La Casa del Garbo - Great B&B in the Heart of Florence

During our stay in Florence, Italy earlier this month, we spent 5 nights at Casa del Garbo (http://www.casadelgarbo.it), a wonderful bed and breakfast in what I consider to be the best location in Florence - Piazza della Signoria in the very heart of Florence’s historic city center.  As usual, I had used TripAdvisor to identify the lodging that I thought best met my criteria.

Looking toward Casa del Garbo behind the Statue

Casa del Garbo offers comfortable, well-equipped rooms, a fantastic location, nice and helpful staff, a nice view from some rooms, an excellent price, and a decent, if unexciting breakfast. The only downside for some guests might be the lack of an elevator. I did not mind because the exercise was useful. I would stay there again in a heartbeat and would recommend it wholeheartedly.

Looking Toward Casa del Garbo at Night

We had two rooms, which were located next to one another on the third floor, and whose prices included breakfast:

1. The Lorenzo Suite at a special rate of €145 ($183) per night, instead of the standard high season rate of €160. This room had a small kitchen and dining area, as well as a sofa. One great feature of this room was its view onto the Piazza della Signoria. I never tired of this view.

2. The Cosimo double standard room at a special rate of €110 per night instead of the usual rate of €125 per night. This room did not have a view.

Bed in the Lorenzo Suite

The excellent staff people with whom we dealt were Marcello and Natalia in the front office and Virgilio, who served breakfast and helped with our luggage.

Breakfast can be served in a guest’s room or in the breakfast room. We preferred to eat it in our room because it had a small dining area where all four of us could eat while looking out onto the piazza. We also chose the time breakfast was served to us. The typical breakfast we were served consisted of:

- choice of coffee. My daughter and I had the delicious cappuccino.

- a small bottle of juice

- choice of a slice of bread or croissant (with butter and preserves)

- fruit, usually strawberries, cherries, watermelon.

Dining Table in the Lorenzo Suite

 This is a part of Florence where it is inadvisable to bring a car. There are very strict regulations against driving in this part of Florence; the streets are very narrow; and the hotel does not have parking. The hotel can arrange parking.

Like most hotels and B&Bs these days, Casa del Garbo offers free, secure WiFi.

There are twoATM machines ("bancomat" in Italian) on the next block. I used one of them several times. There are a number of restaurants, gelato shops, a pharmacy, and other shops around the piazza and on nearby streets.