Once an 18th-century noble palace, Grand Hotel Villa Medici is a first-rate property featured in the historical center of Florence, approximately six miles from Florence Airport. Local attractions include Santa Maria Novella Church, Via Tornabouni, Ponte Vecchio, Ufizzi Art Gallery, and Pitti Palace.
Hotel amenities include room service, multilingual staff, 24-hour front desk, boutique, babysitting, private garage, limousine service, pool, piano bar, and the Fitness Club Sirenuse, which features sauna, steam bath, and gym. Onsite dining is available at the renovated Restaurant Lorenzo Di Medici, the Grill Lorenzino, and the Conservatory.
Guest rooms feature A/C, bathrobes, hairdryers, satellite TVs, radios, direct-dial telephones, safes, and mini-bars.
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Grand Hotel Villa Medici Property Information:
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Rooms:
100
Floors:
5
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- Fitness facility
- Dining
- Nonsmoking
- Data port
- Pets allowed
- Swimming pool
- Meeting room
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More photos
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Driving Directions
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DIRECTION TO THE PROPERTY FROM NORTH -
EXIT FIRENZE NORD AND GO IN THE DIRECTION OF CENTRO
CITTA WHEN THE MOTORWAY FINISHES FOLLOW IN THE
DIRECTION OF CENTRO CITTA LUNGARNI PORTA PRATO ONCE YOU
GET ONTO VIA BELFIORE IT TURNS INTO PORTA PRATO WHERE
YOU TURN LEFT AT THE FIRST TRAFFIC LIGHT TAKE THE FIRST
RIGHT INTO VIA IL PRATO AFTER 50 METERS YOU WILL FIND
THE HOTEL ON YOUR LEFT
DIRECTION TO THE PROPERTY FROM SOUTH -
EXIT FIRENZE CERTOSA FOLLOW IN THE DIRECTION OF CENTRO
CITTA LUNGARNI STAZIONE FS GO ACROSS THE BRIDGE OF
VITTORIA CONTINUING STRAIGHT ON UNTIL PORTA PRATO NEXT
TO THE TOWER OF PORTA A PRATO TURN RIGHT INTO VIA IL
PRATO AFTER 50 METERS YOU WILL FIND THE HOTEL ON YOUR
LEFT
DIRECTION TO THE PROPERTY FROM WEST -
EXIT FIRENZE NORD AND GO IN THE DIRECTION OF CENTRO
CITTA WHEN THE MOTORWAY FINISHES FOLLOW IN THE
DIRECTION OF CENTRO CITTA LUNGARNI PORTA PRATO ONCE YOU
GET ONTO VIA BELFIORE IT TURNS INTO PORTA PRATO WHERE
YOU TURN LEFT AT THE FIRST TRAFFIC LIGHT TAKE THE FIRST
RIGHT INTO VIA IL PRATO AFTER 50 METERS YOU WILL FIND
THE HOTEL ON YOUR LEFT
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Nearby Attractions
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2 Ponte Vecchio
FLR 2
2 Pitti Palace
2 Archeological Museum
1 Cascine Pk
2 Palazzo Vecchio
2 Uffizzi Gallery
1 Duomo
0 Florence
50 Pisa
52 Psa
70 Bologna
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Restaurants
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Property Has 1 Restaurants On-Site
Meal Plans Available At Property -
Additional Meal Plan Description -
Room Only Valid As of 2006 Buffet Breakfast Eur 32.00
Valid As of 2007
Caterina
Type of Restaurant - Buffet
Type of Cuisine - International
Meals Served - Breakfast
Hours -
from 0700hrs To 1030hrs Mon-Sun
Restaurant Description -
Breakfast Room in the Morning
Lorenzo Demedici
Type of Restaurant - Full Service Restaurant
Type of Cuisine - Continental
Hours -
from 1200hrs To 1430hrs
from 1930hrs To 2230hrs
Restaurant Description -
Hotel Restaurant
the Jockey Bar
Type of Restaurant - Bar/Lounge
Type of Cuisine - International
Hours -
from 1000hrs To 0100hrs Mon-Sun
Restaurant Description -
Hotel Bar
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Florence Events & Entertainment
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For upcoming events, shows, theater, exhibitions, and other entertainment, look for one of the events magazines, like Events in Florence and Tuscany bimonthly and very good, sometimes at newsstands and Vista. Another free magazine is Concierge Information, full of good bilingual hints and tips. At the Via Cavour tourist office you can also pick up the free Firenze Avventimenti events brochure, giving facts about each major event for the year, including contact 055 numbers. Also the free "Informacittà" monthly pamphlet.
