Best Western Hotel Astra

The room, although not very large (we had chosen a room with a full-size bed), is well-furnished with a very large TV, and cleanliness is excellent, in line with the 4-star standard. In the room, there is a perfectly functioning kettle with various herbal teas. Shutters with an electric button. Efficient and quiet air conditioner. Large, well-equipped bathroom with a functional shower with a glass enclosure and convenient shelves. Truly excellent breakfast with fresh, quality products (including the typical tenerina cake), both sweet and savory, and fruit. We found parking available in front of the hotel (the hotel staff provided us with a 7-euro daily ticket). A special mention to the very helpful and friendly reception staff.

I am requesting a quote for two nights in a double room for two people with separate beds, breakfast only. The operator sends me the quote for €202 with credit card confirmation. After replying and asking twice for confirmation of the price, I receive the online check-in for €1810. I call the hotel and this time they tell me that obviously the email is wrong, but the price is €244 as per the flyer, including parking. We arrive at the hotel. I call to find out where the parking lot is and discover that the hotel's parking had to be reserved at a cost of $20 per night, but it was full. The one included is a 20-minute walk away. That said, the hotel is very old, with very dirty carpeting and peeling walls. The staff is very rude. I would say nothing positive

I will start with the positive things: I want to thank the staff for giving us the opportunity to have the room well before 3:00 PM. After the trip, it was certainly a gesture that we appreciated. The hotel is very close to the castle and consequently to the center, easily reachable even from the train station. That said, unfortunately there are several aspects that left us disappointed, especially considering that it is a 4-star hotel. From a 4-star hotel, I expect something better, especially when I pay an amount that should reflect certain standards of quality and service. The most obvious problem was the bathroom: with every shower, the floor would flood, evidently due to a water containment issue or a poorly installed shower curtain. Added to this was limescale practically all over the shower, the yellowed curtain, the shower hose that had a black spot that looked like mold, and the handle for winding the roller shutter full of rust. We also didn't understand why the bathroom door cannot be locked from the inside... the lock is practically reversed... Not exactly what one expects to find in a 4-star hotel. Also in the room, we noticed several details that denote not particularly careful maintenance: damaged electrical outlet plates, dust, walls full of marks, a door with dents, and missing pieces of wood... The hallway carpet, moreover, was really terrible and definitely in need of a deep cleaning. It would probably be enough to simply have it cleaned properly to give it a completely different look. Another thing that left us puzzled was the room: it didn't look anything like the one shown in the photo in the booking confirmation email. It is understandable that rooms may be different, but in this case, the difference was truly remarkable and we felt a bit misled by the images, or perhaps it was just a photo they send to everyone. Even the breakfast, so praised in the descriptions, I personally did not find that exceptional. Good, yes, but nothing that made me think of a breakfast particularly superior to what one would expect in a hotel of this category. Unfortunately, we also had a problem with noise starting at 5:00 in the morning, which disturbed our sleep. I understand that some noise may be unavoidable, but when staying in a hotel, one expects at least an adequate level of quiet during the night hours and early morning. Meager welcome kit, hand soap is the same one used for the shower….shower gel and shampoo… We used the hotel's bicycles: $9 per bicycle whether it was for an hour or 4 …it seemed like a bit of an excessive price to us. But the thing that left me most puzzled was how the bathroom problem was handled. At check-out, I personally pointed out that the bathroom flooded every time we showered, so this is not a problem that we simply wrote about in the review afterward. Yet, in the face of this report, we weren't even offered a simple apology. I would have expected at least a “we are sorry for the inconvenience.” Overall, I cannot say that it was a completely negative experience, but for a 4-star hotel, we definitely expected more. Some problems are small and easily solvable with greater attention to maintenance and cleaning, while others concern service and customer care. When you choose and pay for a 4-star hotel, I believe it is normal to expect something more.