Hotel Bernini Palace

My wife and I recently stayed two nights at the Bernini Palace. We found the staff very accomodating, and the location of the hotel could not be more convenient for sightseeing. However, it is not a five star hotel; rather, it rates four stars. I will tell you why.
Our room, 506, was comfortable but quite small and when most recently renovated must have made quite an impression. Now, however, there is a dark area below the A/​C duct outlet, indicating the crud has been coming out of the duct and onto the damask wall covering. This is not good, because it shows a lack of maintenance of the HVAC system and a failure in keeping the room clean. In the bathroom, there had been some sort of plumbing leak from above (not recently) which left a highly visible brown stain. In a five star hotel, such details are not overlooked.
When we went down one evening to eat in the hotel restaurant, we found it empty of people (no serving staff at all, no guests) and the room smelled of something (which may have been sewage, as some other guests have commented). After waiting 10 minutes, we left and ate instead in one of the numerous excellent small restaurants nearby. Five star hotels do not have empty restaurants that smell odd.
The breakfast included in the room price is about what one would expect in a three star hotel, with a few «upscale» touches. One is offering prosciutto di Parma among the breakfast meats, but when we arrived about forty-​five minutes into the breakfast period, the prosciutto was gone and had not been replenished. Five star hotels do not overlook such details.
Finally, the complimentary wifi was running at no more than 10 mbps when we were trying to use it. Five star hotels now offer much faster wifi.
So, stay at the Bernini Palace for its convenience not for it five star ambiance, because it does not offer that. I also regard it as overpriced for what it offers, but the same can be said of other hotels in Florence.

Hotel Bernini Palace is one of my favorite hotels. There’s something really great about it. The lobby is beautiful with it’s mix of old and new Italian styles plus lighting that had a Moroccan feel. The rooms I’ve stayed in have been quite large and very comfortable. They have unique linens that don’t feel comfortable at first but I sleep great on them. It’s in a great location in the heart of Florence so you can walk everywhere. Service is great as well. I highly recommend Bernini… And Florence, my new favorite city!

We found this hotel on Trip Advisor which we swear by! This lovely hotel is in an amazing location– behind Ufuzzi Gallery and literally blocks from everything else: Pitti Palace, Santa Croce, Duomo. We walked everywhere with our children 11 and 14. The best part is the hotel is just off the main streets so it is quiet and peaceful as well as convenient. I cannot finish without giving a huge thank you to our amazing concierge Lorenzo who made our stay flawless. He made dinner reservations, ordered sightseeing tickets, scheduled our transfers and train tickets… truly full service. The other staff was courteous, friendly and fluent in English. This is a perfect family or couples retreat. Just amazing!

After Rome we ventured to Florence and were booked at The Bernini Palace Hotel. We could not believe what a great central location it was in! It is fabulously decorated and the rooms were very comfortable. Friendly/​helpful staff and delicious free daily breakfast (we could not get enough)! I would definitely recommend this hotel to those travelling to Florence

Stayed here for 4 days, 3 nights AMAZING service friendly helpful great wifi although you need a different code daily. Centrally located, English speaking maid staff very clean. Amazing breakfast spread. They set up an amazing dinner reservation for our engagement the restaurant had champagne toasts waiting for us. MOLTO BENNE

4 stars hotel, 3.5 stars service, 5 stars prices!
After visiting Versailles, this place was like a dream come true. And I got to blow my savings on it. Weeeeeee
First off: this is one place you go for looks. Service is great too but it is all about looks. It is 350 euros a night, it is expensive and it’s absolutely fantastic. You have a key to your own floor! Say what???
Rooms~ My room look like Marie Antoinette bedroom except its bigger. It is a palace after all. You are right in the middle of it all with the location too. The lobby is stunning as well as heir executive floor. It’s one place where I didn’t want to leave the room because it as so comfy and cozy. But I had to for food! Their food selection seems a ok for room service. It was definitely overpriced for Florence.
They also have English channels! Scoreeee (After a month in Europe, you will miss English channels). The room comes with beautiful little gifts all over. Fluffy bathrobes, treasure chest for your shoes, amazing closet, prettty bathtubs and all that. The bed was stunning but not as comfortable. I slept better on second night.
Location: the reason this place is so expensive! It is right in the middle of it all. Gallery, museums, restaurants, the river. I mean all right there!
The staffs: they are friendly. They actually helped book my visit to Museo Michale Angelo aka Accademia Gallery within 5 minutes of my arrival. I was very excited to see David in person. When we arrived to the Accademia Gallery, I was so thankful that we got to skip that massive line! BUT, the hotel also charged us 15 euros extra per person for booking. Huh!!! Well, it’s still worth it since I got to skip the line. I would’ve appreciated it more had they let us know prior.
Same goes for the wine tour. The price for Chianti was cheaper than going through the hotel receptionist. But they also helped me booked that at 2 am. So I guess I can’t complain. Did I mention how pretty this hotel is? Pretty people get away with a lot of things. Well, pretty places do too.
Apart from those few hiccups: it was great. I love the palace hotel that looks like my own mini palace. Its just so pretty. I’m not sure I’m willing to spend as much for next time around. $ 350 is great but not 350 euros! Maybe I’ll come back for a night. Or come have lunch in their lobby! Glad I got to experience the palace like hotel though. Grazie voi!

