Bed and Breakfast Antiche Armonie

Great Bed and Breakfast with tram stop to the center right in front. Nice room. We happened to have the four-poster bed. Recommended

Oh my goodness, where do I start? Maybe if I add an extra vowel to the word ‘run’ it would sum up what the owner has attempted to do to this B&B! I have been to hundreds of hotels, guest houses and B&B’s all around the world and this one ranks extremely high on my list of all time worst establishments to stay. B&B Antiche Armonie was in a good location (a 10 minute walk from Santa Maria Novella Station) and my room was clean. Breakfast wasn’t vast but was fresh and sufficient although. An earlier start than 8am would be helpful, especially if early dome tours or trains are booked. I enquired about the breakfast hours and my reply was: ‘What did I write in the instructions you received 1 day before arriving at our facility? 8:00-10:00’. Yes, fair enough, I didn’t check the long-winded instructions carefully enough. I am on holiday after all, not at school! There was certainly no need for a Whatsapp message containing multiple emoji fingers! Alessandra (member of staff) was helpful and friendly although I didn’t meet the owner once during my stay, only receiving sparse messages via WhatsApp. Things had started to decline rapidly after the emoji fingers. The air conditioning unit in my room was faulty. I messaged the owner to see if it could be looked at. No reply! I ended up opening my window (extremely noisy due to heavy traffic) and was subsequently bitten my mosquitoes. On my last evening I returned to my room to find the door wide open and a set of keys in the lock. A shock indeed. It was extremely lucky that my passport and currency were not stolen. I rang the reception bell but there was no reply. There was nobody around when I departed at 7.40am the next morning. There was also no soap or hand wash in the bathroom for the last two days and no towels for the final day. So, overall, a terrible way to ‘run’ a B&B and not a nice manner to treat guests. I hardly ever write a one star review. I’m afraid that B&B Antiche Armonie is one of the exceptions!

I booked the B&B because of the location near the train station and the easy accessibility from the airport, as I travelled on by train the next day. The area around the property was not very charming, but the connection by tram to the city center is very good. Late arrival was no problem and check-in uncomplicated. Owner and staff were very friendly. The breakfast was fine, typical Italian with lots of sweets, I would have liked even higher quality pastries, there were only crumbly brioch rolls. Unfortunately, the coffee was not particularly good. My room was spacious and tidy, rather functional. The road in front of the accommodation is busy, motorcycles and horns were already very strong.