I sit here on a cold Friday in London looking outside my bedroom window staring at a grey sky. The days are short, the cold is growing old and daydreaming about travel is high on my agenda.
We have our next long haul trip on the horizon that I'm excited about and I have the very dear memories of our family weekend away in Florence that we took in December. There were so many reasons that made the trip so wonderful and one of them was definitely Plaza Hotel Lucchesi - a 4 star boutique that we spent two nights in. If you follow me on social media you would have seen me raving about this stunning place during our stay. Heres some more detailed thoughts:
THE LOCATION
Florence is a small city so things are mostly within walking distance. We loved that this hotel was not in the heart of one of the main squares so is a little more peaceful however within minutes you can be right in Santa Croce which leads to many cultural, shopping and dining adventures. The hotel is right beside the Arno river so half of the hotels rooms have river views. We arrived at Santa Maria Novella station which is the main train station. The hotel is just a little too far to walk especially as we had luggage for all three of us and pram but it was super easy to catch a cab and it was a leisurely 10 minute drive away.
CHECKING IN
We arrived in Florence by midday having been up at 3am to make our super early flight from London. Although check in wasn't meant to start until 2pm, the lovely lady at the reception started checking us in straight away and told us our room was ready and that was very much appreciated. All the staff during the check in process were fabulous and made us feel very welcome at the hotel. We did have a slight issue with the first room that we were allocated which I'll explain in the next part of this post. As soon as I raised this, the front desk was straight on it and found us a more suitable room within 10 minutes. We didn't have any coins so tried to tip the porter helping us with our bags £5 but he politely refused it and said it was too much and that he was just doing his job. I was shocked!
THE ROOM
This hotel has been around since 1860 but all the rooms have recently been renovated and there is the perfect balance of history, elegance and freshness to the rooms. Many of the rooms come with different lay outs which is often the main bedroom another little space and the bathroom. The first room we were given had a smaller room at the entry, which then led in to the main bedroom. This would have been the perfect set up for the cot and Baby Girl having her own sleeping space. I don't want to take away from the beauty of the first room because it was gorgeous, but the bathroom had no bath and when we opened our window our 'city view' actually lead to a closed in internal courtyard. There was very little light that came through from the courtyard and the room was dark. I called the front desk very quickly. They were very accommodating and found us a new room and we were in it in no time.
The room we ended up with was at the end of a long corridor and Baby Girl loved running down it every time we were on our way back to our room. The door opened up to a little entrance with a coat rack and space for our pram and lead on to the main bedroom. The room was stunning and super big. There was enough room for a king size bed, double wardrobe, cot bed set up and still so much room for Baby Girl to run around.
The view of this room was wonderful. We could see the Santa Croche bell tower and we all loved that our room was filled with church bells at certain times of the day.
You may already know that my love for marble bathrooms is extra and I loved our marble bathroom at Hotel Lucchesi. The bathroom is the room was a lot bigger and had a bath. It was filled with cosy robes and some lovely toiletries by a range called Floga.
The room has a large flat screen TV which we didn't really use. The room also had a climate control which was operated by an electronic touch pad by the door. The touchpad also gave updates on the weather and hotel information. It was super fancy.
THE FACILITIES
There are so many lovely things about this hotel but my favourite thing hands down is the rooftop. There's something very magical about seeing Florence from above and so the fact that we could do this whenever we fancied was a huge plus. We took many trips up there to soak in our surroundings.
I can't help feeling that we only got to enjoy part of this wonderful rooftop. During winter months the bar is closed and during summer there is a rooftop pool to enjoy, a very cool bar and live music every evening. I do need to come back in the summer to take advantage of this. I definitely love a rooftop especially in the basking sun!
We did however get to enjoy some really peaceful time on this amazing rooftop with just the three of us and I can't imagine we would get the chance to do that in the summer months. I'm sure it would be bustling.
The main lobby in the hotel is simply stunning and decked out with fabulous sofas, coffee tables, flowers and candles. We were always able to find a little quiet space if we needed one and it was a really relaxed environment. There was also a little business centre with two Apple Macs and a printer for any guests to use and there was free wi-fi throughout the hotel and it was a great connection.
