La Maison Romantique

We left for another hotel as soon as we got inside. The pictures are misleading, the room smelled bad, and this isn't really a hotel, more like an Airbnb in an old building. There's no one to check you in, so you're on your own, and the neighborhood felt really bad and unsafe. Look at the street photos and decide for yourself, but I wouldn't book this place if safety matters to you. The owner sent the entry instructions on WhatsApp. If you don't have cell service, good luck getting in. He also asked me there not to touch anything if I was leaving, so I assumed he'd refund me if I did that. But after I cancelled the booking, he refused. He can keep the extra euro, he probably needs it more, but use your money somewhere else.

The price was good, and the rooms were cosy, with a small kitchen. It's handy for both the railway station and the port. The downside is the district itself, which was noisy and scruffy.

Getting around was easy from La Maison Romantique, right in the heart of the city. Wi-Fi was excellent, the beds were clean, and the toilet was well kept. The fold-out table was sturdier and more useful than expected in such a small room. But the name felt ironic. Booking.com described it as a hotel, while we found two rooms on a shabby side street. The bathroom put us off showering. There were mold spots and leftover hair, the shower stream was uncomfortably strong, and there was no shampoo. The hairdryer didn't work either. The pillows were old, thin, and worn, and the mattress wasn't up to the standard I'd expect from a hotel or rental. Outside, people talking and scooters made it hard to sleep. The room's other problems added up. The air conditioning worked, but it wasn't on when we arrived after a hot journey, and there was no manual, so it took a while to get the room comfortable. One bedside lamp kept flickering, and there wasn't an extra outlet near the bed for charging devices. The TV remote had no batteries, and the TV had a small screen instead of the promised flatscreen. Even at its highest setting, the refrigerator didn't chill food or drinks properly. We couldn't use the balcony because a large gray screen blocked it. There was no personal contact with the owner either, which made the stay feel cold and impersonal. There are some good points, but with so many shortcomings it's hard to call this a romantic stay. The place has potential, though a lot still needs work. I can't see how this room could have four stars. Two at most.

I went with my partner for four days and three nights after reading the positive reviews. Our good expectations disappeared as soon as we arrived. People say the place is clean, in a strategic spot, and just like the photos. In our experience, the neighborhood felt dangerous and wasn't somewhere we'd recommend walking at night. You can hear everything from inside the room. If it's your first time in Naples, an arrival like that can color your view of everything else. The supposed apartment is a mini-apartment split into two bedrooms. We could hear the other guests as if they were in bed beside us, and ours were very unpleasant, shouting even in the middle of the night. The room has been turned into an 'apartment' by adding a bathroom and kitchen, but it doesn't deserve that name. The kitchenette in front of the bed has no hood and can't really be used. It's just for show. The bathroom is tiny, about the size of a small closet. There's no bidet, and the toilet flush is so weak that it can't even clear toilet paper. The shower was unusable when we arrived. We asked the owners to fix it, and they wanted to come in while we were out. We tried it anyway and got only an ice-cold shower, with no hot water. They repaired it the next day while we were out. That evening, when we asked for an update, the owner said the boiler technicians would arrive in an hour, explaining that she hadn't told us because she thought we'd be out all day. With all our belongings there and no warning, we stayed home and waited to shower. The place wasn't very clean. There was hair everywhere, including the bathroom, the curtains were dirty, and the sofa was too stained to use. The coffee maker had water inside it, and I don't know how long it had been there. The pillows smelled of bedbugs. The owner rejected our compensation requests. My partner and the owner exchanged daily texts, but nothing was resolved. She insisted she'd checked the property, though it was obvious to us that she hadn't. We pointed out that we hadn't even received an apology. In a message, the owner complained that 'nothing was wrong with us, they don't come when we're there or when we're out' and said, 'you're not in a hotel.' The shower should have been fixed before we arrived. If it had been cleaned, they would have seen it wasn't working. We have videos and messages to show what happened, and we'll now seek compensation through a third party. It wouldn't take much care with the details to improve this place. It wasn't cheap, and we spent a lot for what we got. This was meant to be a romantic weekend, but the experience was terrible. After the owner's reply, 'You can tell what kind of people we are,' I felt there was nothing more to add. I wrote about my experience and didn't mean to offend her. Still, I invite her to spend three days in her own room. And again, the broken shower was her responsibility, not mine, after I arrived. PS: The pillows that smelled of bedbugs were washed at 200 degrees. Do you think I'm ignorant and can't tell a smell from a smell? 200 degrees? Tell me which laundry shop allows that so I can help you with the two bags of dirty laundry you left in front of my door for two days! I'll leave it there. I don't want to stoop any lower.