Siena

I booked a room through Booking.com for my brother and his partner more than 10 days ahead. A few hours before they were due to arrive, the hotel suddenly said the cardholder's name had to match the guest's, a condition that hadn't been mentioned when I booked. I assured them the guests would pay in person on arrival, but they cancelled the reservation without consent and left my brother stranded in Milan at night. He spent over three hours with his luggage trying to find somewhere else. Worse, the same room was booked again just minutes after the cancellation. It felt like they wanted to give it to someone else and used a technicality as an excuse. Extremely unprofessional and inhumane. I wouldn't recommend this hotel to anyone.

Our room wasn't ready when we arrived, well after check-in time. It also had a skeleton key that could easily be opened with a pen. We were glad we'd put our valuables in the car, because while we were out to dinner, it was clear our room and luggage had been searched. We chose to leave and cancel the reservation, but they strongly tried to deny the partial refund. We had to call the booking (dot com) website we used and have them contact the hotel to get a refund for the additional nights. The property itself wasn't too terrible, but it offers the bare minimum, almost hostel quality. For the price, it's just a little better than a hostel.

The taxi mix-up happened on our second night. My husband, our eight-year-old son, and I had planned to leave at five in the morning, but at four the owner knocked on our door saying the taxi was waiting. I'd told the girl at reception while we were heading out for a walk that we might need a taxi around four, then told the owner five when we came back. He didn't listen when I corrected him, just said the girl had called it. We packed our bags and left at five, with the taxi still there. On the way to the station I saw the meter said 58 euros, even though the trip from the hotel is around 5-7 euros. The driver said the owner told him we hadn't answered the door and he had to wait an hour. I was shocked and explained what had happened. The driver gave me a receipt, didn't even take all the money, and begged us to go back and look for our money. I was so frustrated, especially with our child there. I would've called the police if we hadn't been rushing to catch our flight home. What kind of person would do this? To me, it's a crime. Don't go there, you'll definitely be robbed in some way.

The only good thing is how close it is to central. The service was otherwise very bad. The washroom had a hairdryer, but it didn't work, and there was no handwash or soap by the basin. The black tiled stairs were so dark, with no light, that I nearly fell.