Hotel Il Maniero

The room was simple and clean, and we liked that it suited the setting. We stayed for two nights in late autumn and had dinner there once. That meal was excellent and quite unusual, with generous, tasty traditional dishes. The chef and waiter were friendly and helpful. Highly recommend.

The village is genuinely charming, and the hotel's handy for the Roccaraso ski lifts in winter. The room was average, with its window looking straight at a wall. Sleeping there is fine if that's all you need, but I'd skip dinner. What they presented as three courses was a forkful of pasta, a dry grilled chicken breast with no seasoning, about 5 cm x 10 cm, and a lettuce leaf cut into four pieces without dressing. There wasn't even bread on the table.

We were there from December 30, 2017, to January 2, 2018. I'm giving one star only because the system won't let me give none. At reception, the service was so discourteous they barely made eye contact. Our room was quite dirty, as the photos show, the toilet had no lid or seat, and the drain was leaking. When I raised it, the guy said that was just how it was. The person I took to be the owner joined in, saying their maintenance plumber couldn't fix it. I doubt he was a plumber, since the leak was between two pipes. On the second day there were no towels, the bathroom hadn't been cleaned, and the window I'd opened in the morning to air out the room was still open at 4 p.m. It was 4°C outside, and the room was cold because the owners had turned off the radiators to save money. They only switched them back on around 6:30 p.m., after I insisted. On January 1, we found that our two children had been bitten by small insects. Through all of this, nobody even apologized. They still demanded payment, then tried to collect less than the amount we'd already paid in advance. Make of that what you will. I also wonder whether the people who gave this place four stars were drunk or friends with the hotelier, since everyone in town speaks badly of it.

The restaurant was very good, and despite the place being a little disorganized, everyone was friendly. It has a nice feel, though it's a bit neglected and could use more maintenance. The style is informal, maybe too informal, and breakfast was too meager. Still, we had a good time.