Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
A warm welcome, attention to details and an exclusive central location, is awaiting you at the Hotel Firenze e Continentale. Less than two minutes’ walk away from the main train station of La Spezia, Hotel Firenze e Continentale is the perfect venue for those who wish to explore our territory and in particular the breathtaking Cinque Terre and the Gulf of Poets. The Hotel was built at the beginning of the 1900 and preserves its original architectural identity in an environment that has been constantly restored in line with the ever changing times to satisfy every guest’s needs. Refined decor accentuates the building's aristocratic vibe, whilst modern gadgets harmonise with timeless touches. LCD’s TVs, complimentary WiFi access and Bluetooth Sound Sytem available in our Suite keeps our guests entertained. A top quality 4 stars Hotel located in the historical city centre of La Spezia, the Hotel Firenze and Continentale is a brisk walk from the pedestrianised heart of the town, close to the main attractions and to the traditional restaurants where our guests can taste the delicacies of our territory.
Star ratings are intended to indicate the general level of features, amenities, and services to expect. This property is classified according to Giata.
HOTEL STYLE
Business
Mid-range
Languages Spoken
English, French, Spanish, German and 1 more
LICENSE NUMBER
011015-ALB-0002, IT011015A1RC8GUWAJ
Location
Via Pietro Paleocapa 7, 19122, La Spezia Italy
Name/address in local language
Hotel Firenze e Continentale La Spezia
1,104 reviews
Getting there
Good for walkers
Places to stay are graded on a 0-100 scale. The higher the grade, the easier it is for travellers to find restaurants and things to do within walking distance.
Hotel Firenze e Continentale was the base for 3 nights in La Spezia while visiting the beautiful Cinque Terre villages and found the hotel to be pretty good.
The hotel lobby and bar all look lovely , modern and refreshed but unless you pay for a superior room sadly you'll be disappointed. Checkin is not until 3 p.m. so don't arrive early as you are unlikely to get your room so you will have to leave your bags. It was strange to have an actual roomkey again instead of a plastic key-card.
My room was fine, a little old fashioned and for 140 EUR a night plus 5 EUR city tax perhaps a little expensive . The bed was clean and comfortable, everything was clean and there was a tray with a kettle to make tea/coffee. It was facing inwards so there was no street noise. Wifi was free and worked very well on my devices.
The bathroom was a tad narrow but it had everything you needed , the shower worked well and plenty of hot and cold water.
Breakfast was included in the rate and served in the room downstairs. You had to prebook a time slot but most people seemed to just turn up and it sometimes got very busy. Everything was served to you so you had to stay behind the rope and wear your mask . Pastries were nice, the eggs and bacon okay, good selection of cheese and meats all from local areas. The fruit selection was especially good.
Staff were sometimes brusk but mostly friendly, cocktails at the bar were well made but again a little expensive for the location by a train station. Perhaps a free drink for hotel guests might be a nice idea ? It's a perfect location as the trains are right there and restaurants and bars are a short walk away.
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Date of stay: September 2021
Value
Location
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Maria Gabriella Liconti, General Manager at Hotel Firenze e Continentale La Spezia
Responded 14 Oct 2021
Dear guest, thank you for your nice words and for taking some time to review your stay at our Hotel. The Hotel has over six different categories, ranging in style from classic to modern. We have also recently expanded our offer with new Deluxe rooms that boast the best quality in terms of furniture and design. In addition, some of the rooms we have have have the original key, which is heavier than the magnetic key that is required for other rooms. We thank you a lot for your advices, our top priority is satisfying our guests needs. We do hope to be welcoming you back in the nearest future. Kind regards, La Direzione
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Stayed here for 2 nights. The room was large (we also had a separate area with a couch and a table with a small coffee/tea maker, but the room was dated and had a musty/dusty smell. There was only 1 bathrobe and 1 pair of slippers for 2 people (the reservation was for 2 people so there should have been 2 of each in the room). The bathroom was very large, the water pressure was great with plenty of towels, shampoo (no conditioner), lotion and soap. It is difficult to get into the shower as you have to step over the edge of the tub and it is very high. I would not recommend it for people who have balance issues or limited mobility.
The elevator is very small, but 2 of us fit along with 2 carry on bags and 2 backpacks.
