Hotel Spadai

Hotel Spadai is a boutique hotel on Via de' Martelli, the street that runs north from the Duomo towards San Lorenzo. Its main selling point is location: the cathedral square is about 100 metres away, and the Palazzo Vecchio, the Uffizi and the Ponte Vecchio are all around 500 metres. For first-time visitors who want to walk everywhere, there are few better-placed addresses at this price level.

The hotel describes its rooms as spacious and sophisticated, and they range across six categories: Standard, Comfort and Deluxe rooms, a Junior Suite, larger Suites and the Spadai Suite at the top of the range. Each category is designed for comfort, from practical rooms for short stays to larger suites for those who want more space. Breakfast is served each morning, and the lounge bar is a pleasant place for a drink before heading out to dinner.

A distinctive feature is the private spa, reserved for couples, which offers a relaxing end to a day of sightseeing and is unusual for a hotel of this size in the centre. It is worth booking a slot when you reserve your room, particularly at weekends.

The hotel suits couples, solo travellers and small families looking for comfort and convenience without the cost of the grandest five-star hotels. Rates rise significantly in spring, early summer and early autumn, and booking directly through the hotel's website is the simplest way to check availability and room types. As the centre is a restricted traffic zone, ask the hotel about the best drop-off point if arriving by taxi.

Via de' Martelli is a busy shopping street during the day and quieter in the evening. The Medici-Riccardi Palace, with Benozzo Gozzoli's Chapel of the Magi, is just to the north, the Medici Chapels and the Mercato Centrale are five minutes away, and the Galleria dell'Accademia is about seven minutes on foot. Santa Maria Novella station is roughly ten minutes' walk, making arrivals and departures easy with luggage. Being so close to the Duomo also makes early-morning visits to the cathedral and the dome climb easy, before the queues build up in the piazza later in the morning.