THE FOOD
Included in the price of the room was breakfast. When travelling love having breakfast at our hotel before we set out for the day. We can fill our bellies up and get ready for the day at a more leisurely pace. This is even more important to us now that we have Baby Girl to also think about, I'm sure any of you fellow parents can appreciate how long it can actually take to set out for the day....
Breakfast is served at a front room in the hotel right beside the Arno river and is a buffet. There is everything you could possibly want from eggs many ways, sausages, mushrooms, grilled tomatoes, potatoes to a huge selection of breads, a huge anti past spread, cereals, fruits, juices, biscuits, pastries, sweets and more. The food is refilled regularly and is as fresh as if it would be if it were made to order.
The only problem that we had with breakfast was that we were too tempted to fill our breakfast plates too many times and we had many other food adventures waiting for us throughout the day. No good for watching the calories, but hey ho!
This hotel has a downstairs bar, restaurant and an extensive room service menu but we didn't try any of it because we were too busy being out in the day enjoying eating at the local eateries. The bar did look wonderful and I'm sure something that I would have really enjoyed in my child free days.
THE VERDICT
I absolutely loved our stay at Hotel Lucchesi. From the very first moment that we walked up the gold carpet at the entrance, to the warm reception we got from all the staff during our whole stay, the beautiful decor, peaceful surrounds, the breakfast and that breathtaking rooftop. Hotel Lucchesi was the perfect base for my husband, 2 year old and I to use during our weekend in Florence and we had such a brilliant time.
The only thing that I would say is make sure you get in touch with the hotel prior to your stay and be clear on what you are hoping for with your room booking. You'll need to request a bath of you need one to guarantee you do and I would recommend requesting a room that doesn't lead on to the internal courtyard.
I am not always loyal when it comes to hotels because I like to enjoy lots of different experiences even if in the same city but I can safely say that next time we visit Florence I really hope we can stay at this fabulous hotel again, especially if it's during the warmer months.
I hope you enjoyed this review. If you pass by and are thinking of staying here I would love to hear what you've thought of this review.
Kat x
We have our next long haul trip on the horizon that I'm excited about and I have the very dear memories of our family weekend away in Florence that we took in December. There were so many reasons that made the trip so wonderful and one of them was definitely Plaza Hotel Lucchesi - a 4 star boutique that we spent two nights in. If you follow me on social media you would have seen me raving about this stunning place during our stay. Heres some more detailed thoughts:
THE LOCATION
Florence is a small city so things are mostly within walking distance. We loved that this hotel was not in the heart of one of the main squares so is a little more peaceful however within minutes you can be right in Santa Croce which leads to many cultural, shopping and dining adventures. The hotel is right beside the Arno river so half of the hotels rooms have river views. We arrived at Santa Maria Novella station which is the main train station. The hotel is just a little too far to walk especially as we had luggage for all three of us and pram but it was super easy to catch a cab and it was a leisurely 10 minute drive away.
CHECKING IN
We arrived in Florence by midday having been up at 3am to make our super early flight from London. Although check in wasn't meant to start until 2pm, the lovely lady at the reception started checking us in straight away and told us our room was ready and that was very much appreciated. All the staff during the check in process were fabulous and made us feel very welcome at the hotel. We did have a slight issue with the first room that we were allocated which I'll explain in the next part of this post. As soon as I raised this, the front desk was straight on it and found us a more suitable room within 10 minutes. We didn't have any coins so tried to tip the porter helping us with our bags £5 but he politely refused it and said it was too much and that he was just doing his job. I was shocked!
THE ROOM
This hotel has been around since 1860 but all the rooms have recently been renovated and there is the perfect balance of history, elegance and freshness to the rooms. Many of the rooms come with different lay outs which is often the main bedroom another little space and the bathroom. The first room we were given had a smaller room at the entry, which then led in to the main bedroom. This would have been the perfect set up for the cot and Baby Girl having her own sleeping space. I don't want to take away from the beauty of the first room because it was gorgeous, but the bathroom had no bath and when we opened our window our 'city view' actually lead to a closed in internal courtyard. There was very little light that came through from the courtyard and the room was dark. I called the front desk very quickly. They were very accommodating and found us a new room and we were in it in no time.
