UNA Hotel Vittoria

UNA Hotel Vittoria opened in 2003, two years after Italian chain UNA was established following a buyout of the Bonaparte Hotel Group's eight four-star business hotels.

It is, however, far from the bland, conventional business hotel you might assume. Situated in Florence's San Frediano quarter, a 15-minute walk from the historic town centre, this converted factory is a paean to sleek urban modernity, a designer hotel in a stylish city.

We had the largest room, an 'executive' double, and it was stunning: dark, cushioned tiles are favoured in place of wallpaper, and the room's lighting comes partly from tiny blue LED lights in the corners of the tiles. The comfortable king-sized bed sat atop a slightly raised wooden platform, at the bottom of which stood a bar-style ledge with a couple of stools. On the far wall, which was entirely mirrored, a flat-screen TV was mounted. The design is smart, sophisticated and well-executed, which is just as well: you get the feeling that if the treatment wasn't so delicate, the place might look like an upmarket brothel.

The en-suite bathroom was spacious and clean, and so achingly modern there was even a speaker connected to the TV, allowing you to continue following whatever was on (it was usually BBC World, as there weren't many English channels).

There isn't a great deal in the way of facilities, but there is a lovely bar and also a conference room, should you require it.

The hotel isn't exactly cheap – if you take advantage of their three-night offer, an executive double this August will cost you around £350 – but it is definitely good value for money, particularly as an excellent continental breakfast is usually included. That said, charging £20 a day for wireless internet access is terrifically expensive and increasingly unacceptable.

A huge part of any hotel experience is the customer service, so it should be noted that the hotel's staff were extremely friendly and very accommodating – we overslept on our first day and the kitchen staff went out of their way to find us an enormous plate of croissants to ensure we didn't go away hungry. Nice touches like that make you glad you forked out a little bit more.