This is a beautiful hotel in a great location that really gave us a warm welcome to Florence. The rooms are on the bigger side considering the rest of the hotels we stayed in across Italy. The service was wonderful. The staff were all very helpful. Breakfast was scrumptious and varied. Like other reviewers mention, the breakfast room was absolutely beautiful. I marveled over it each time we visited. We really enjoyed our stay here.

This is a very attractive hotel in a good location, on an active piazza with good shops nearby and sites like the Duomo just a few blocks away.
All the basic needs are covered: clean, attractive and comfortable rooms, wifi in the room that actually works, currency exchange at the desk with acceptable if not great rates, and updated bathrooms. In terms of style and service, this hotel is on par with upper-​end US hotels such as JW Marriott or Westin, but since it’s a classic building in Florence there are sumptuous architectural details as a bonus. Unless you’re accustomed to staying in very high-​echelon hotels, say top 1%, you’d probably find this to be a very good base from which to explore Florence.
Breakfast is included or was in our rate, and while it wasn’t a lavish spread it was good quality with champagne, grilled vegies, many pastries, a good selection of cereals and breads, good scrambled eggs and interesting bacon. No junk food, really, so if you can’t get going without coco-​puffs you’ll be disappointed here. The breakfast room has a barrel-​vaulted ceiling with Renaissance artwork and details, and the music being played was Classical.

Half a lifetime ago, I stayed at a wonderful place called the Hotel Bernini, whilst visiting Florence with my family. Then, by chance, Monsieur whisked me off to Florence for a long weekend. When he told me that we’d be staying at the Hotel Bernini Palace, you could have knocked me down with a very small feather. The name had changed a bit, but it was the same hotel. Teenage memories of falling in love with Italy whizzed about in my very excited brain. I only hoped the breakfast room frescoes were still there.
The lobby has been modernised to resemble something that Lawrence Llewellyn-​Bowen has stamped in that unmistakably theatrical style. Yes, there is indeed gold leaf and swags of velvet. That made me a bit sad because the style argues with the traditional palatial style of the hotel. I wondered what the rooms would be like. Would they be decorated to match?
Thankfully, no. The rooms were still reassuringly traditional, with little linen mats put down by the bed at turn-​down, just as they had been on that first visit so long before. Our view was over a central courtyard. The view of my first visit had been of terracotta rooftops. Cheekily, I asked if we could move for a rooftop view, but those rooms are now suites, so unless we wanted to pay for an upgrade, the answer was no.
Another thing about our room — it was large. Very large, in comparison to most hotel rooms in Western Europe. It even had a small dressing room and large, marble bathroom attached. No need to bump into each other, here.
During the finer months, there is a roof terrace where you can take a drink and watch the sun set over the Arno. It was a bit too cold for that when we were there, so we took an evening cocktail at the bar in the lobby, instead, marvelling at the horrid interior design. How I longed to rip down those swags of unnecessary fabric.
In its favour, and to my great relief, whoever made over the lobby did not touch the breakfast room. The frescoes of statesmen still gaze down at you from the walls, and it feels very, very Florentine. The hot chocolate is a must — tastes like something Willy Wonka made.
The Hotel Bernini Palace is close to the Arno, the Uffizi, various churches of note, including the Duomo, and lovely little artisinal shops. The staff are incredibly helpful with recommending places to eat and I would definitely stay here again. I only hope that someone decides that a more traditional lobby might be more in keeping with the Palace itself. Right now, it feels like a different hotel to the one you actually sleep in, and that’s a bit disconcerting. I would usually give this hotel 5 stars, because its other points should win anyone over, but the lobby’s current décor loses it 1 star, because it simply does not work.