Hotel Best Western Plus Tower Hotel Bologna

I arrived late in Bologna and stayed for one night, which made for a perfect start to my mini Italian trip. The breakfast in the morning was really yummy, and the service was great. Since I was heading to San Marino the next day, the location was ideal for one night, and it was easy to walk to the bus. Getting a SIM card in the morning was easy too.

This was one of the worst hotel stays we’ve had. I was very disappointed with this Best Western branch and strongly suggest travelers consider other accommodation. We’ve stayed at Best Western hotels in other countries many times and have usually been happy with the service and quality, but this branch, including its front office manager, gave us a very poor level of customer service. Our stay bore little resemblance to what had been advertised. We booked a deluxe room with a king-size bed, but found two single mattresses and two single duvets inside one large duvet cover. We contacted reception and the front office manager right away. Each time, they said they were busy and asked us to wait a few minutes for a call back. After nearly two hours without hearing anything, we returned to reception and were told the hotel didn’t have availability for the room type we’d booked. The room wasn’t properly cleaned or maintained, and its overall condition was unacceptable. I’ve attached photos for readers to judge whether it meets the deluxe standard. Given the single beds, mattresses, and duvets, and the issues shown in the photos, it’s hard to understand that classification. The communication and lack of accountability made things worse. The manager promised to call back but never did. When we eventually spoke in person, we were told the bed setup was due to lack of availability, with no apology or attempt to resolve it. We travel often and have chosen Best Western many times, but after this experience we’ll seriously reconsider staying with the brand. Second response: Dear Andrea, Thank you for your response. I was surprised to read your statements, since they contradict what we were told in person. That again shows the lack of professionalism we experienced at this branch. To clarify, we waited much longer than stated. I’m happy for you to include a photo of our call logs, showing the time between calls, plus at least another 30 minutes of waiting without a response before we returned to reception. You and your colleague both assured us you’d call back within five minutes, but no call came. The attached room photos speak for themselves, and readers can decide whether this was a deluxe room. You acknowledged in person that two single duvets were not standard. Only on our last day did someone replace them with a double duvet, a detail missing from your response. You offered us another room, but we had only about 12 hours left before checkout. Packing and moving that late would have been impractical, so staying in the room we had was the only feasible option. I appreciate the offer of a bottle of wine, but I’d already said it wasn’t necessary because I don’t drink such low-quality wine. It came nowhere near compensating for the inconvenience or what we paid for a deluxe room. Because your written response differs from what was said in person, and the issue wasn’t resolved during our stay, we’ve raised our concerns with Best Western headquarters. We hope this feedback helps improve service for future guests. Best regards,

The bill was higher than the original price listed on Booking.com, and even after I brought it up, nobody sorted it out. That was on top of staff who were unfriendly and not much help, with poor communication through my stay. I expected more honesty and better service. I wouldn’t recommend the place unless they improve staff training and billing.

They were quick to respond and clear and professional throughout. I appreciated the help, and I’d be glad to consider staying here in the future.