How I Review Hotels

I'm Jason GaNung, and every hotel and villa guide on Florence Life is written by me.

I stay first

​I have spent extensive time in Florence over many trips. Most of the hotels and villas I recommend are places I have stayed in myself. When I include a property I have not slept in yet, I say so, and I base the write-up on a visit, a walk-through or long conversations with people I trust who have stayed there.

What I look at

• Location: how long it really takes to walk to the Duomo, the Uffizi and the Oltrarno, and how quiet the street is at night.

• The room: light, noise, bed, bathroom, and whether the view in the photos is the view you actually get.

• Service: how the front desk handles a late arrival, a dinner booking or a problem.

• Breakfast, common spaces and the small things that make a stay feel easy.

• Who it suits: couples, families, first-timers, or travelers who want something very local.

My picks are independent

No hotel pays to be on my lists, and no hotel reviews or approves what I write before it goes live. If I stop liking a place, it comes off the list.

I keep guides current

Florence changes. I revisit and update my guides when hotels open, renovate or slip, and each guide shows when it was last updated.

Questions

If you want to know more about a hotel I cover, read more about me on my About page.