Alba Hotel

The Hotel Alba was clean, had friendly, helpful staff, and provided a great breakfast. Our room was fairly big with a nice shower room. The widow overlooked the street so it was noisy at times but that is what you expect in an Italian city. The hotel is five minutes’ walk from the train station and ten minutes from the Duomo....ideal.
Florence itself is beautiful, I would recommend late November, the city feels lively, but there were no queues. We visited all the major sites, climb the dome of the Duomo for a fabulous view (not recommended if you hate spiral staircases), and walk over the Ponte Vecchio up to the Palazzo Pitti and the magnificent Boboli Gardens.
We ate in a different restaurant each night, prices varied, stick to pizza if you are on a tight budget. We had good meals in all of them and found the house red (usually around 15 Euros to be very drinkable). The ice cream shops are wonderful, we tried lots of different flavours, and I think hazelnut was my favourite. For a cheap lunch grab a warm pizza from a roadside stall.
We also visited Sienna and Pisa, both by train, if you don't need to use a car don't bother hiring one, the trains are cheap and reliable. Siena is lovely; do visit the Duomo Crypt, recently discovered underground room with fabulously painted walls. We ate outside (it was a sunny day and warm) in the Piazzo Del Campo, the Palazzo Publico, which is there, is worth a visit, even if the staff seemed a little unfriendly. We didn't have long in Pisa so concentrated on the Tower and Duomo. It's more expensive than the attractions in Florence but worth it I think. Climbing the leaning tower is a weird experience, feels like you have one leg shorter than the other!
Florence was my favourite place, great for art lovers, great for foodies, and fabulous for serious shoppers.