Barbacan Boutique Hotel

The location is superb, close to Trieste attractions and amenities, but I’d only stay if the room cost 100eur max per night. This isn’t really a hotel, despite the name. It’s a set of rooms rented in different buildings, so don’t expect the usual hotel room service. Reception is only open part-time, cleaning can be patchy, and the area gets a bit noisy on weekends.

I booked through Boking on March 13 this year, while traveling, and asked to arrive after 22:00 p.m. The hotel accepted the reservation but rejected that request at the same time, saying reception closed at 20:00 p.m. I asked how I could stay if I couldn’t arrive by then, and they repeated that reception wasn’t open later. I canceled right away and booked another hotel in Trieste. Then the hotel messaged to say I could still come and that a key would be left in some kind of box, but by then I’d already booked other accommodation. They refused to return the money, saying the room had been reserved. I won’t add an opinion or bad words, but I think other travelers should know about this attitude. Boking seems to be made for hotel owners and Boking itself, with travelers treated as a secondary concern.

The place itself is very nice, but we had a bad experience trying to retrieve a lost headphone after checkout. We tried contacting the hotel several times by email and phone, but got no response. If one of the owners sees this, please get in touch with us.

❌ The room was tiny, and there’s no elevator, just tight stairs. The person who checked us in was rude. The hot water kept going hot and cold, presumably because other rooms were using it. No cream or milk for coffee, no tea, and the shower gel and shampoo were so watery they were unusable. Checkout at 10:30 was much earlier than at other hotels. There was a mould smell in the wardrobe and bathroom when the door was shut, which we needed to do at night to block the bathroom light and window. No full-length mirror, and there were silverfish bugs (Lepisma saccharinum) in the room. ✅ Cute place, relatively clean, and very central. 🍋 No parking, but there’s public parking nearby.