The Regency Hotel, Sure Hotel Collection by Best Western

I got there at 22:15 to check in, which took 15 minutes. Then reception told me the bar shuts at 23:00 and I couldn’t get a bottle of beer. Service like in Germany.

The breakfast buffet was great, and the rooms were clean and quiet. There are nice common areas to spend time in, plenty of parking inside and out, and the staff were extremely friendly and helpful. I’d definitely stay here again.

We chose this hotel after researching places in a quiet area between Milan and Lake Como, since we were travelling with our baby. It took me almost a year to process what happened on our departure day. After breakfast, the receptionist told us to check our car. We’d parked across from the main doors, in full view of the desk, and one reason we’d chosen the hotel was that someone was there 24/7. Our whole car had been torn apart, and the broken window was the one beside the car seat. The car couldn’t be driven, and we didn’t know what to do. When we asked how this could happen right in front of the hotel, we were told staff had been too busy with check-ins to sit down. The overnight receptionist also said he usually sat and watched the parking lot, but it had been so busy that night he hadn’t noticed. There were supposedly so many people checking in that no one saw someone dismantling a car five feet from the door or smashing its window. We needed to report it to the police station ourselves, since the police wouldn’t come to the hotel, and then find another car. The staff were extremely unhelpful and basically left us to figure it out. One staff member, who didn’t speak any English, drove my husband to the station and helped him file the report, and I’m grateful to him. While they were gone, reception told me to leave the room because the hotel was full and we were due to check out. I was alone with all our luggage and caring for a baby who needed naps and breastfeeding. I was crying and asked where I was supposed to go, since there were no rooms available and I didn’t feel safe. I think they saw how upset I was, because they backed off and let me stay. It was Friday. The rental dealership had no replacement car, and my husband had to sort something out. By evening he’d managed it, which put us almost a day behind. We didn’t like driving at night, but didn’t want to stay in the area any longer. I was shaking glass out of the car seat and crying, unsure how I could make sure no small pieces were left, with no way to get another seat. The overnight receptionist apologized and gave us bottles of water. When we asked for some kind of compensation, they said it was basically our own fault because there was an underground garage. That hadn’t been disclosed to us. They told us to read a small sign taped to the wall. With a baby, small signs weren’t our priority, and we expected more from a four-star hotel. We were told the footage could only be seen by police due to European privacy laws, but apparently they couldn’t see anything. The car was right in front of the hotel, yet that spot wasn’t covered by cameras. Go figure. This was the worst place we stayed, including from a safety perspective. It ruined Italy for us. The staff made an awful situation 1,000% worse, and the hotel already had a bad reputation. I wouldn’t recommend it and would never stay again. One more thing: check rental-car and credit-card insurance carefully. A lot of rental companies and card policies don’t cover Italy as a whole, or exclude certain cities, and travelling there can void your insurance.

The staff and hotel were nice, but I had a really hard time showering because the equipment wasn’t working properly. I also saw the strangest sheet setup I’ve ever encountered. Usually a cover keeps you from touching the blanket directly, but here the blanket was sandwiched between two plain sheets. It all shifted around whenever I turned in bed, so I ended up touching the blanket anyway. It would be fine if they wash it every time, but I don’t think that’s standard practice.