Royal Hotel Carlton

Unbearably hot. Noisy. Air conditionning is set at a minimum of 24 degrees celcius, 75 degrees fahrenheit. Feels like you're going to choke. Apparently, this is due to some kind of crazy local regulation (honestly I believe this is just the hotel pretending this is due to local regulations so that they can save a bit on air conditionning, because I haven't found any regulation that specifically states a 24 degrees requirement. Basically that's just BS). Noisy hotel, both inside and from outside. And when you get hot, you try the open-window option to get some fresh air. You end up with the screams from Drunk men coming up from the street. I've hated every minute in this hotel. Promised, stay away from it !

We had a very good stay at this hotel. It was a short walk from the train station and we arrived around 11:30 am and they were able to give us a room right away which we were really grateful for. This allowed us to drop our luggage in the room and go out and explore Bologna, as we only had one day there. We had a room on the 6th floor with a balcony, which is great but there are no chairs to be able to sit out there. The balcony was quite large with nothing on it. The room has been updated and the mattress was really good, for a great nights sleep. The bathroom is older but was okay. The hotel lobby looks really dated because of the color of the carpet, all they have to do is switch it out to give the whole place a more modern look. It took us about 20 minutes to walk to Piazza Maggiore and we were able to see most of the major sights that afternoon. Make sure to visit the Quadrilatero Market, we had lunch in this area. It has so many shops and restaurants. For dinner we followed other readers suggestions and went to Sfoglia Rina which was a really fun experience. You can't make reservations, make sure to order the lasagna and tagliatelle bolognese.

This hotel has health/safety and integrity issues. I'm a well traveled medical professional and I take this seriously. This is not a 4 star hotel.HEALTH: The room I was assigned had an intolerable stench like an open sewer. I tried to block the drains in the bathroom with towels to dampen the smell. No luck. The employee who brought the towels had to hold his nose closed. I had to go to reception 2x to insist on another room. It was nearly midnight. The woman in reception refused to change my room stating there were no rooms. I insisted I will not stay in that room. Mysteriously, she found an available room...right next to the smelly room. The new room had mold around the shower, in the sink, and, most troubling, large black stains (probable mold on the wall) adjacent to the AC vent. Once I saw that, I did not turn on the AC despite the 95F temperature. The carpet, drapes and air vents look like they were never cleaned. I asked to speak to the mgr 3x but he was not available. NO INTEGRITY: I remained in the hotel because I was traveling with a group. I stayed one more night on my own on a separate reservation. When I checked in again, I asked at reception what charges I can expect. The same woman told me only the city tax. She did not advise breakfast was not included.When I went to eat breakfast, the employee only asked for my room number and did not advise breakfast is excluded. I was not given a final bill when I checked out. My credit card company notified me of a charge for breakfast so I sent an email to the manager. He responded with a list of falsehoods claiming employees had advised me in advance of a charge for breakfast and that I was given a final bill reflecting the charge. The only positive comments I have are that this place is close to the train station and most of the employees are pleasant.