La Luna Guest House

"Our host, Ricardo was super friendly and helpful, and gave us lots of great recommendations for things to do and places to see around town. The room and bed were very comfortable and beautiful. We travelled around Europe for almost a month, and this was our favorite stay. I highly recommend."

La Luna Guesthouse is a perfect option if you truly want to feel at home in Florence. It is a close 5 minute walk to a bus stop and tram stop to take you closer to the city center, or a 20 minute walk along the river to reach the center of Florence. Riccardo, the owner, is extremely considerate and offers many recommendations for things to do and places to see in Florence. He makes sure that guests feel comfortable and at home. Also, the place is very clean and in a quiet, safe building. I would definitely recommend staying here!

Reasonably priced for Florence, this guesthouse is about a 20 minute walk along the river, from the historic centre. There is a tram stop about 5 minutes away and you can ride the tram one stop to Santa Maria Novella train station and then walk if you prefer. Riccardo was waiting for us when we arrived and carried our cases upstairs. We stayed in the room with the private bathroom and fresco on the ceiling. There was a balcony but it was unusable as it overlooked a small courtyard full of rubbish. The bed was comfortable but the shower had very low pressure, fortunately we were only there a short time so the need to wash my hair didn't arise; however, if I had needed to wash my hair the pressure in the shower would have been an issue. Riccardo was very helpful giving us plenty of info concerning things to do in and around the area. My main annoyance was on the day we were due to leave. Riccardo had asked us the day before, if we could be out of the room by 10.30am, we said that was fine and it wasn't a problem. On the morning we were due to leave I got four text messages from Riccardo in the space of one minute starting at 08.47 telling us he was already there waiting in the kitchen and the last message at 08.48 saying he needed the room at approximately 10.30am. This was extremely annoying as we had already confirmed 10.30 was OK and it wasn't even 09.00!! We had been out late the night before as it was our Wedding Anniversary, which was our reason for visiting Florence, so we were having a lie in as all we needed to do was get up and shower. Who bothers people and sends them 4 messages within the space of a minute early in the morning and over an hour and a half before they need to vacate the room?? I ignored the messages and at 10.10am Riccardo was knocking at our door to see if we were ready. This was very annoying to say the least as although showered, I wasn't dressed. I also accidentally broke a glass the night before so out of politeness my husband offered to pay for it and Riccardo took 5 euros for a cheap wine glass, saying "that should cover it". I will be honest, I didn't expect him to take any money (it was just a polite gesture) as every other hotel or guesthouse I have ever stayed in understands that small breakages happen and don't charge the guest for them. I would understand if we had broken something major or expensive, but not a cheap wine glass which I'm sure could have been replaced for far less than 5 euros. Although our stay was comfortable we would not stay there again due to the wine glass and early morning texting issues.

La Luna is more an experience of actually living in Florence than it is of visiting there. The building used to be a single residence which was then subdivided to multiple, smaller residences. La Luna is now the second (first for Italians) floor, housing four rooms. I asked Riccardo for the quietest room as I am a light sleeper. He accommodated, promising our room would be extremely quiet. He did not disappoint as in the middle of this very bustling city our room was very nearly silent. A real plus is the ice cold air conditioning. We visited Florence during a heat wave and the ground temperature sometimes climbed above 110 F. At the end of a long day of walking, touring, etc. we really wanted that AC. Most Italian interiors do not have effective AC or AC at all, so this was delightful. Back to Riccardo. He is the manager of the property and was fabulous. He clearly loves his city and was eager to share as much local insight as he could. Of course we had our reservations for the various museums and such, but he gave us ideas on how to approach our days and of course told us many things we didn’t know to do at all. If you stay at La Luna make sure to take advantage of his local knowledge and hospitality. Also don’t miss the fabulous local coffee shop two doors down from La Luna. Magnificent cappuccino! I want to emphasize that this is like living in Florence as a local. La Luna is about half a block outside of the city center and feels modern urban residential. It’s a very short walk (5 mins) to the start of the city center, but note you will not be in the city center (ancient Florence itself). Lastly, the room itself is charmingly decorated. The walls and floor are sturdy and reassuring. The bed is memory foam and we slept soundly. The bathroom is thoroughly updated and modern. Recommended highly. We’d stay at La Luna again if we were to visit Florence a second time.