Jan. 5-6:
Epiphany Celebrations. Roman Catholic Epiphany celebrations and decorations are evident throughout the area.
Easter:
The Easter Sunday Scoppio del Carro, or "Explosion of the Cart," is the eruption of a cartful of fireworks in the Cathedral Square, set off by a mechanical dove released from the altar during High Mass.
Late April.-Early July:
The Florence May Music Festival is the oldest and most prestigious Italian festival of the performing arts.
Late June:
Soccer Games in 16th Century Costume, commemorate a match played in 1530. Festivities include fireworks displays.
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Florence Destination Overview
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Florence (Firenze in Italian) is the capital of the region of Tuscany, on Italy's northwest coast. Florence is a small city, located in the Arno River valley, and surrounded by olive-planted hills on the north and south. It extends west and slightly east along the Arno valley with suburbs and light industry. The centro storico (historic center), where visitors spend most of their time, is a tight tangle of medieval streets and piazze (squares). Most of Florence, and the majority of the tourist sites, lie north of the river, within a vintage artisan's working-class neighborhood wedged between the Arno and the hills on the south side.
The center is encircled by a traffic ring of wide boulevards, known as the Viali, that were created in the late 1800s by tearing down the city's medieval walls. Since the 14th century the cultural heart of the city has been the Piazza della Signoria with the Palazzo Vecchio (Town Hall), the Uffizi Gallery and a large number of publicly displayed world famous sculptures. In the Renaissance period, Florence was one of the most powerful and influential of the city states. The wealthy and powerful de' Medici family ruled the city almost continuously from 1434 to 1743 and had a great influence on the architecture and arts. They built many palaces and commissioned such artists as Michelangelo to design and decorate them.
In fact, Florence is called the capital of the arts. From the 13th to the 16th century it was a seemingly endless source of creative masterpieces and Italian genius. Both Dante and Michelangelo were born there. Boccaccio wrote his 'Decameron' in Florence. The Italian Renaissance (Europe's richest cultural period ) began in Florence when the artist Brunelleschi finished the Duomo, the cathedral, with the huge dome.
Florence is also a city of incomparable indoor pleasures. Its chapels, galleries and museums are an inexhaustible treasure, capturing the complex, often elusive spirit of the Renaissance more fully than any other place in the country. Florence is a walking city. Visitors can take a leisurely stroll between the two most often visited sights, the Duomo and the Uffizi, in less than five minutes. The walk from the most northerly point, San Marco with its Fra' Angelico frescoes and the Accademia with Michelangelo's David, to the most southerly, the Pitti Palace across the Arno, should take no more than 30 minutes.
From Santa Maria Novella rail station across town to Santa Croce is an easy 20 to 30 minute walk. Most of the streets were designed to handle the moderate pedestrian traffic and occasional horse-drawn cart of a medieval city. Sidewalks, where they exist, are narrow; often less than two feet wide. Though much of the centro storico is supposedly closed to traffic, taxis, residents with parking permits, people without permits who drive there anyway, and the endless stream of noisy motorini (mopeds) still enter, drive and park. Planning is extremely important when visiting Florence.
Most visitors come to the city with a common purpose: to spend hours viewing and absorbing the beauty and wonder of Florentine works of art and architecture. However, trying to pack too much into a single, brief visit can result in cultural overload. Florence is not the choice of those seeking a seaside resort or a holiday with small children. Older children, well disciplined, and well prepared, can benefit from accompanying their parents on a tour of the museums, palaces, and churches, but interest for most youngsters will rapidly wane in the crush of crowds and intense heat of the small city. Adult tempers will fray as well.
Boboli Gardens can provide a respite from the heat and activity, but the landscaped grounds of the Pitti Palace are designed to rest the eyes and delight the imagination. It is not primarily a playground. Festivals, shopping, feasts for the senses along every street, in every square, and in every museum: these are the gifts Florence offers to the visitor. Tuscany is known for its fine culinary traditions - in particular, its olive oil, meat dishes and classic Chianti. Restaurants of every type, offering bills of fare ranging from fast food to world-class cuisine abound, and there are clusters of little cafés in every neighborhood.
Tuscan food is simple and excellent with a variety of bean dishes, soups, pork dishes, grilled meats and vegetables. Fine Tuscan wines accompany the meal. The Tuscan economy is rooted in craft traditions. The top designers of Milan use the textile factories of Florence for the execution of their designs. Gold working has been perfected over the centuries in workshops near the Ponte Vecchio, where jewelry is produced that is sold throughout Europe.
Visitors will find a beautiful assortment of leather goods, including shoes, as well. Marbled paper, handmade perfumes and toiletries, decorative ceramic pieces, and sculpture are also locally produced.
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