Villa Chiarenza Maison d'Hôtes

The service was the best I’ve experienced, and the couple managing the place are lovely, kind, and always ready to help. It’s clean and well organized, with plenty of towels. Even with the problems below, I’d recommend staying here if the location works for you and you’re not put off by those issues. We were in the huge top-floor room, with two double beds and two singles, enough for up to six people. The beds were comfortable, and there’s a big private balcony with an open view. The room also has two air conditioners, two toilets, a bidet, and a shower. The building is an old, partly renovated house, full of artwork, with seating in a well-kept garden and private parking for an extra charge. The pool is still being built. Getting to that room is a challenge: climb two flights, then another, duck under a wooden staircase, and then climb those stairs to the upper floor. The ceiling up there is very low. The building isn’t accessible, and anyone who has trouble with stairs should avoid it. Even if stairs are fine for you, entering and leaving feels like an obstacle course. There are two raised passages inside the room, and the beds sit along a low outer wall, so watch your head. I hit mine several times. The shower is tiny. The toilet is comfortable when sitting, but a man standing up will hit his head on the ceiling. The separate area with the extra toilet, sink, and bidet has decent ceiling height. There’s bar soap at the sink, and the shower shampoo comes in tiny sachets like McDonald’s ketchup packets. Both toilet areas have only ceiling windows, hard to reach unless you’re tall. The bathroom and shower doors don’t close all the way and can’t be locked. Breakfast is a generous upgraded continental spread: coffee, tea, juice, tortilla with prosciutto and cheeses, croissant, boiled egg, zucchini toast, bread with jam, cut fruit, and more. They happily and generously fulfilled our breakfast requests the following day. One catch: it’s served only from 8:30 to 10:00, and the hot water for tea is just lukewarm unless you ask specifically for boiling water. The other downside is noise at night. The hotel is right by the highway toll booth, so you hear cars, trucks, and motorcycles slowing down and accelerating all night.