Albergo Cantiani

The staff were friendly and helpful, and check-in and checkout went smoothly. They gave me a room almost at noon, earlier than the normal 2:00 pm check-in. The place served its purpose for my graduation, since I needed to be near the University. It is close to piazza Ugo Bassi, a lower-class area of Ancona, but well connected. It feels more like a receiving structure than a hotel, and the price is hard to justify for the condition of the room. The room was clean enough, but very small, damp, and poorly insulated. I could hear conversations in adjacent rooms and sounds from the roof. There was condensation on the windows, enough to wet the floor, and mold in the corners with peeling paint. The water towel heater leaked and didn't work. The room door needs adjustment: it wobbled whenever someone passed or a neighboring door opened, and had no lock knob. I wedged it with cardboard so I could sleep. The outlets were awkwardly placed. I had to charge my laptop and phone in the toilet, until I found two sockets behind the commode. There was no fridge, and the single bed was an IKEA 90 cm model. The tiny 32 inch TV was awkwardly positioned, an odd Chinese brand, and its remote was missing the battery cover. The hotel shuts completely from 23:00 until 7:00. Room service felt more like housemaids. They folded wet towels and put them back instead of replacing them, so I had to throw them on the floor to get fresh ones. The soap, handwash, shower gel, and tea were cheap; the tea was horrible. The cappuccino was weak and skimpy, though not bad, but this is Italy. Before arrival I got a badly worded email saying that if they didn't hear from me by 11 pm on check-in day, they'd mark me as a no-show. I understand English isn't their language, but the reminder could have been phrased much better.

We had a safe spot to store our bikes, and the breakfast was fabulous, with bacon, eggs, cereal, toast, and pastries. The staff went out of their way to help when our ferry was cancelled. Reception gave us a phone number, then helped find another hotel when we couldn't stay an extra night.

The beds were comfortable, the pillows were great, and everything was super clean. Staff were friendly and informative. There was a hot breakfast with lots of choices, plus good espresso.

A modest place for a brief rest. The room was clean and breakfast was simple but nice. The walls are really thin, though, and we could clearly hear the neighbours talking after midnight.