Hotel Santa Barbara

The restaurant was the best part: the food was great, it was very well kept, and the staff were absolutely kind and friendly. The views and walks through the venue's alleys, and farther on to Montecatini Alto, were lovely too. The place feels romantic and family-run, like being welcomed as guests of the family. I'd bring my girlfriend to see if she can enjoy some Tuscan rural romance instead of being snobbish and pretentious :D. I'd take my family too, to show them how fairy tales are written. Maintenance isn't at a corporate level, but for a 3-star place I guess it's okay for the price. The rooms feel like sleeping at grandma's, and they're spacious with clean sheets. Rooms facing the hill don't have windows and feel humid from the moisture in the soil, but they gave us another room without any questions. Turn on the heating at night and let fresh air in beforehand, and it's all good.

The only good thing was the view across the valley, but the rooms don't have windows, so that doesn't help much. It's also far from everything in town, and getting there is difficult and dangerous because the road is narrow and winding. We never chose this hotel ourselves, our travel agency booked it for the trip. It was a terrible experience on what was meant to be a lovely visit to Toscana, Italy. I've been to many places in Italy and never thought the country could disappoint me this much. The rooms were dark, worn out, with old furniture and mold. There was no daylight, just a little window below the ceiling looking into some sort of underground shaft. There were no real amenities, not even a kettle for tea or coffee or an iron. The towels were another problem: just one actual towel, and the rest were more like pieces of cloth. Meals were just as bad. Breakfast was the worst I've ever had, with stale little croissants and rolls, a few slices of cheese and ham, and almost nothing else. No eggs, fruit, or vegetables, and nothing was refilled on the so-called buffet, which was really just one table. Even the coffee was terrible. Dinner wasn't much better, with the worst pasta ever. Honestly, you can get better pasta anywhere in the world. Service was poor too. The staff were unfriendly, rushed us, and didn't make us feel welcome. Stay away if you want to enjoy Italy and Toscana and get a better taste of this great country.

The food was disappointing and below average, and the room smelled awful. It was extremely dirty, with dirty walls and hundreds of live and dead bugs underneath the mattress. When we arrived, the cook was in the bathroom. After she finished, she didn't wash her hands, even though she uses those same hands to prepare food. The hotel was bad enough that we didn't stay the night.

We couldn't sleep because the room was damp and smelled bad. It had no proper windows, just one that looked a bit like an attic window. The food was terrible, the staff had a bad attitude, and the location was poor. The whole place was extremely dirty and smelled musty. It's the worst hotel we've ever stayed in.