Florence: Part 2: Hotel Villa Liana

We stayed at two different hotels in Florence. They were on opposite sides of central Florence. I had wanted to stay in a hotel that was in the traditional Florentine or Tuscan style. Wood or tile floors, quaint eclectic furniture, and a long history attached to the building. We couldn’t pick between two so we decided to opt for staying at both.

The first, Hotel Villa Liana was by far and wide not only our favorite but will be remembered fondly our whole lives. It was a beautiful hotel and we had an incredible room. They put us in the second floor room of a little bungalow. We climbed a stone staircase up to a gazebo and a bridge that took us to our room.

We spent several perfect evenings sitting under the gazebo having a picnic dinner. We would stop at a grocery store after a day of exploring and pick up fresh baked bread, prosciutto, parmesan cheese, and a bottle of wine. The parmesan cheese we picked was only .99euro a pound which translates to about $1.50 lb. And it was heaven. I think the first time, and probably the second night we had it we were both speechless over the wonderful flavors in the cheese.

The second hotel, Hotel Ariel was also a nice hotel. But it did not hold the magic that the first one did. It was actually in a more exclusive section of Florence a block away from the Arno river. It was also only a few blocks from the US Consulate. The cars were bigger and more expensive and the streets were certainly a bit quieter. We enjoyed our stay and it was very close to the train station where we would both depart from so it was ideal for what we needed at the end of our trip.

The below pictures are from Hotel Villa Liana.