10 family-friendly hotels in Florence, including painting lessons and treasure hunts in the Boboli Gardens
While Italians traditionally love children, Florence isn’t a particularly family-friendly place, but these hotels will help you make the city fun for your offspring. For starters, most listed here have outside space to run around in which makes up for the lack of parks in the city centre. Many have bedrooms that are capacious enough to take an extra bed or two, while others offer interconnecting rooms. Welcome packs are often provided and toys left on pillows at turn-down service in the evening. Hotel restaurants will always be happy to whip up a plate of pasta al Pomodoro if your four-year-old turns his nose up at truffles and pigeon; several hotels will even organise child-friendly museum tours, shopping trips and cooking classes. Here's our pick of the best family-friendly hotels in Florence.
Villa Cora
Florence, Tuscany, Italy
9Telegraph expert rating
A fantasy world of immaculately restored luxury, Villa Cora is an outstanding hotel offering superb facilities, impeccable service and a best-of-both-worlds location. The lovely rose-filled garden and pool are a calm, cool refuge after a hot, sticky day in central Florence. Children are well looked after and there’s a lot to keep them busy, including cooking and pizza-making classes, swimming and painting lessons, tuk-tuk tours of the city and so on. Children are given iPads, colouring books and toys and there are special menus in the restaurant. The two rooms in the gatehouse ('Le Follie') are particularly suitable for families. Read expert review From £248 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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Hotel Savoy
Florence, Tuscany, Italy
9Telegraph expert rating
A historic hotel with a prime position between the Duomo and the Ponte Vecchio, and a young, fresh vibe. It offers excellent services and a bistro-style Italian restaurant. Families will feel right at home in the larger suites which are ideal for families with sitting rooms and panoramic outlooks. There are all sorts of special activities for children. Bottle warmers, baby baths and complimentary baby meals are provided, and slightly older children will appreciate the ‘Teddy Turndown Service’. There are mini bathrobes and slippers and children’s toiletries too. Cultural activities include a 'Pinocchio Experience' and treasure hunts in the Uffizi. Read expert review From £347 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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Four Seasons Hotel Firenze
Florence, Tuscany, Italy
9Telegraph expert rating
Florence’s most lavish hotel is housed in a magnificent Renaissance palazzo set in 11 acres of mature gardens. Aside from the expansive, inviting garden – where breakfast and picnics can be served – and pool, there are all sorts of special facilities and services for children. The kids' club, open in summer months, allows parents to go off and visit museums in peace, and play areas in the garden offer climbing frames, slides, swings and ping pong. There are children's and teens' menus in all the restaurants and special treatments for young guests in the spa. Read expert review From £395 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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Belmond Villa San Michele
Florence, Tuscany, Italy
8Telegraph expert rating
The expansive hotel, housed in an ancient former monastery, combines Renaissance atmosphere with 21st-century comforts galore. The panoramic pool — set in a green lawn at the top of the property — is a real boon in hot weather. There are plenty of child-friendly extras, such as toys on beds and child-sized robes and slippers. The kids’ club organises activities in the summer such as cooking and gardening lessons, pizza-baking classes, rafting on the Arno and a Circus Academy. Many of the garden rooms and suites are interconnecting; and the ones in the garden annexes come with more space, bigger bathrooms and private gardens. Read expert review From £458 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
Hotel Santa Maria Novella
Florence, Tuscany, Italy
8Telegraph expert rating
The hotel holds its own among its competitors by offering a strategic location five minutes’ walk from the train station. It does its utmost to cater to children for a city-centre boutique hotel: there are several interconnecting rooms, cots are supplied free of charge for younger children, and extra beds can be added. Backpacks are given to children on arrival, along with soft toys and colouring books, drinks and snacks. Meanwhile, adults will be delighted by the smart cocktail bar, gym and sauna, plus the gorgeous Carrara marble bathrooms with special products from the renowned Santa Maria Novella pharmacy nearby. Read expert review From £90 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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Torre di Bellosguardo
Florence, Tuscany, Italy
8Telegraph expert rating
The Torre di Bellosguardo offers an authentic atmosphere, a superb location and good value. The villa stands in magnificent grounds with views over the whole city. The real boon is the glorious garden, with its panoramic pool and lounge area. Children will be delighted by the presence of three donkeys plus chickens and geese on the property; the vaulted ceilings, frescoes, carved stone fireplaces and museum-worthy antiques give the space a magical quality. The sleeping quarters are large and have impressive original features; the suites and some doubles are big enough to fit a number of extra beds for a flat rate. Read expert review From £254 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
Portrait Firenze
Florence, Tuscany, Italy
9Telegraph expert rating
An exceptional hotel with a centralissima location, sophisticated design and a discreetly luxurious atmosphere. Most rooms and suites have river views, with the latter generously sized for families. Bathrooms come with robes and slippers for smaller guests, plus organic toiletries for babies. The in-room kitchens are an obvious advantage for anyone travelling with little ones. Children are greeted with colouring books and stuffed toys. The kids’ club programme can organise activities, including treasure hunts in the Boboli gardens, food tours and cooking lessons; they will even take your grumpy adolescent out dancing at night. Read expert review From £386 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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Grand Hotel Minerva
Florence, Tuscany, Italy
8Telegraph expert rating
The Minerva, standing on lively Piazza Santa Maria Novella with its glorious Dominican church, is within luggage-dragging distance from the train station. The jewel in the crown is the rooftop pool, terrace and bar with 360-degree views of the city, a rarity in Florence. There are both connecting rooms and duplex suites that can sleep a family. Children get a special check-in and are given a welcome pack with crayons, colouring books and special maps of Florence. Eating and drinking options cater for all tastes and there is a lovely terrace on the piazza for summer meals. Children’s menus are available. Read expert review From £133 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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Villa La Massa
Florence, Tuscany, Italy
8Telegraph expert rating
With its peaceful, rural setting on the south bank of the Arno just upstream from Florence, Villa La Massa will appeal to those seeking the best of both worlds. Excellent facilities include two restaurants, a large pool surrounded by shaded green lawns for lounging, and a pampering spa. While not specifically child-orientated, well-behaved young guests will enjoy the pool, the endless space to run around and the playground area in the grounds. Breakfast on the terrace overlooking the Arno makes a dreamy start to the day, while the elegant Il Verocchio serves pan-Italian cuisine using produce from the kitchen garden. Read expert review From £415 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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Casa Schlatter
Florence, Tuscany, Italy
7Telegraph expert rating
Casa Schlatter is more home than hotel: the owner’s great grandfather, Swiss painter Carlo Adolfo Schlatter, built this creeper-clad villa in the late 1890s, and it’s filled with lovely portraits of the artist and his wife. His large, light-filled studio, which overlooks the pretty garden, is now a welcoming living room/reception area with comfortable sofas and lots of reading material. A lot of care and attention has gone into the three pristine, pretty bedrooms and bathrooms, which are filled with family antiques and art. One room sleeps four, while larger families might consider renting the whole place; it sleeps a total of eight. Read expert review From £77 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
