Rosso di sera Tuscany

On arrival we had a room downgrade without no explanation at all, we booked and paid for the Luxury room. This was through hotels.com, we were given their deluxe room, which is less expensive. The outdoor hot tub area was nice yet several other guests were smoking in the hot tub. And add to that playing their music loudly. The room was not clean with paint on the floor that had come off the wall, the sheets on the bed did not look clean or ironed. And the divan base was looking broken The plastic glasses supplied to drink out of were both broken, and with no one in reception couldn’t be replaced. And the following morning we awoke to no hot water. And yet again no one at reception to speak to even at 8am!! The said mini bar contained 1 bottle of water, nothing else. Be aware the free parking is a public car park opposite that does not belong to the hotel.

What I had failed to spot when choosing this hotel for an overnight stay was that not only is it opposite a station but it is located between 2 or 3 different railway lines. However in late August it was hot so we had the shutters and windows closed with the aircon on so although trains do go past all night they are neither particularly noisy nor frequent, so we heard them if we woke up but they didn’t disturb our sleep. We had a spacious corner room on the first floor with a shared, sunny terrace and our son had a single on the same landing next door. The room had luggage/ hanging space, en-suite shower room, small fridge with tea and coffee making facilities, chest of drawers, ottoman, bedside and overhead lamps, a chair, comfortable bed, patio doors and a side window and effective air conditioning. There is a pleasant courtyard garden with outdoor tables in both sun and shade and a jacuzzi which was pleasant to cool off in on a warm August evening. There are mosquitoes so repellent and/or room spray is advisable. The receptionist doubled as bar staff and was happy to bring us wine and cocktails in the garden (at reasonable prices) and pizza was available although we didn’t try this as we planned to go out for dinner. The self-service breakfast is simple but comprises cereals,juice, yogurt, breads, toast, ham, cheese, a couple of hot items including eggs, plentiful pastries and a pancake making machine as well as good coffee to order. Seating is indoors or in the garden. The staff are pleasant and friendly although there are usually only one or two on duty- it is not a high cost establishment and room rates are reasonably priced. The location is extremely convenient for central Pisa if a bit of a challenge to get there. Access is via a ramp in the station car park to a walkway through a noisy road tunnel but it proved to be safe and takes you directly to a supermarket, Asian restaurant quarter, an area of market stalls selling gifts and souvenirs past city walls into the square containing the Tower and duomo in less than 10 minutes. Quirky and not everyone’s choice - even our taxi had to make one u-turn to get us there -but a pleasant spot, at a reasonable price for central Pisa and we would go back as it was so much more relaxing than getting a hire car straight from the airport, doing a shop and driving direct to our holiday rental that same evening. We were able to start fresh the next morning, stop for lunch and still be there in time for a swim.

Our room had no where to sit besides the bed. No cups to drink water. Could hear people snoring in adjoining room. No early check in. They'll let you sit in the sun in the parking lot until 3pm. Wi-fi signal was weak if you have a signal at all.