Hotel Martelli

Probably the worst hotel I have ever been to. 370 euros for one night that was very long as I could not sleep… Rooms are very noisy with thin windows… just above a road with cars all night long and lots of people walking, singing.. In addition, rooms smell very bad because they are very humid. Overall my night there was a nightmare, litterally a nightmare. I obviously asked to change room, but they did not accept. Lastly, the supposedly family room had no bed sheet for the small bed.. for that price that’s incredible. It’s a pure joke. I hope for you that you read my review before pressing the booking button for this horrible place.

We have just had a five week journey through Europe and Hotel Martelli in Florence was the very worst place we stayed at. We were charged double what we were initially quoted; the room was very dated; the bathroom was the size of your average toilet; and the breakfasts were dreadful. My wife has a Gluten Free Diet but they were not able to cater for her despite letting the hotel know in advance. Finally, some, not all, of the staff were extremely dismissive and gave me the impression that hotel guests were a pain. I would not recommend this hotel at all.

We booked 6 night of staying in Florence in this so-called-hotel through Agoda, and our horrible experience bagan right after check-in, at 10pm. We paid the city tax by card in advance for the six nights (weird, as all of the other places charge it at checkout). The receptionist was nice, and explained to us how to get to our room - 49: an elevator, walking, another elevator, more walking.. weird. The instance the first elevator door was open we were hit by the stuffy feeling and smell of a not-vacuumed rug. The ENTIRE hall had a dusty rug that needed lots of TLC.. We were disappointed but the room pictures didn't show carpeted floors so we hoped it's just the hallway. We reached the second floor and the stuffy feeling was even worse, but we went on to our room and saw the carpet continued into the room under the door. We opened the door and were HIT with the awful smell of wet molded carpet; we couldn't breathe. The room had a small carpeted foyer that wasn't in pictures. THE ENTIRE ROOM WAS SMELLY, STUFFY, AND UNINHABITABLE.
In addition to that, in our reservation we specifically asked double twin beds, which we didn't get.
We left our luggage in the bed area, opened the windows, and went straight down to the reception - we couldn't be there, we paid so much money for A WEEK at this "hotel" and that's what we got?! The receptionist said they were fully booked for the night and had no other room for us. Regarding the bed - they don't have superior bedrooms with double twin beds and if tomorrow we decide we want to DOWNGRADE ON OUR EXPENSE, he will have to check with the hotel manager. Regarding the smell he assured us that tomorrow if we decide to stay in a superior bedroom he will change our room.
I immediately contacted Agoda explain the situation and ask for their immediate help. We paid for a superior bedroom, and the twin beds were required for religious reasons.
We spent a sleepless night in this room, with open windows for fresh air (in vain), but also a lot of mosquitos as the windows had no nets. We sprayed ample deodorant and perfume - nothing worked against the terrible smell and the stuffiness feeling in this room. The bathroom was OK, although the vent was very loud.
At 9am we were back at the reception. The receptionist gave us a key to an inferior bedroom to check it out. It was small, not smelly but definitely stuffy, and the bathroom was tiny and had mold. This isn't what we paid for. We got back to the reception and asked to see another superior. He told us our room had just been cleaned, that he had specifically asked it to have good smell sprayed and asked us to go check it out. We were skeptic as we tried this already but we went back up. The smell remained. We went back down and asked to see another superior room. To our amazement the receptionist said the manager refused to change our room. "It is what it is". We obviously asked to talk to her. The receptionist called, and asked us to wait, and it went on and on, until at one point he just said THE MANAGER REFUSED TO TALK TO US!
We snapped. We are frustrated customers, what do you mean the manager refuses to talk to us?! Never have I encountered such disrespect and dismissal. That is NOT hotel-worthy behavior.
We went back up, took our luggage and returned to the reception. It was 11:25, and the receptionist was gone. A cleaning lady was there instead until at he returned and we asked to be checked out, and receive the city tax we paid. At 11:55 he returned with a copy of the refund request, signed by this HORRIBLE manager - Francesca Pelagotti.
After two days we received a refund for only 4 nights out of the 6. It seems as if the "hotel" waited to tell us they will not change our room until after checkout time of 11 to drag us along after charge us for another night, even though it was clear we will not stay in this room.
It's a shame, an absolute disgrace, and I hope this "hotel" will shut down soon. It is the most awful place I've stayed in, including AirB&B, hostels, motels, and anywhere else I have ever been in.

After we arrived, I read the reviews. I wish I would've read before. They were all correct. The rooms are outdated and need to be upgraded. The rooms are dark because of bad lighting, the beds are hard, old and few outlets, A/C needs to be replaced. It needs a new paint job. Oh, and there's a weird smell when you enter the room.

As was mentioned, it is really close to Train Station.

Staff were nice to us.