The gentleman at the front desk gave us 1 key (they are key cards) and I asked for another one (as there were 2 of us in the room) which he gave to me. When I tried to use the second key card it would not open the door so I had to go back and ask for another one which he gave me and was surprised it did not work. I tried that one and it did not work either. I compared it to the one key card that did work to see if I was doing something wrong and I was not, the key card just did not work. I took it back down and told him, he was surprised that it didn't work and tried to explain to me how it worked and offered to have someone come and show me how it worked. I explained to him that I compared it to the other key card that did work and that one was defective. He proceeded to try to explain that the key should work and I told him that it did not. He gave me another key card and magically that one worked! I did not appreciate the condescending tone he had with me regarding the key card and he was the only person I had an issue with regarding their staff. Everyone else was very friendly.
Parking is in a public underground parking garage very close to the hotel, safe, but cost $29 per day. We were lucky as one day was a holiday and parking was free. To load/unload your bags we had to park the car along the street in front of the hotel so be careful doing the same as cars came by frequently.
The train station was across the street and very convenient. We did not hear any noise from the trains and we could see the station from our room. It was very quiet in the room regarding outside noise, but we did hear noises from the guests in rooms above us.
The hotel is conveniently located near many restaurants and shops that are within walking distance. We also walked 20 minutes to the marina to catch the ferry.
We did not eat at the breakfast buffet as that was an additional cost.
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Date of stay: October 2022
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Maria Gabriella Liconti, General Manager at Hotel Firenze e Continentale La Spezia
Responded 19 Dec 2022
Dear guest, thank you for taking some time to post a review. We are glad to read you appreciated the location of the Hotel, near the main train station of the city which makes it perfect for visiting our beautiful sorroundings. The Hotel does have a private parking; since we are in the city center we always suggest to reserve a parking spot in advance, at the time of booking. We are glad you were able to find it in the public parking though just a few metres next to the entrance of the Hotel. We are also delighted to read you enjoyed the comfort of the room you have been assigned. Although our facility is located near the station, the rooms are perfectly soundproofed and you should avoid any outside noise. However, we have different types of rooms, each one with different square metres and interiors precisely to meet all the needs of our guests. In fact, pandering to our customers' needs has always been our top priority. please don't hesitate to let the front desk know next time, it would have been our pleasure to show you our other room types. We hope to see you again for the next visit to La Spezia. Thank you and best regards. La Direzione
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My wife and I return to Hotel Firenze e Continentale in La Spezia every year because not only is it an incredibly beautiful and charming historic hotel, it also has wonderful modern amenities and the room prices are incredibly reasonable. We return on vacation to La Spezia every year and usually spend 8 nights at the hotel (we like to consider Hotel Firenze e Continentale as our honorary “second home”). The location of the hotel is incredibly convenient to travel to the nearby historic and beautiful villages of Porto Venere, Cinque Terre, and the Castello di San Terenzo in Lerici (where my wife I were married years ago).
We travel halfway around the world every year from San Diego, California, just to absorb Italy’s incredibly beautiful and historic lands and buildings. Hotel Firenze e Continentale greets my wife and I every year with open arms and treat us as if we’re family. We know every member of the hotel management and staff by name. The complimentary buffet breakfast is incredible and the food is amazingly delicious. The main train station is only 100 meters away so if we want to take a trip for the day to Florence or Portofino, we don’t need to hire a taxi to get to the train station.
Hotel Firenze e Continentale also has a wonderful and beautiful contemporary hotel bar (with live music on certain nights) called, Terminus Café. This hotel is a polished jewel and we give this very beautiful hotel 5 stars in excellence and highly recommend it!
