The Hoxton Florence Review: A Promising Stay But Potential For More

We’d been looking forward to our stay at The Hoxton Florence for months. Having yet to experience any of The Hoxton’s hotels worldwide, we were curious to see what the fuss was all about. This boutique hotel opened in March 2025 and we visited shortly after in June. As fans of boutique hotels with character, we were excited to try this brand-new property, though what should have been a wonderful introduction to the Hoxton brand turned into mostly good stay but with a series of mixed experiences.

Disclaimer: We paid for our stay ourselves and this review reflects our honest experience. Some links in this post are affiliate links, meaning we may earn a small commission if you book through them – at no extra cost to you.

Location: Well-Connected and Mostly Central

The Hoxton Florence sits about 15 minutes on foot from the main squares of Florence. We actually quite liked this location – it’s a close, comfortable walk into the center of Florence, making everything walkable while being far enough away to feel peaceful and quiet. After long days of sightseeing, we occasionally wished it was just a touch closer, but overall the location struck a nice balance.

What we did love was the airport connection. The tram from Florence airport takes just 28 minutes (15 stops) and costs only €1.90 per person. From the nearest tram stop, it’s just a couple of minutes’ walk to the hotel entrance – incredibly convenient for airport travelers.

Train travelers can also easily reach the hotel. It is possible to walk from Florence’s main train station, though with luggage it might not be the smartest idea. It is possible to get the same tram from the train station, or otherwise a taxi can get you from the station, through the ZTL zone and right to the front of The Hoxton Florence.

If you’re planning to drive, note that the hotel sits right on the edge of Florence’s ZTL (limited traffic zone). Unauthorized vehicles are not allowed to drive through the ZTL. If they do, they can be subject to large fines. Parking is available underground for €28 per day, which is fairly standard for the city center.

Taxi tip: During busy times at the train station, it can sometimes be faster to call your own taxi instead of lining up at the official taxi stand. Walk across the street and call a taxi (Taxi 4242: +39 055 4242 or Taxi Firenze: +39 055 4390) , or reserve one with apps like AppTaxi and TAXIMove. You can also pre-book a taxi for a specific time.

Room Types at The Hoxton Florence

The Hoxton Florence is a decent size property with a large number of rooms – 158 to be exact. It features a unique mix of Renaissance and postmodern-style rooms inspired by the venue’s history, set across two distinct buildings. The property combines a palatial building from the 1500s that once belonged to the affluent Ricasoli family (inventors of Chianti wine) with a modern 1980s structure designed by iconic Florentine architect Andrea Branzi.

The hotel offers a wide range of room categories
Snug Room – Very small at 16m². These rooms are only for single guests and feature a queen bed.
Cozy Room – The entry-level accommodation, compact but well-designed at 17 – 28m_²
Cozy Room with Terrace – Similar to the standard cozy room but includes access to a private outdoor terrace with courtyard seating (this is what we originally booked)
Roomy Room – A step up in size from the cozy rooms, located in the main building
Biggie Room – The largest standard room category, offering significantly more space
Studio & Studio with Terrace – A hotel room with apartment features such as a lounge area that comes with or without an outdoor terrace
House – The ultimate accommodation, a 145 sqm space in a separate building to the other two. It accommodates up to 6 adults with three en-suite bedrooms, a state-of-the-art kitchen, dining area, living room and outdoor terrace

All rooms at The Hoxton Florence include comfy king or super king mattresses, blackout blinds, rainfall showers and Blank bathroom products.

The Cozy Room: A Comedy of Errors

Check-in started smoothly enough. We handed over our passports, signed the form on an iPad, and were escorted to our cozy room with terrace – complete with its own private courtyard, umbrella, and seating area. It sounded perfect. We checked out our room. It was small but functional, and the outdoor terrace was a nice area to relax.

However, we soon discovered that the main bathroom light didn’t work. After a trip back to reception, maintenance came to investigate. They eventually replaced the light, but in the process discovered that our sink had a massive chunk chipped off it. We’re talking about a significant piece of porcelain missing – not something you’d miss during cleaning.

This is where we started questioning the hotel’s attention to detail. How does a room get assigned to guests with a broken sink and a faulty bathroom light? Surely housekeeping would notice this during cleaning, right?

Back to reception we went. The manager was genuinely apologetic and offered us complimentary drinks in the courtyard bar while she found a solution. She presented us with two alternative rooms, walking us through each option.

Unfortunately, no more terrace rooms were available – already a disappointment since that’s specifically what we’d booked and paid for.

Option one was a “Roomy” room (the next category up) in the main building. While slightly larger, it felt dark and dingy compared to the brightness of our original terrace room.

Option two was a “Biggie” room (two categories up from our original). Significantly larger, but it came with a major catch – it was an accessible room, meaning the shower was simply positioned in the corner of the bathroom with curtains. Every shower flooded the entire bathroom floor.