The room we ended up with was at the end of a long corridor and Baby Girl loved running down it every time we were on our way back to our room. The door opened up to a little entrance with a coat rack and space for our pram and lead on to the main bedroom. The room was stunning and super big. There was enough room for a king size bed, double wardrobe, cot bed set up and still so much room for Baby Girl to run around.
The view of this room was wonderful. We could see the Santa Croche bell tower and we all loved that our room was filled with church bells at certain times of the day.
You may already know that my love for marble bathrooms is extra and I loved our marble bathroom at Hotel Lucchesi. The bathroom is the room was a lot bigger and had a bath. It was filled with cosy robes and some lovely toiletries by a range called Floga.
The room has a large flat screen TV which we didn't really use. The room also had a climate control which was operated by an electronic touch pad by the door. The touchpad also gave updates on the weather and hotel information. It was super fancy.
THE FACILITIES
There are so many lovely things about this hotel but my favourite thing hands down is the rooftop. There's something very magical about seeing Florence from above and so the fact that we could do this whenever we fancied was a huge plus. We took many trips up there to soak in our surroundings.
I can't help feeling that we only got to enjoy part of this wonderful rooftop. During winter months the bar is closed and during summer there is a rooftop pool to enjoy, a very cool bar and live music every evening. I do need to come back in the summer to take advantage of this. I definitely love a rooftop especially in the basking sun!
We did however get to enjoy some really peaceful time on this amazing rooftop with just the three of us and I can't imagine we would get the chance to do that in the summer months. I'm sure it would be bustling.
The main lobby in the hotel is simply stunning and decked out with fabulous sofas, coffee tables, flowers and candles. We were always able to find a little quiet space if we needed one and it was a really relaxed environment. There was also a little business centre with two Apple Macs and a printer for any guests to use and there was free wi-fi throughout the hotel and it was a great connection.
THE FOOD
Included in the price of the room was breakfast. When travelling love having breakfast at our hotel before we set out for the day. We can fill our bellies up and get ready for the day at a more leisurely pace. This is even more important to us now that we have Baby Girl to also think about, I'm sure any of you fellow parents can appreciate how long it can actually take to set out for the day....
Breakfast is served at a front room in the hotel right beside the Arno river and is a buffet. There is everything you could possibly want from eggs many ways, sausages, mushrooms, grilled tomatoes, potatoes to a huge selection of breads, a huge anti past spread, cereals, fruits, juices, biscuits, pastries, sweets and more. The food is refilled regularly and is as fresh as if it would be if it were made to order.
The only problem that we had with breakfast was that we were too tempted to fill our breakfast plates too many times and we had many other food adventures waiting for us throughout the day. No good for watching the calories, but hey ho!
This hotel has a downstairs bar, restaurant and an extensive room service menu but we didn't try any of it because we were too busy being out in the day enjoying eating at the local eateries. The bar did look wonderful and I'm sure something that I would have really enjoyed in my child free days.
THE VERDICT
I absolutely loved our stay at Hotel Lucchesi. From the very first moment that we walked up the gold carpet at the entrance, to the warm reception we got from all the staff during our whole stay, the beautiful decor, peaceful surrounds, the breakfast and that breathtaking rooftop. Hotel Lucchesi was the perfect base for my husband, 2 year old and I to use during our weekend in Florence and we had such a brilliant time.
The only thing that I would say is make sure you get in touch with the hotel prior to your stay and be clear on what you are hoping for with your room booking. You'll need to request a bath of you need one to guarantee you do and I would recommend requesting a room that doesn't lead on to the internal courtyard.
I am not always loyal when it comes to hotels because I like to enjoy lots of different experiences even if in the same city but I can safely say that next time we visit Florence I really hope we can stay at this fabulous hotel again, especially if it's during the warmer months.
I hope you enjoyed this review. If you pass by and are thinking of staying here I would love to hear what you've thought of this review.
Kat x
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