Hilton Garden Inn Matera Italy

Nice hotel Nice room Bathroom with bathtub! Very good breakfast

The hotel can be seen from quite a distance as it is situated on top of a hill, unfortunately quite a distance from the centre of Matera! Reception was OK but not really helpful or pleasant and were unable to provide me with a non-slip mat for the bath/shower - strange for a 4* hotel! My room however, was good with a large window looking out over the front of the hotel. The air con. control did have a mind of its own on occasions but kept the room cool. The bed was comfortable but the lighting for reading in bed was poor. The lighting generally was good. Storage space was an open hanging rail for your clothes and a few shelves; there was a large top cupboard but it wouldn’t stay open so I didn’t use it and there was also a small safe. The bathroom was good with a bath/shower and a good range of toiletries and like the room, very clean. Tea and coffee making facilities were available and a small fridge. The restaurant was large and airy but the service could be very slow, depending on how many tables were in use; the food was OK but nothing special, quite often only lukewarm when it arrived. Salt, pepper, salad dressings and olive oil, etc. were provided in sachets - more like a greasy spoon cafe than a 4* hotel! Breakfast was served in a separate breakfast room and had the usual cold selections, one or two bowls of fresh fruit, watery fruit juices and only two hot choices - scrambled eggs and bacon, but the cakes and pastries were very good with a good selection available. After dinner I like to go for a walk but there was nowhere to go from this hotel; the gardens were small with swimming pools and a fish pond. If you wanted to go into Matera, the only option was the local bus which stopped right outside the hotel during the day but I don't know if it ran during the evening.

What a drama hotel. Upon entering, an incredible branch noise from a jackhammer. They were remodeling, but that sound would last up to two hours. We were and at 13:00 so fortunately only an hour, we thought, but nothing like that. To, I believe it was 6pm (or even later) the noise had only stopped. There was a wedding going on (as it turned out 2) with DJ and a lot of loud music. Sitting on the balcony. Wasn't an option either. Because that was really bad. Haven't been cleaned in weeks. Bird droppings, dead bugs dirty windows. Really rancid, so not even on the balcony. In the bathroom there was a band-aid stuck to the shower floor. It's so gross. Then to one of the pools, because there was only one open we heard because of, you guessed it, a renovation. In the other bath we were allowed, but we had to buy a swimming cap for 3 euros each. Otherwise we wouldn't be allowed to swim. For a rental towel you also had to pay 3 euros. And that for 150 euros a night. But you did get a tape. It's like being in an all-inclusive resort. Dinner was fine (but pricey) unlike breakfast. The restaurant was closed by default in the morning so we had to sit with everyone in a conference room. Where the tables were arranged like you had to take a high school exam. The beamers and other stuff for a conference were still there/already. Food was not replenished when it was finished. When reporting our complaints, we were not heard. And the lady shrugged. They also refused to listen to booking.com. The photos you see on the sites do not correspond to what it really is. This is by far the worst hotel experience we have had. If we knew all this, we would have driven around it with a big bow. A first-class travesty. They call themselves 4 stars but believe me, that's 4 too many