Larry & Caroline
San Diego, California, USA
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Date of stay: September 2022
Rooms
Location
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Maria Gabriella Liconti, General Manager at Hotel Firenze e Continentale La Spezia
Responded 28 Dec 2022
Dear Larry and Caroline, on behalf of all the staff we would like to thank you with the heart for your beautiful words and your lovely review. Your words have enormous value and it fills us with pride to know that our guests have a pleasant stay at our Hotel. We are very pleased to know that you appreciated the design of the Hotel and its location very close to the main train station of the city which makes it perfect to visit our beautiful sorroundings. Many thanks also for your wonderful words referring to our our Bistrot "Terminus Cafè"; we carefully select the best ingredients of our area trying, at the same time, to enhance them. With the hope of welcoming you in the future as our welcome guest, we renew our thanks and hope to see you again soon in La Spezia. Kind regards and see you soon! La Direzione
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I booked a non-refundable room for 2020, I cancelled my plan to visit Italy after the pandemic hit. Luckily, the hotel was very generous to honor the amount that I paid for future booking and it was extended until this year! I finally used the credit to visit Cinque Terre earlier this month with my husband and we had a fabulous time! The hotel underwent major remodeling during the pandemic and it has a brilliant cheerful breakfast room which we enjoyed our 5-star breakfast with smoked salmon and fresh fruit platter every morning. I couldn't believe the plants on the wall under the skylights were real. The breakfast room lady, Davida, always welcomes guests with a bright smile, which we haven't seen from our local waitresses for a long time in the U.S. She even offered us freshly made cappuccino although she was so busy. I can tell that she really loves her job! All of the other employees were also very attentive and courteous at the hotel. Communication was great that my emails were always replied right away. The hotel is located right across the street of La Spezia train station, where we rode the train to the Cinque Terre every morning. The room was soundproofed that we hardly hear any train noise at night. The bed was comfortable although our room was not remodeled yet. Extra blankets kept us warm although heater was not allowed to use by the local government. Overall, we had an excellent stay in this hotel. We will surely stay here again if visiting the area.
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Date of stay: November 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Maria Gabriella Liconti, General Manager at Hotel Firenze e Continentale La Spezia
Responded 05 Dec 2022
Dear guest, thank you for taking some time to post a review. We are glad to read you had such a great experience at our Hotel and, in particular, you took the opportunity we gave our guests to use the Vuocher due to the pandemic has recently occured. We are delighted to know you appreciated the location of our structure, our breakfast selection and the room you have been assigned. Thank you also for your kind words in reference to our staff, we will send your greetings to Davida who will surely appreciate it. Thanking you again for the wonderful review, we hope to welcome you back for your next visit to La Spezia. Kind regards, La Direzione
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We had no problems at this hotel. The location was a stone throw from the train station which was very convenient since we traveled by train. We also used the train to visit Cinque Terre. Since Cinque Terre exploration envolved a lot of walking and we got back late, having the hotel close to the station was great. The breakfast here was great as well. I liked that you pay one price for an old room and a different price for a renovated room. This way you know you will get a renovated room when you pay for it. At many hotels, it's the luck of the draw. That being said, it did seem that all of La Spezia hotels seemed overpriced. What we paid for our nice, but tiny room felt very expensive relative to the pricing I have become used to in Italy. I'm from New York City where things are pretty expensive relative to Italy. This hotel was an outlier by seeming expensive.
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Date of stay: October 2022Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:If you plan to visit Cinque Terre by train, buy your train ticket in advance, not that morning.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Maria Gabriella Liconti, General Manager at Hotel Firenze e Continentale La Spezia
Responded 10 Oct 2022
Dear Renee, thank you for posting a review. We are glad to read you enjoyed the location of the Hotel and our breakfast selection. Referring to the room, we'd like to specify the hotel offers six different room categories ranging from the most classic to the modern style. The Economy room is the simplest and consequently the smallest one. We would have been happy to move you to another room if we were informed of any inconvenience during your stay. We hope to welcome you again in the near future. Kind regards, La Direzione
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Thank you to everyone at Hotel Firenze e Continentale for your hospitality! We were a group of 33 adults who stayed here for 3 nights, in a total of 18 rooms. All 33 were pleased and all of us were made to feel very welcome. The hotel decor and rooms are very well appointed, clean, and comfortable. Breakfast was delicious, and the restaurant and cocktail lounge service and fare was terrific. It is a pleasure to be served by people you know enjoy working there and take pride in what they do. The train station is right across the street, and the port is a short walk away. This is a perfect location for exploring Cinque Terre, Porto Venere, and many other excursions and day trips along the Italian Coast. I truly believe the price of the rooms was more than reasonable, and that we could have spent much more and not have been as satisfied. I would highly recommend this hotel to anyone.
