Relais Santa Cecilia The Secret Place

The French room was so cramped that two suitcases barely had anywhere to go, and the bed felt like an uncomfortable single. The timed heating left us cold, and we had to ask for an extra blanket and toilet paper. After four nights, the toiletries still hadn't been replaced. The breakfast was all individually wrapped pastries, with no fruit, which felt at odds with the notice about not changing towels for environmental reasons. There was nowhere to sit except a small sofa facing the reception desk. We were in Italy for Christmas and New Year with relatives from Milan, as we had been for several years, and booked Relais Santa Cecilia over New Year. Even booking was a struggle: manager Carla said the "credit card machine" was broken and asked us to send the money by bank transfer. When we arrived, we asked if another room was available. Carla was aggressive and rude, telling us, "that's the room you picked." On New Year's Eve we felt stuck, but we booked another hotel for two nights midway through our stay because this place was too depressing for our holiday. It was uncomfortable and unwelcoming. If Carla had been more hospitable and less aggressive, or had seemed to care about anything beyond collecting our money, I wouldn't be writing this. It felt like a glorified hostel.

The beds could use some improvement.

The common room has biscuits, tea, and coffee, though on our last morning the coffee had run out even after we had told them. Our Filippo Neri Suite was clean and spacious, and the bed was comfortable. It was fairly quiet, but some of the interior fixtures and the hot water could do with an update. The bells start at 8:00 AM and seem to stop around 9:00 PM.

The room called Deluxe had a very small bathroom with no bidet. A leak flooded both the bathroom and room within two minutes of starting a shower. Some outlets didn't work, there was just one bedside table, and no spare blankets, which was rough in the January cold. I wouldn't recommend the red-walled Costanza room. The central location and digital check-in were the only good parts for us. After the owner's reply, I'm attaching a photo of the room at 1:00 AM, where we used five towels to soak up the water. It's sad to call guests liars.