The front desk clerk was very polite as well as the doorman and other staff.
Unfortunately the first room they showed us to was a complete disaster. Dark, dingy, stained chairs....awful.
I talked to the manager and he went up to look at the room.
He apologized and sent up champagne and a very nice fruit basket as well as a letter of apology. The next morning my daughter and I were upgraded to a wonderful suite.
Luxury pure.
Our week at the Helvetia was first class.
This is not a modern hotel, but a charming old mansion. If that is your cup of tea, this is the place for you.
Centrally located, yet very refined and peaceful.
The breakfast buffet was also excellent.
I would stay here again.

The front desk staff made our stay special as there wasn't a question they couldn't answer or a request they didn't jump to respond to. Great hotel in a terrific location. Breakfast was excellent and the main lobby was well appointed. We have been to many high end hotels in the U.S. and Europe and this one ranks among the best. We would return without a second thought.

I travel to Europe at least once a quarter and have stayed in Florence many times over the years but the Helvetia Bristol is one of my favorites so it really was a no brainer as to where I wanted to stay to celebrate with my wife our anniversary. The rooms are spacious and very comfortable. The staff and the service were impeccable. The location was ideal for everything we wanted to do. Dining, shopping, sightseeing is within a 5 minute walk. All in all it was a great stay. You definitely get what you pay for but we considered it a great value. My one complaint, and it is a consistent one in Europe, is the dearth of English language tv stations and the small size of the tv.

I arrived to the hotel at around 9pm. While I was paying the taxi I expected a bellman to come outside to help me with the luggage. Nobody showed up and I had to carry my luggage inside. There was not any bellman in the lobby. As I approached the front desk carrying my luggage, the front desk personnel smiled but did not help me with the luggage. Very surprising for what "it is not just one of the most luxurious and prestigious hotels of the city " according to the hotel website.
Check in was fine. However, when I mentioned that I needed my shirt to be ironed in the morning by 8.30am they looked at me and simply said that "probably this will not be possible because house keeping arrives at that time". Of course, it was not possible to have an iron and a board in my room (this is a typical problem with Italian hotels however the Savoy hotel which is only 2 blocks from the Helvetia & Bristol allows guests to have an iron and a board in the room). I was in Florence for business, I needed my shirt to be ironed in the morning and usually house keeping in a luxury hotel starts before 8.30am. I complained and the morning after my shirts was ironed by 8.40am.
The hotel is old and tired. It is fine to have old / antique furnitures but this cannot be a luxury hotel. Same problem with my room: it was smelling and looking old, it needed to be refurbished. The air conditioning unit was very old and extremely noisy. Opening the window was not an option because of the noise in the street.
Breakfast was pretty disappointing. The breakfast room was very small and full of tourists. The quality was disappointing. The sliced cantaloup was fermented.
I checked out at 9.30am and the lobby was packed of Asian tourists.
The issue with this hotel is that this is not a luxury, business hotel but a 4 star touristic hotel serving large groups. The hotel is a Leading Hotel of the World, as a Leading Hotel Member I usually stay at a LHW but the Helvetia & Bristol cannot be part of this chain.
Never again!!