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Date of stay: September 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Maria Gabriella Liconti, General Manager at Hotel Firenze e Continentale La Spezia
Responded 14 Oct 2023
Dear guest, thank you for posting such a wonderful and beautiful review. We are delighted to read that your stay has fully matched your expectations and we hope to be welcoming you again soon at our facility. Thank you again and kindest regards, La Direzione
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I recently stayed at this hotel with my daughter at this hotel. It was a 1 night stay in order to visit Cinque Terre. I chose this hotel due to the fact that is right next door to the train station, and we came to La Spezia by train from Milan. Since I was staying with my daughter in the same room I had reserved a room with two beds. After checking in we discovered that our room had only one bed. Went back to the reception area and the staff started to question why we needed 2 beds, and stated that they only put 2 beds if 3 or more people were staying. they agreed to put a second bed, but this was quite frustrating. This hotel has an old system that can function as an air conditioner OR heater (but not both). In March they still had it set for heater. The evening was not cold enough to need a heater and the room was quite warm so we had to sleep with the windows open. Our room was on the first floor and it was quite noisy outside most of the night. That, couple with the fact that the bed was hard as a rock made it almos impossible to sleep. I was glad that we stayed there only one night. We went out to eat outside the hotel, Be warned, that the area outside this hotel is rather sketchy and that there are really no good restaurants around. You are better of staying at the hotel and eating at their restaurant.
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Date of stay: March 2023
Value
Location
Service
Room Tip:Bring with you sleep aides.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Maria Gabriella Liconti, General Manager at Hotel Firenze e Continentale La Spezia
Responded 26 Apr 2023
We are very pleased to hear that you appreciated the location of our facility, close to the city's main train station, which makes it ideal for conveniently visiting the beautiful territories around us. In reference to the room assigned to you, we would like to specify that the arrangement of beds in the rooms is related, as per the reservation, to how many people have actually reserved the room. In your case, the reservation was made for two people and even if the room type could have accommodated three people, the third bed is not opened as it was not specified at the time of booking. Unfortunately, having stayed overnight in March, it is not possible to have heating and air conditioning at the same time. In fact, every year, depending on the average daily temperature, a switch from winter (heating) to summer (air conditioning) mode is made. Unfortunately, we cannot know when exactly this happens, since temperatures vary every year. In fact, we recommend that you send an e-mail to our e-mail address in advance to confirm whether air conditioning is already in place during the winter months or whether, on the contrary, heating is still in the rooms. We are very sorry you found the mattress uncomfortable; they were all replaced last year and usually most of our customers give positive reviews about them. We hope to welcome you back to our facility to offer you a better experience. Sincerely, La Direzione
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We really enjoyed our stay here especially as we were taking the train every day to visit the villages of Cinque Terre and on the last day to travel to Milan. The train station is across the road from the hotel and so convenient. Trains are frequent. Our room was large and traditionally decorated with a large armoire. Big windows facing the street. We did not experience noise issues some others had. Breakfast every day in the modern restaurant was enjoyable. Dinner in the restaurant was fine and there is also an excellent restaurant with great seafood dishes just across the road. It is not far to walk to a long shopping street with a variety of stores and close to a small supermarket. We also used a laundromat that was within easy walking distance.
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Date of stay: March 2024Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Maria Gabriella Liconti, General Manager at Hotel Firenze e Continentale La Spezia
Responded 13 May 2024
Dear guest, Thank you for sharing your wonderful experience with us! We're delighted to hear that you enjoyed your stay and found our location to be convenient for your travel plans. We're also glad that you were able to explore the nearby attractions and make use of the facilities around the hotel. We hope to have the pleasure of welcoming you back for another enjoyable stay. Thank you once again for choosing our hotel and kindest regards.
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Firenze e Continentale is a fine hotel, perfectly located in front of the railway station and the beginning of the pedestrian street. It has a nice lobby and breakfast restaurant. It’s a shame the elevators discredit the common areas. For the rooms, they have a very small and very slow elevator; and for the breakfast restaurant, one floor below reception, there is none. The rooms are small but with a splendid king size bed, espresso machine, and teapot, minibar, safe box, robes, slippers and a heavy hair dryer. There’s no bathtub , but the shower is roomy; just be careful with the very slippery floor.
