We (husband, wife & adult child) stayed 2 nights at Pagnini in Florence in June 2006.
The staff, were very friendly and most helpful.
The hotel was reasonably easy to find and about 10 mins walk from the train station and about 10 - 15 mins walk to main part of Florence.
Like Rome you don't get a great deal of value for money in Florence, the rooms are basic, a little tired but clean and everything worked.
I chose the Hotel because of three reasons,
1) because it had air conditioning and was glad of that, Florence was hot (about 30 deg C) and the A/C worked perfectly.
2) because it was quiet, we asked for a quite room and got one at the back and we did not hear much other noise from the Hotel.
3) because of closeness to sights, we walked from the station and to the tourist spots quite easily.
There were restaurants nearby and one (can't remember name)that the hotel recomended was really good and great service.
The staff spoke good english, breakfast was basic but like Rome you get a cappacino made for you as well.
Only problem was a lot of mosquitos in the room but we got some spray from the hotel and fixed that quickly, and because the room had A/C we then kept everything closed.
I would recomend the hotel and stay there again, mainly because of the friendliness.
