Barbarella Home

It's close to the water, the aquarium, and lots of restaurants, and the hotel feels very secure. We enjoyed opening the big front door onto the little balcony to get some air and watch the street. The rooms are spacious and nicely decorated, and the hosts who checked us in were really helpful. It's a stylish boutique place, though reception isn't staffed all the time. The main road outside is noisy through the night. The double glazing and shutters help, but it still isn't quiet, so bring earplugs. We tried the spa, but when we switched on the jets, the water smelled like a rotting sewer, which was odd given how clean the hotel otherwise was. The bath has only a handheld shower at tub level, so I sat down to wash, which was fine for me. Check-in at 3 pm is strict, though they'll store your bags. For the price, location, and overall condition, I'd still recommend it.

It's in a lovely neighborhood, with a good coffee spot for breakfast next door on the main street. The room was clean and spacious, though getting around to everything else meant a 30-minute walk to our tour pickup. Walking in the heat may not suit everyone. The bathroom has a huge tub and a handheld shower you have to pick up and use. I didn't dare try the jacuzzi because it didn't look great, and the toilet took a while to flush. Our first host spoke English, but the woman there at checkout didn't. She didn't want to call a taxi for us, though she showed us the number to call.

I can't say how things go if your stay is trouble-free, but if the hotel says reception is staffed during its published hours, someone should be there. We ended up giving up on this place and booking another hotel, even though we'd been traveling around Europe for a month and had no complaints about similarly priced and rated stays elsewhere. Our street-facing room was so loud we got no sleep the first night. People outside yelled and set off fireworks for hours. We had an early tour, and nobody was at reception when we left, so I sent several messages online in Italian asking if we could change rooms. They were marked as read, but nobody replied. When we got back in the late afternoon, reception was still empty. Calls from our room went unanswered, and after waiting two hours, there was still no one there. At the agreed checkout time, we couldn't find a receptionist either.

Chiaia is a lovely neighborhood with some nice dinner options, but getting into the city center isn't very straightforward. Our room looked onto a busy, noisy road, and there was almost never anyone at reception. The rooms themselves were large and clean, but there was no breakfast.