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Date of stay: July 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Maria Gabriella Liconti, General Manager at Hotel Firenze e Continentale La Spezia
Responded 09 Aug 2024
Dear guest, Thank you for taking some of your time to share your experience at our facility. We are glad to hear that you enjoyed the Hotel's prime location, our lobby and breakfast restaurant. However, we are sorry to read of the inconvenience you experienced with our elevators. We are constantly striving to improve our facilities and ensure a comfortable stay for our guests. As the hotel is in a historic building the size of the elevators cannot be very large due to legislative regulations protecting historic buildings that therefore prevent elevators from being expanded. To reach the breakfast room we would like to specify that there is an elevator; we are sorry you did not ask at the front desk who would have shown you where it is. We are really glad to hear that you appreciated the room amenities, including king-size bed, espresso machine, teapot and other conveniences. We apologize for the lack of a bathtub in the room in which you are booked, but we are glad to hear that you found the shower spacious. We have various room types, including rooms with a spacious bathtub, just to meet all the needs of our guests. We appreciate your valuable feedback and hope to welcome you back in the future for an even more enjoyable stay. Kindest regards
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I have to say this hotel turned out to be a disappointment. It is convenient to the train station and the public areas are nice. The issue was the air conditioning and the staff’s response to our problem. It was very hot in La Spezia when we were there with high temperatures in the upper 90-degree range. The room thermostat allowed for the temperature to be lowered to 19 degrees Celsius. However, the actual temperature would not go below 26. The first night was a weekend so they told us they couldn’t get it fixed and gave us a fan. The next day they said they worked on it by replacing the filter and lowering the allowable temperature to 18 degrees. Unfortunately, the air wouldn’t stay running and would again only cool the room to 26 C degrees. When we asked them again to fix it, we were told there was nothing else they could do because they already replaced the filter. We could switch to a junior suite (from the triple we had – it would have been an slight upgrade) that had working air conditioning for an extra 125 dollars night, we would pay $75, they would eat $50, but we were already paying more than the triple room was worth. We declined to pay the extra and asked them to fix our AC again. Same story, they admitted the AC was not working and couldn’t explain why it wouldn’t cool the room and told us there is nothing they can do, and they will fix it after we leave. I really don’t know if they were trying to hustle us for extra money or if they had decided that sleeping in 80-degree heat was good enough and if we didn’t like it, too bad. I would not stay here again. Accidents happen and issues pop up, it was the staff’s indifference to it that is the problem for me. Also, elevators are really small and old. Breakfast was good (just don’t eat the scrambled eggs-pretty sure they came out of a bottle).
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Date of stay: August 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled with family
Room Tip:Don't stay when it's going to be hot (and they told us it is cold in that room in the winter).
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Maria Gabriella Liconti, Direttore generale at Hotel Firenze e Continentale La Spezia
Responded 28 Sept 2024
Dear guest, thank you for your feedback. We are very sorry to read that your experience at our facility did not meet your expectations. In reference to the room you stayed in, we deeply apologize if you found it particularly hot and if the air conditioner did not work as you thought it would. We later checked the operation of the system and the cooling was only a little weak but in line with the other air conditioners in the other rooms. Having had the hotel full, we tried very hard to find a solution for you. We proposed bringing two fans to your room and suggested that you move to a much larger room than the one you had booked and with a small surcharge due to the change of category, but this was evidently not appreciated. We apologize if it may have seemed that our staff did not communicate this to you in an appropriate manner, but we did not in any way want to be unsympathetic and unfriendly, let alone cheat you out of your money. We are committed to providing quality service and it is disappointing to know that we have not met your expectations. We appreciate your mention of the hotel's convenient location and we kinldy ask you to give us another opportunity to host you in our hotel and show you our commitment to your satisfaction.
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San Francisco, California292 contributions67 helpful votes
No free parking. There is overnight paid parking one minute walk from the hotel. It is neat and looks safe. We parked there overnight and everything was okay.
I arranged directly with the hotel for a reserved parking spot in a separate area in the public parking garage. Believe it was 20 Euros. We only stayed one night.
There are more places to choose from in the La Spezia area.
PRICE RANGE
R 1,417 - R 2,179 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
ALSO KNOWN AS
firenze e continentale hotel, firenze e continentale la spezia
LOCATION
ItalyLiguriaProvince of La SpeziaLa Spezia
NUMBER OF ROOMS
68
Prices are provided by our partners, and reflect average nightly room rates, including taxes and fees that are fixed, known to our partners, and due at time of booking. Please see our partners for more details.
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