Casa Malena B&B

Just fine.

The balcony, top-floor setting, and closeness to the center made this a lovely spot for a calm, relaxing weekend. I came with my boyfriend, who lives in the military barracks. Highly recommended.

The way our booking was handled for the following week was the most serious problem. On Thursday at 1:45 PM, the day before our Friday morning checkout, our secretaries emailed Mrs. Marilena Piccinini to confirm the same number of rooms for five employees starting Monday. She replied on Friday at 9:19 PM asking us to confirm again, even though we had already done so. That was after office hours and left no reasonable chance to respond before Monday. She had our secretary’s mobile number and had spoken with her before about bookings, so she could have called. On Monday morning, when our secretaries followed up, Mrs. Piccinini was annoyed and rude, saying she had given the rooms to other customers through Booking because we hadn’t replied to her Friday evening email. We believe she may have preferred a more profitable booking and used the late request for confirmation as a pretext to cancel our already confirmed rooms. When we complained about what we saw as unprofessional conduct, she suggested another place, a B&B with scattered accommodation that didn’t suit our needs, so we didn’t use it. There had also been an issue with towels on the first booking. Itinere S.r.l. operates nationally in the road sector and regularly arranges hotel stays for employees. We’re a serious, referenced company, and our employees are polite and respectful. For work in the Ascoli Piceno area, we booked rooms with Mrs. Piccinini, owner of B&B Casa Malena, for five employees for Wednesday and Thursday nights, checking out Friday morning. After agreeing on the overnight-only price and confirming in writing, we were asked to pay extra for towels, a cost that hadn’t been mentioned. We politely said towels are customarily included with an overnight stay. Mrs. Piccinini said she had forgotten to mention it. We let it go to avoid jeopardizing the stay, since finding another place at short notice was difficult. We had agreed to settle the balance at the end of each week, as we do at other places where we stay. Because of the poor service, we told Mrs. Piccinini we would pay at month’s end, and we did pay promptly then. Even so, she had her lawyer write demanding immediate payment and warning us not to publish negative reviews. To warn potential Casa Malena customers about what we consider incorrect and non-transparent conduct, we’re sharing this account. We strongly advise against staying there unless absolutely necessary, to avoid unpleasant surprises and inconvenience, given the lack of professionalism we experienced.

We were grateful to Marilena for being so accommodating, even arranging at her own expense to send back a jacket we’d left at home. She was available whenever we asked. Casa Malena is right in the city center but outside the pedestrian area, with a supermarket, greengrocer, and other services nearby, and we could unload and reload our suitcases right outside. Our children and we felt welcome in the warm, comfortable, elegant home. We stayed in the “arabesco” room, which had a TV and bathroom with bidet, shower, towels, hairdryer, and all the comforts. The view of Ascoli Piceno was lovely. Each morning there were croissants outside our door, and we ate them in the kitchen, which had dishes, crockery, a food warmer, a coffee machine with pods, and a moka pot. The twinkling Christmas tree in the living room made the place feel even more magical. We’d gladly do it again and recommend it.