Neither option was ideal, but we chose the Biggie room as it felt more comparable in size to what we’d originally booked, despite the bathroom issues.

The Biggie Room: A Mixed Bag

Our new Biggie room was a decent size, much larger than the cozy room. However we had no outdoor terrace or balcony so we were confined to the room unlike our last ill-fated room that included the terrace.

The air conditioning worked perfectly, and the Wi-Fi was reliable throughout our stay. The bed was comfortable with quality sheets, though the pillows were disappointingly flat after a night’s sleep – leading to sore necks each morning.

The soundproofing was inconsistent. While the walls and windows blocked outside noise effectively, the doors and floors didn’t. We could hear conversations through our door and footsteps from the guests above us, sometimes making it difficult to sleep.

There was a small minibar fridge to keep our drinks cold, a large flatscreen television, and an iron with ironing board available on request. The room had two sitting chairs and table in the corner, though we learned that many Biggie rooms typically feature large couches – ours likely had the table and chairs setup due to being an accessible room. We would have preferred the couch.

In the bathroom the water pressure was actually quite good, though the shower flooding situation which left the entire bathroom floor wet was frustrating. The lighting above the sink was terrible – making it nearly impossible to apply makeup or insert contact lenses. There was virtually no counter space for toiletries, with only the area next to the taps available. With the hotel’s five complimentary bottles (hand wash, body wash, lotion, shampoo, conditioner), space filled up immediately.

Service: The Bright Spot

Despite our room troubles, we can’t fault the service at The Hoxton Florence. Every staff member we encountered was genuinely helpful and pleasant. The front desk team, housekeeping, and maintenance staff all went out of their way to assist us.

Rooms were cleaned daily, though one day our room inexplicably wasn’t serviced until 3:30 PM despite leaving the “make up room” sign out since 7:30 AM.

Restaurants and Dining

Meals are served at the Alassio restaurant, adjacent to the lobby. Our dinner experience was genuinely excellent – we ordered sea bass and Ligurian trofie pesto pasta with roasted potatoes. The sea bass was perfectly grilled, and the pasta featured fresh basil pesto that was absolutely divine.

Breakfast the first morning started equally as wonderful. We woke up and sat on the terrace next to the garden, listening to the peaceful sounds of the water fountain while sipping morning cappuccinos. Initially, breakfast included a continental buffet plus a choice from the à la carte menu – eggs Benedict, eggs your way, pancakes, or avocado toast. The barista-made coffees were decent, though the brewed coffee was almost undrinkable (stick to the barista-made coffee!)

Then, halfway through our stay, everything changed. The hotel decided they were too busy to provide the promised à la carte breakfast service to a nearly full hotel. Instead, they switched to buffet-only, featuring scrambled or fried eggs, bacon, and some avocado bruschetta. Many of the previously listed a la carte dishes were now not available.

This was particularly disappointing since the à la carte breakfast was part of what we’d booked and paid for. It’s hard to understand how they didn’t anticipate kitchen capacity issues with a full hotel.

Adding insult to injury, our package supposedly included a complimentary cocktail, but we were told this wasn’t correct and given a house wine card instead. After questioning this, they upgraded us to a spritz, but the whole situation left us feeling a little awkward.

Hotel Amenities

Don’t expect extensive amenities at The Hoxton Florence – there’s no pool, gym, sauna, or steam room. The hotel essentially consists of the rooms and the restaurants plus the beautiful Tuscan courtyard where the restaurant and bar are located.

That courtyard, however, is genuinely special. It perfectly captures the Tuscan villa atmosphere and creates a wonderful sense of place. The lovely bar situated in the courtyard adds to the ambiance, making it a perfect spot for evening drinks.

The hotel also has the Enoteca Violetta wine bar that primarily serves charcuterie style plates as well as wine and cocktails, though we didn’t have a chance to eat there during our stay.

Check-Out

Check-out was straightforward. We settled our dinner bill and paid Florence’s city tax – €7 per person per day, totaling €56 extra for our four-night stay. While a nightly city tax is common throughout Italy and indeed Europe, Florence’s rate is among the highest we’ve encountered, which varies based on the city and hotel star rating.

Final Thoughts: A Missed Opportunity

We were genuinely excited about our first Hoxton experience, especially at such a newly opened property. While the combination of room issues and operational changes during our stay were disappointing, there’s clearly potential here.

The disappointment we felt speaks to how much we wanted to love this place – and there’s definitely a lot to love.

The Hoxton Florence has strong foundations – the location is excellent, the staff is genuinely lovely, and the dining is outstanding. The beautiful courtyard creates a truly special atmosphere that captures the essence of Tuscany. For a hotel that’s only been open a few months, some operational growing pains are perhaps to be expected.

With time to refine their processes and attention to detail, this could easily become a standout property in Florence’s boutique hotel scene.

Have you stayed at The Hoxton Florence? Share your experience or questions in the comments below! For more hotel reviews and travel tips, subscribe to our newsletter and check out our other related blog posts.