I booked in for 3 days for a business trip - or rather a travel agent booked me in. We took a wrong turn on the way and my Italian Colleague from the Campania region stopped the car down a side street about m from the hotel to ask a local for directions. He got the directions but was asked what he was doing down there and a suggestion offered to keep his windows up, his wrist watch off and to put his satnav away whilst off the main drag!
Anyway, being a man of the world I did indeed check in at 11pm and go up to my room which was passable but very small with weak air conditioners. Instead walked across the plaza for a beer and was offered crack three times, a roll in the hay with two aged hookers and, I think, an Albanian chap tried to lift my wallet.
I checked out the next day. In a word, the hotel is passable but the area is a complete toilet, hence the terrible review. The travel agent also removed this hotel from its list of approved hotels. This hotel is a short walk from the main train station and is an amazing style of building.
The rooms are small compared with other European hotels but are well equipped. The staff I spoke with spoke English adequately; the front desk staff were quite fluent, and the breakfast on the roof was satisfactory. As a first-time visitor to southern Italy, the whole area can have a bit of a dodgy feel.
Some security? Inside the hotel the ambience, architecture and atmosphere amazed me; it's not like any other hotel I've stayed at recently; I'm not sure how to describe it apart from unique and enjoyable. We have just returned from Naples, which can be a huge culture shock, it is an unkempt place littered with rubbish and the smell is awful. The crown in the jewel is this lovely hotel with the most wonderful and helpful staff, the rooms are clean and airy and noise free, the breakfast was good and nothing was too much trouble for the staff to help and guide as and when you needed it.
