Riva Lofts
Style Hip and homey
Setting Leafy Arno riverside
Combining the visionary designs of architect Claudio Nardi and the convivial hospitality of his hotelier daughter, Riva Lofts is a dreamily rustic boutique bed and breakfast that’s filled with contemporary artworks, enormous antique mirrors leant against the reclaimed stone walls, and an array of vintage chairs ranging from Louis XIV to Mies van der Rohe. Despite its fashionista-friendly looks, however, Riva Lofts maintains the homespun welcome of a rural bed and breakfast.
Need to know
- Rooms 10 suites.
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Rates
Double rooms from AU$272.96 (€205), excluding tax at 10 per cent. Please note the hotel charges an additional local city tax of €4.00 per person per night on check-out.
The price shown represents the lowest nightly rate for a double room available at this hotel over the next 21 days. Any price conversions from the hotel's local currency (€205) have been conducted using today's exchange rates from xe.com.
- More details Rates include Italian breakfast and soft drinks.
- Facilities Communal sitting room LCD TV, DVD/CD player, library of books, films and music, free WiFi in lounge area and some other parts of the hotel. In suites: flatscreen TV, DVD/CD player; most suites have kitchenettes and free WiFi.
- Poolside Contrary to impressions, the heated ‘metaphysical swimming pool’ does actually exist – it’s a plush white sandstone pool set in a serene hedgerow-lined garden.
- Check-out Midday; later check-out can be arranged, if available.
- Children Rollaway beds cost €50 a day, but cots are free and there’s no charge for children staying in parents’ rooms. With two days’ notice, babysitting can be arranged for around €15 an hour.
- Also Small, well-behaved, non-sofa-soiling pets are welcome. Reception is open 8am –8pm, but arrangements can be made for later arrivals. The hotel is non-smoking throughout. A two-night minimum stay is required during Pitti fashion fairs.
Food and drink at Riva Lofts
- Hotel restaurant No lunch or dinner, just a mouthwatering Italian breakfast spread of home-made bread, croissants, organic yoghurt, and muesli, served either outside by the pool or beside the modern fireplace in the stone-walled, art-lined lounge.
- Dress code Quirked-up elegance.
- Top table On the green, green grass by the pool.
- Hotel bar With every hand-picked sculpture and artwork perfectly placed to ensure there’s something to look at in every direction, Riva Loft’s main lounge is made for sinking into a sofa and supping a cocktail from the self-service honesty bar.
Riva Lofts Via Baccio Bandinelli 98, Florence, Italy, 50142
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Smith extra at Riva Lofts
A bottle of Tuscan wine
In the know
Our favourite rooms
For sheer size and spectacle, make a swift beeline for Room 4 – it’s bigger than a small flat, has three walls of floor-to-ceiling glass windows gazing out over the Arno, and its stunning grey wood kitchen is designed to be almost invisible when not in use. Upstairs, you’re met with polished concrete floors, over-sized ball lamps and a dangerously comfortable bed. Room 9 shares the same spaciousness, but cultivates a slightly less arch-contemporary prettiness, and Room 7 has a quirky string curtain surrounding the bed, which lends it the air of an ultramodern, but nonetheless romantic boudoir.
Packing tips
Huge D&G sunglasses will not only lend you the in-crowd stamp of cool, but also help keep the flies out of your eyes as you zoom along the river on one of Riva Loft’s 1950s bikes.
Also
Owner/manager Alice Nardi (daughter of the hotel’s designer and architect, Claudio) is almost always on hand to offer restaurant tips or pointers on art exhibitions and events that outsiders might miss. Riva Lofts also has a partnership with Armilla Beauty, so you can order in face and body treatments, massage and hairdressing whenever you like.
