

8/10 Good

Meme

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
The dude making me expresso in the morning. Kind of warm feeling to it. Room was good. Looks like the shower was remodeled.
Stayed 2 nights in Apr 2019

8/10 Good

Ken

We enjoyed our stay at the Merlinni- our hosts were very accommodating and each morning prepared us wonderful cappachimo!! We founf via faenze to be a wonderful source for food and gelato and very convenient for access to SMN terminni!! The biggest disadvantage is the 3 floor haul for arriving with luggage so pack lightly - our room was clean with a view of the Duomo and the breakfast room and provisions lovely!
Stayed 4 nights in May 2018

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Staff was very nice. Nice location. Only drawback was not elevator.
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2018

10/10 Excellent

Marilyn

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great room, great manager, but on the 3th floor.
It was very good and the manager could not have nicer. There are 4 women in our 60s traveling and he carried all 8 of our bags in and got us situated.
Stayed 4 nights in Sep 2017

8/10 Good

Yulia

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
A simple but very nice hotel
It is a great location if you travel by train. It is just 5 minutes walk from Mercado Centrale with all the best food. The hotel is on the 3d floor without an elevator. The service is really friendly and nice. The family runs the business. All three of them (Rosario, Gabriella, and Marco) are extremely friendly and helpful. Rosario prepares wonderful coffee. The breakfast room is very nice with a great view.
Stayed 5 nights in Jun 2017

10/10 Excellent

2x mature Aussi, Aus.

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Family run with family values. Great service.
We were welcomed with good service and facilities. Hotel Merlini was recommended by our frequent traveller friends. We were very pleased with accommodation
Stayed 2 nights in Jun 2017

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Be ready to walk up 4 flights, friendly and safe.
Stayed 3 nights in Jun 2017

6/10 Okay

Kevin

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
The rooms are large by European standards and the air conditioning was very effective. My one complaint would have to be the cigarette smoke the rolls out from the managers quarters every time they opened the door to allow us in. It would be better if they had a key code access.
Stayed 2 nights in May 2017

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

8/10 Good

Alex, Brisbane

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great location
They actually put me in an adjoining hotel, the Hotel Faenza, which was very nice. 5 min walk to train station and Duomo. Staff very helpful and friendly. Highly recommended!

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Should be noted the hotel has no lift. It could be noisy at night due to shared bathroom. One of the two nights i stayed there Some people banged their room door hard and walk back and forth at mid night. It was hard to sleep tight. The owners are very friendly and they keep the door locked all the times you do feel very safe there despite close to central station. Very convenient location.

10/10 Excellent

Stephen, Ottawa, Canada

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great location to explore Florence.
If it were not for the three flights of stairs up to the hotel this would be a perfect hotel to explore Florence from. However, make the climb, it's worth it. Great value for the money.

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Central location. Perfect for city sight-seeing.
Spacious room. Essential air conditioning. Large bathroom, with plenty of towels. The main downside was that it was on the third floor and there was no lift. The owner did come down and carry our luggage up though. 5 minute walk from the train station and 5 minute walk from the town centre. For a low budget hotel this had everything we needed.

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Disliked: Cleanliness
Average Hotel in great location
This was the perfect location for our trip as we were very close to the train station and to San Lorenzo square with many shops and restaurants nearby. Florence is quite walkable so we had easy access to the rest of town as well. The room had great AC and was quite large. That said, the hotel itself is located on the 5th floor with no elevator which was quite the climb with luggage, and the entire place wreaks of cigarette smoke despite the many no smoking signs plastered about. Also, our room was not clean with hair and other remnants from the previous guest in our bathroom and shower, and stained bed sheets. Finally, the staff seemed nice but spoke no English so it was a good thing we didn't need their assistance. They also lock the front door and do not provide a key to guests so you have to ring a bell to call hotel staff to let you in. One day we were locked out and waited over 15 minutes for someone to hear the bell and let us in. It was mid-day.

8/10 Good

Yvonne, Alberta, Canada

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort
Mom and daughter Trip
We had a room for 4 each had there own bed. Close to train station, shopping, banks, supermarket. Rooms had air conditioning. Street seems sketchy but was safe. Breakfast was more sweets than anything.

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
This is a great budget hotel. It has everything you need for a short stay in Florence. The location is excellent, 5 min walk from the train station and within walking distance from all the must see attractions. Hotel staff were very welcoming and helpful.

8/10 Good

Isabel

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great place and great location!
The street is very lively, the staff was very helpful and kind. It is 2 blocks away from the mercato centrale which is the best place to eat in florence for the best price.

6/10 Okay

Rachel, Charlevoix, MI

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
We had to check out early because we didn't realize we couldn't rent a car on Sunday, but the owners didn't charge us for the extra day that we had already booked (which was VERY generous)! In a great location! No lift/elevator, so the stairs gave you a workout, and people were smoking, so the hallway was pretty stinky, but the room was comfortable. Tip about the air conditioner: don't leave it on if you leave. We didn't think we would be gone very long, so we left it on and then we were gone and we had to turn it off to give it a rest-it worked well otherwise!

8/10 Good

salim, Dallas, USA

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great
I stayed there for 4 nights with my family. Rooms were good, nice and clean. Keep in mind, hotel is located at 3rd floor and there is no elevator. The breakfast was really good owner of the hotel was very friendly, every morning he made a coffee for us. I would stay again

8/10 Good

world traveler, Atlanta

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
location and shopping
Great location for shopping and the train station. The hotel is a five minute walk from the train station. The location is also a few blocks away from the San Lorenzo leather market. The hotel is not fancy. There is no elevator the hotel is on the top floor. But it's clean and has nice bed linens. The staff is friendly.

