My Hotel Room in Firenze

Upon arriving in Firenze (Florence), the first thing I did was to check into the hotel. It was very close to the train station and the popular tourist spots. The hotel was a flight up the stairs and still in the process of some remodeling. It was a two star hotel, so the amenities were at a minimum, but it was clean, friendly and comfortable.

My room was on the 3^rd floor and my window overlooked the small, narrow street below that was lined with motor scooters all parked in a line, reminding me of a giant metal zipper. The shutters on my window could swing open to let the air and light in. There were no screens on the windows but I didn’t see any mosquitos. I thought that maybe they didn’t need to fly that high up with the crowds of tourists available at street level.

My room was fairly Spartan with a desk in the corner under a small flat-screen TV that was solidly bolted to the wall. My bed consisted of two twin beds pushed together. It was fairly comfortable and no signs of bed-bugs, so I was good. There was an old armoire with some hangers and a safe, that was actually bolted to the armoire. I didn’t think any prospective thief would be able to carry the armoire down 3 flights of stairs without drawing some attention, so I was comfortable with stashing my cash and credit cards in it.

As in the other hotel in Sermide, the bathroom was very interesting. It was almost the complete opposite. It had a fairly spacious shower with the emergency cord on the inside. It was still not long enough for me to grab if I should fall on the floor, but I would cross that bridge if I came to it. The rest of the bathroom was long and quite narrow. I could barely sit on the toilet without knocking my knees against the opposite wall. Next to the toilet was the ubiquitous bidet, which I didn’t even attempt to experiment with in that tiny space. I thought that it would most likely get very painful and messy.

At the front desk I grabbed a small Florence newspaper for tourists, that was in English. I sat on the bed and perused the paper. I came to an article discussing the different nationalities and their habits as tourists. It said that Americans were known for stealing anything and everything that isn’t nailed down in a hotel room. Well, I guess that explains why there wasn’t ANYTHING in any of the drawers or desk. No pens, stationary, postcards, pamphlets, hotel information or TV guide….nada. Well, I guess it’s our own fault. At least I wasn’t a tourist from Great Britain; they’re known for being the most obnoxious when drunk. Who knew?