River Hotel, Florence

From the moment we arrived at the bottom of the stairs on the street in view of the reception desk, we were made to feel very welcome at the River Hotel.
They took our luggage, while one member of staff came round with us to the back door which gave us easy access to our ground floor room.
The decor throughout is a very modern, black and white design, with abstract art work breaking up what would otherwise be overly clinical. With LED lights around each doorway, it was very striking.
The room was very comfortable, and we slept well.  The wardrobe and drawers easily accommodated the contents of our cases. We did not make use of the well stocked mini bar, except to chill our own water bottle, but we did enjoy the the two tea bags of English breakfast tea, albeit without milk. There was large TV that we did not make use of.
The bathroom was bright and spacious, but suffered from having no shelf space. The shower was forceful by virtue of small holes in the showerhead rather than lots of water, but was entirely adequate, and had an adjustable hose. Access to the shower was easy, being on the same level as the bathroom floor. We think the extractor fan was working, but the bathroom steamed up somewhat, but with substantial shutters, opening the window was very feasible.
Although there is a lift, the breakfast room and restaurant is down a further half flight of stairs. Half the tables were awkward to reach, squeezing between tables when the room was full at breakfast. The breakfast bar had a wide variety of items, including scrambled egg and bacon, cheese and ham, yoghurt and fruit. The layout was a little confusing at first.
The restaurant food was good, but limited in choice and overly expensive.
The process of installing a spa was well managed, and was of no inconvenience to us.
The staff were wonderful, taking an interest in us, encouraging our limited italian, and reverting happily to english when we needed to. They were especially helpful when my wallet was lost or stolen, giving advice, directing us to the nearest police station, accomodating our late check-out, and offering to defer our extras bill until we were due home a week later.
The hotel is an easy walk from Piazza di Santa Crocé and the rest of the central attractions. It is also easy to get to as the No 23 bus stops just outside, on Lungarno della Zecca Vecchia.