6/10 Okay

Chery Wong, malaysia

Convenient. Walking distance to must visit places.
avoid big heavy luggage when checking in this hotel. This hotel is located on 3rd floor, without lift.

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

10/10 Excellent

Chris, UK

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great family run B & B
Great stay. Hotel staff spoke little English, but then why should they? Great location and easy to find. Basic but good continental breakfast. Would definitely return.

8/10 Good

Robert, Arizona

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great Location
Everything about the hotel was great. Central location, friendly staff, large room, and good service. The only reason for 4 stars was that we could not get a good wifi connection in our room. We were at the end of the hall far from their router so we needed to go into the hallway to connect to the web. Our room have a partial view of the duomo and tower with a great city view so it was only a minor inconvenience about the internet.

8/10 Good

Edna, Wisconsin, USA

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great Little Place
Accommodations were pleasant. Enough space for 4 with a nice size bathroom. Shower was ver small (2ft X 2 ft). Air condition. The staff was very pleasant. Breakfast was included every morning in a nice room at the hotel. We didn't spend too much time in room, but found it exactly to be what we needed. Very clean as well. Location was great, near train terminal and walking distance to main sightseeing locations. Also, some nice little restaurants around. Laundry place nearby as well if needed. Only drawback was stairs to 3rd floor, no elevator, but not that bad. Also, had a bit of a hard time finding it, but that was because we had to learn how to read the street numbers. Several other hotels within same building. each hotel covers one floor! Overall a great place that we would go to again!

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort
Nice manager, convenient location
The location of the hotel is perfect for my purpose. Five minutes walking distance to SMN train station and five minutes walking distance to the central market. You can easily walk to the Duomo area also. The hotel is a bit old but it is well maintained and clean.Breakfast is very nice and convenient. Hotel manager is really nice and kind and helped out a lot. Thanks!

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort
Nice family run hotel, very close to train station
Close to everything, very central. Only problem was you had to climb three floors of stairs to get to it. Staff were very friendly. Breakfast was very good. We would stay again, but not for anyone with mobility problems.

10/10 Excellent

B. Daley, California

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
The Real Deal
Small no frills hotel close to to train station. Owner is warm and enthusiastic. He helped us with reservations multiple times. After 5 days he was really sorry to see us go. Hotel is up 3 flights of stairs, which is consistent with rates. Breakfast includes fresh fruit and killer view of the Duoma. This was our largest room in Italy.

10/10 Excellent

Patty, Minneapolis, Minn, USA

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Return After 25 Years
The Merlini had everything I needed. The owners made my early morning departure easy. They humored me when I spoke Italian. The breakfast room is a treasure. Twenty-five years ago I stayed there in my pension days. The addition of bathrooms in the room were welcome to my middle age self. The rooms were recently updated and attractive. It was wonderful to fins something affordable in one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Be prepared to drag your luggage up the stairs! I can still do it!

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Cleanliness
Fantastic location

4/10 Poor

Verified traveller

Disliked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
lots of stairs if travelling alone
I was led to believe that there would be help with luggage but no response to the bell

10/10 Excellent

Jonathan

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Excellent place to stay
Family run and lived-in place, always very helpful. Room spacious and comfortable. Third floor with no lift was a bit of an effort with pushchair and bags.

8/10 Good

P&C.& R., Ireland

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
The Merlini Hotel very central to all the must see
We visited Florence for 3 nights in July 2011& stayed at the Merlini. After we got over the initial shock of having to climb 88 steps to our hotel we were very happy with our accommodation This hotel is family operated.They are very friendly & helpfull.The place is exceptionally clean.Air conditioning very good.Shower area a bit tight but adequate.When asked the owner recommended excellent local restaurants,very reasonably priced.Owner speaks good english& very willing to carry luggage & down stairs.Amazing that it is only a 1star hotel. Will return there & would recommend it .

8/10 Good

Shari, Oak Park, CA

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great value, close to train, family owned with TLC.
If you are looking for a convenient location near the train station and basic accommodations with a great cappuccino and breakfast, then this is the place for you! The room was a good size with air conditioning and a beautiful breakfast room down the hall. Rosario, the owner was very friendly and helpful. We were only in the room to sleep, so we were happy to save on hotel cost and spend the money on my new leather purse and some great dinners (check out Pepo's for dinner and get the steak Florentine and Gusto Pizza-supposed to be the best pizza, didn't get to try because it is closed Mondays.) As a note, there is no elevator and many steps to the hotel. Rosario will help take up your luggage, but this may be a consideration for anyone with difficulty walking up stairs. We took a tour of Tuscany with Walk About Tours which included Siena, San Gimignano, Pisa and a stop for lunch at an organic farm/vineyard. It was a great way to see a lot in 12 hours, really affordable, beautiful views of Tuscan countryside like out a movie, and with a wonderful guide, Agata, and separate guide in Siena.

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Merlini - more than a 1 star
Just got back from a lovely stay in Florence at the Merlini. Really close to the train station and only a short walk to the Duomo. Its down a quiet pedestrian street so an excellent location. The room was clean and the B&B overall was really well kept and decorated nicely. Everyone was really friendly and helpful to us and I would definately recommend this hotel to others. It certainly seemed more than a 1 star to us and we were pleasantly surprised when we got there. All the good reviews on here are true!

10/10 Excellent

Francesco

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Perfetto personale gentile disponibile per qualsiasi cosa soggiorno piacevole posto strategico camera bella ristrutturata consiglio il soggiorno presso questo hotel TOP
Stayed 2 nights in Dec 2023