Villa Cora

This property was a perfect blend of relaxing and convenient to Florence sightseeing. It was warm during our stay and we took advantage of the pool and shuttle service everyday. The junior suite was very comfortable and spacious and nice turn down service to keep it fresh. We stayed four nights and wish we had booked more.

We stayed at the Villa Cora as part of a larger trip in Italy. The villa itself is impressive, beautifully decorated in the public areas, and some of the public rooms are a masterpiece in artistic flair. It is an historically important and beautiful villa. For us, the rooms however did not measure up. Our rooms (in the main villa) were very dark and small. We appreciated the traditional decoration, but it did feel very cramped and dark. The offerings felt quite limited and bare. There was not a shower in our room, so we needed a bath (It was 40c in Florence) this was an issue, as I really wanted a cool shower after a long trip. Everything felt quite spartan and basic. The service was good enough, nowhere near the standard we are used to in five star hotels. We requested an outdoor table months ago for supper, and it was not honoured, although the restaurant service was good enough. There were local people dining and a hen party of some sort that seemed to take precedence. The pool area is quite small, although the setting within the garden is very pretty. I was underwhelmed. To improve: They need to increase their customer care of the guests, the rooms need to be improved with nicer amenities and welcome offerings and the nets need to come down so the rooms are not so dark. The rooms also need some TLC, they are looking very scruffy in places - with staining on the nets and around the bath etc. Overall I was quite disappointed I am sorry to say. It was an okay stay, it just about met a base line criteria, but the service lacked charm and genuine hospitality and the rooms need some investment.

This place has all the facilities of a 5 star but some things are lacking that make it one in my opinion. The location is good if you want to be close to the main city. It’s not as cut off as one might want. Lots of road noise etc around the pool. Restaurant was excellent and can’t fault it. Property itself it very nice and smells fresh. Room also good. Although a lot on ground floor which isn’t really my thing. Ok here’s why not really a 5 star 1. Some of the sun loungers by the pool were broken in that you couldn’t set the back rest to some positions. However this could be fixed with a simple maintenance and pair of pliers 2. There was a plastic wrapper beside the pool that no one picked up. There was no trash visible. I moved it to a more obvious place. Still there the next day! 3. Wanted to iron a shirt and pants. Don’t offering ironing boards. Have to pay for them to be done. Made me 30 minutes late for dinner. Don’t understand this rule. I am used to 5 star hotels that accommodate your requests. 4. Someone had put several drinks on our pool bill. Drinks we don’t even drink. But took about 20 minutes to get removed and had to speak to bar manger. Why? Not like they can argue for me to pay for something that was not ours. 5 star hotels customers are not challenged. Hopefully these things will be picked up and resolved to make this the 5 star hotel it deserves to be.