Hotel Savoy

Hotel Savoy has stood on Piazza della Repubblica since 1896, and under Rocco Forte ownership it has become the most approachable of Florence's five-stars. Olga Polizzi's interiors lighten the grand old bones with fresh colour, Florentine craft references—footwear sketches nod to the city's shoemaking heritage—and an easy elegance that avoids museum-piece stuffiness. The location is as central as Florence allows: the Duomo is two minutes' walk, the Uffizi five, and the piazza's carousel spins directly outside.

Rooms range from snug classics to generous suites overlooking the square or the cathedral dome; the style throughout is bright, contemporary and comfortable rather than antique-laden. Families are made genuinely welcome, a distinction in a city of formal palazzo hotels, with connecting rooms and thoughtful touches for younger guests.

The ground-floor Irene bistro spreads onto a terrace facing the piazza, serving updated Tuscan cooking and one of the centre's better people-watching aperitivi. There is no spa to speak of, and light sleepers should note the square's evening buzz, but as a walking base for first-time Florence the Savoy is very hard to beat.