Florence is at its busiest in the spring and summer, but the off-season — typically November through March — offers a quieter, more affordable way to experience this Renaissance capital. During these months, many of the city's best boutique and luxury hotels offer rooms at significantly reduced rates. Beyond the savings, visiting Florence in the off-season means milder winter weather, fewer tourists, and easier access to museums, galleries, and restaurants — making it one of the best times to explore the heart of Italian culture without the crowds.
1. Helvetia & Bristol
Located at the city crossroads of Piazza della Repubblica, Helvetia & Bristol has been the pied-à-terre of visiting artists and literati for a century and a half — a central location steeped in Florentine heritage that evokes a more elegant era of travel.When it opened in the 1880s, Grand Tour aristocrats reveled in the Italianate splendor of richly colored, jacquard-covered walls, crystal chandeliers, parquet floors and wrought-iron canopy beds. Today, those exquisite details have been meticulously refurbished, with help from Florence’s Antico Setificio weaving workshop, while the newer Bristol Wing, added in 2019, offers more contemporary rooms and suites in cool gray tones inside a former bank building.
A small spa was built atop the discovered remains of Roman baths — best enjoyed in the hotel’s quieter months — and a ground-floor branch of Cibrèo, a Florentine favorite, serves up some of the most delectable food in town. Guests attentive to the calendar can snag rooms as low as €360, which can soar past €1,000 in other periods.
2. Casa G
A stone’s throw from Via Tornabuoni and the church of Santa Maria Novella, this intimate, well-appointed boutique hotel is set within the 18th‑century Palazzo Ginori dei Rondinelli — once home to the Richard Ginori porcelain manufactory. Its 15 tastefully curated rooms — including suites with frescoed ceilings and one snug single — blend the building’s centuries of history with 20th-century Italian vintage pieces and custom-designed contemporary furnishings crafted by local artisans. A perfect pick for thoughtful travelers looking for something more original than the standard mainstream offerings.Two peaceful courtyard patios and an honesty bar of onyx stone offer even more relaxation in the calmer off-season months, when room prices can dip as low as €270 from highs of around €800. The hotel also sends out a monthly newsletter with suggestions for the city’s events, keeping guests apprised of what’s happening at any time of the year in Florence — with winter months among the best for catching the temporary exhibitions too often overlooked by visitors chasing Florence’s headline museums.
3. Palazzo Portinari Salviati Residenza D'Epoca
One of the newest luxury hotels in Florence, Palazzo Portinari has transformed a 15th-century patrician palace into guest quarters that retain much of the architectural grandeur of its original design. Inaugurated in 2022, it offers 13 suites, all located on the noble floor under the soaring, decorated ceilings. In the Renaissance courtyard, Atto di Vito Mollica is the hotel’s MICHELIN-Starred restaurant, with tables watched over by a commanding marble statue of Cosimo de’ Medici. Antique tapestries and artworks still adorn the walls, and the palazzo’s richly coffered ceilings and frescoes by Alessandro Allori have been diligently restored by master artisans.It’s a storied setting for experiencing Florence’s cultural legacy alongside present day comforts, including a serene spa housed beneath centuries-old vaulted ceilings — an ideal retreat on cooler days, when suite rates dip to €630 from highs of €1,400. Set in the very heart of Florence, with the Duomo and the Bargello museum just steps away, it makes for a perfect base to explore the city.
4. The Hoxton
With cheerful contemporary design and buzzing social spaces, The Hoxton is a standout deal for those seeking a lively getaway — and in low season, even more so, when prices can drop to €160 from a peak of €400. Guests enjoy the Violetta bar with its cozy salon-style seating, the Alassio seafood restaurant onsite, and the numerous parties, DJ sets, and artist presentations that animate the hotel throughout the year. The Hoxton opened early in 2025 and has quickly established itself as a fixture of the local social scene — much needed in a city rich in Renaissance art but poor in nightlife — and has helped put the surrounding Piazza della Libertà neighborhood on the map as Florence’s most up-and-coming area.North of the Duomo, the hotel feels far away from the tourist crowds, yet sites like the Accademia and San Marco convent area are a short stroll away, and the surrounding blocks are filled with classic spots like Caffè Lietta and the Antica Occhialeria store known for its bespoke, handcrafted eyewear.
5. Stella d'Italia
Situated directly on prestigious Via Tornabuoni and occupying the upper floors of a 16th-century palazzo designed by Giorgio Vasari, Stella d’Italia reflects the eclectic design sensibility for which local hoteliers Matteo Perduca and Betty Soldi are known — their other ventures include favorites like Ad Astra, Oltrarno Splendid and SoprArno Suites. Here, the duo have perhaps their most charmed location, on the same thoroughfare as Florence’s poshest boutiques, the Palazzo Strozzi museum with its world-class contemporary art shows, and the Santa Trinità church with its enchanting 15th-century frescoes by Ghirlandaio.The hotel’s one-of-a-kind rooms play with a vibrant palette of colors, clusters of portrait paintings and vintage Italian curios that embrace a distinct sense of whimsy. The frescoed breakfast salon and rooftop loggia overlook the Duomo and Tuscan hills, a complement to the design ethos with a more classic sense of Florentine majesty. Altogether, it’s a boutique stay loaded with personality, made even more appealing by prices that can drop from €480 to €230 in the off-season.
Hero Image: The MICHELIN-Starred Atto di Vito Mollica at Palazzo Portinari Salviati Residenza D'Epoca. ©Palazzo Portinari Salviati
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