Phil E.
Yelp
We had a bad 1st interaction and impression when we got here that made it our least favorite hotel experience my wife and I had in all of Italy on our honeymoon.
-The hotel is 1/2 remodeled and the other half is very old and feels like a hostel/2 star hotel.
-The lobby has not been renovated it felt like it was stuck in the 80s.
-Our room was in the old part of the hotel - it was dated, dirty and gross (my wife often used the common bathroom off of the breakfast area or pool because they were so much nicer than the one in our room).
-There were cracks in the walls (see photos) and zero decoration in the room so it felt very stark.
-The internet didn't work for almost 3 hours when we arrived and then we could only get it to work on the upper level floors, not the 1st floor room we were in.
-We were really unhappy with our room, and when we told the man at the front desk about our problems he put us in a room on the 5th floor.
-In this room, it was still old but there were no cracks, we had better sunlight and a nicer view over the piazza but...
-Our shower didn't drain properly at all and I was constantly standing in 4 inches of water
-When I went to use my towel there were several long, dark, curly hairs on it that did not belong to me or my wife.
-The bed was old and we felt every single spring in it.
-There was no safe in our room, just a note saying that we could keep things at the front desk. (I was not comfortable with that at this hotel).
-The elevators are tiny and couldn't even fit 2 people with 2 suitcases and 1 carry on bag.
-The fact that there is clearly a nice part of the hotel and a not nice part of the hotel is really crappy
-The man who checked us in seemed pretty unsympathetic to us being unhappy with an old room. I asked if any of the updated rooms were available and at first he said no, but then he had a bit of an attitude that we booked "a certain class of room" and that it was on their website. I might have been inclined to pay more too until his attitude completely turned me off. (Just for reference we paid 285 Euro per night, which is about $315) -- I think for that I should have a room nicer than a Best Western, not worse.
-On the website the room distinction is not clear, and my travel agent didn't know either when we booked. I looked it up and they call some rooms "classic" and some "contemporary style" - "classic" means outdated. "contemporary style" means renovated.
-I asked the front desk to make a dinner reservation for me and they told me that the restaurant I wanted to go to didn't take reservations. I told them the website said they did. Then they said they do but only have 2 seatings 730 and 930. I asked for a 930 reservation. When I followed up the next afternoon they said they were going to call now. I never heard back from them, so I called the restaurant (from my US phone long distance) and did it myself with no problem.
-The breakfast is good and the staff at the breakfast is great.
-The rooftop pool view is great but the pool is smaller than it seems in photos and there are only 13 lounge chairs and about another 7-10 other kinds of chairs for the whole pool area. That means it accommodates 20-25 people at a hotel that has 102 rooms, which is not enough. It gets very crowded in the afternoon, especially with families and children and everyone has to hover for a place to sit.
-The bar staff were all very nice as were the housekeeping staff.
-The location is convenient to the train station.
-One night of our stay, we were told that the pool was going to close at 6pm because they were offering a cocktail party with oysters and fireworks for a holiday (for an extra 65 Euro per guest). We understood but at 5:45 the staff started taking all of the chairs around us away and we felt pressure to leave early. It wasn't a huge deal but again, it was a bit rude and it just isn't 4 star service.
-There was no staff at the pool, which is not typical for a 4 star hotel. I don't need a pool boy to show me to my chair or present me with towels, but you have to bring your own towels from your room and when people leave the pool and leave their towels behind, nobody takes them away. Food was left there long after the guests went to their rooms. I saw a pigeon eat a lot of snacks and then knock over a plate and bowl (that was actually the highlight of my stay).
-Overall, our stay did not feel like it deserved the 4 Stars they claim to have and it was not romantic at all.
-The service at reception was horrible and made us feel like they didn't care about our business. At 285 Euro per night I feel like they should. We paid a 4 star rate, but only got a 2 star room, 2 star service from the man who checked us in, better service from the breakfast staff and I will say the rooftop view is 4 stars.
-My experience seems different from other reviews but this was my honeymoon and my best advice is if you are going on honeymoon or a romantic trip do not stay here.