Mokinba Hotels Montebianco

The one bright spot was the friendly man at reception, who did his best to make up for things. The hotel is also close to the Lotto subway. That’s all I can really praise. The breakfast was served in a depressing cellar, and the buffet looked and tasted as if it had been sitting there all week. The breakfast staff answered “ROOM NUMBER” when greeted with good morning, without even a hello or goodbye. After five days, you’d think they might recognize you. No one was trying to sneak into breakfast without paying. There were stale, rancid smells in the hallways and old, smelly carpet everywhere. The showerhead was partly blocked with scale. Unless you’re on the first floor, hot water and decent pressure seem unlikely. Colleagues had cold showers on several days. The ventilation or air conditioning, if you can call it that, was disabled. The room got very hot, so opening the window was the only option. My room faced the main entrance, where the street stayed noisy all night, and the subway right beside the hotel could be heard and felt until late at night and early in the morning. The mattress and pillows seemed to date from the 1980s, and were so hollowed out that I woke with back pain every morning. Stay away. This feels like a 2-star property, miles from 4 stars. I’m giving it one star for the Lotto subway location and that receptionist’s effort.

I’ll never come back, and I can’t recommend this hotel. The rooms stank. Apparently there had been bed bugs a year ago, and now they use so much cleaning product that it’s hard to breathe. The breakfast was disgusting, and I heard a hotel staff member spit. The owner never replied to my email. This was by far the worst hotel I’ve stayed in.

We didn’t get a good night’s sleep because our room faced traffic. After reception told us to open the windows when the air conditioning wouldn’t come on again after 8pm, we were left with noise from night buses and cars, plus mosquitoes. That’s not an acceptable solution for a hotel. Earlier, on a 27°C day, the west-facing room was already too warm, but the AC wasn’t switched on until 8pm. We raised it with reception and they wouldn’t change anything. We were also told an early check-in fee of £40 applied because we arrived early. I rarely leave bad reviews, but this was a complete disappointment. You can’t advertise air conditioning when guests can’t choose when to use it and it doesn’t work properly much of the time.

The water wouldn’t get hot, the room wouldn’t warm up, and there was no one around to help. When I asked for the manager at checkout, they first insisted I pay the tourist tax. Only after I paid did they call, then tell me the manager wasn’t working that day and I’d have to sort it out by phone. Customer service disappeared when I wanted to make a complaint. Worst experience ever. I won’t come back.