Hotel Raffaello

We stayed at Hotel Raffaello for 10 days in July 2019, while visiting Urbino for the Early Music Festival. The hotel is centrally located, close to the main attractions and shops, but tucked behind the busy shopping street. Staff were friendly and helpful, and spoke reasonably good English. Our spacious, comfortable quadruple room was on the top floor, with beautiful views, an antique bed and wardrobe, and striking ceiling artwork. The bathroom was big enough, and the water pressure was good. Housekeeping was inconsistent about cleanliness and restocking supplies. We were later told that the usual housekeeper was on long-service leave. Breakfast was simple but enough to show off regional specialties. Paolo paid close attention to what we needed. At our request, he made hard-boiled eggs every day, plus decaf coffee for my son and an extra espresso for my husband each morning.

I asked about checking in late for an Easter booking and was told check-in ends at 8 p.m., with an extra €80 charge after that. They also wanted a signed payment authorization and photos of both sides of my credit card and my valid passports, so they could charge the full amount plus the extra fee. That seems far too complicated. I'm sure there are plenty of easier places to book a room in Urbino.

Giulio Lonzi made our stay feel like visiting a good friend. When my wife sprained her ankle on a day trip, he directed us to the nearest emergency room, then came to pick us up when we were stranded with no taxi and she could only hop on one leg. He helped me carry her from the car into the hotel and up to our room, and somehow found crutches before we'd even thought about where to get them. He also gave us restaurants that deliver to the hotel. He seemed to solve our problems before we knew we had them. Earlier, he'd called to check on us when he thought we were late, pointed us to the right ticket office and arranged a taxi. He gave useful parking advice too. Cars can't really park inside the city walls, but the weekly minipass for the multistorey car park was reasonably priced and convenient. You can get a short-term permit to drive to the hotel and drop luggage, but those steep, narrow streets are best avoided. Giulio even spent ages finding a wonderful restaurant for my birthday dinner, on a Sunday in October when the Adriatic coast season was nearly over and most places were shut. The hotel is in the middle of the historic city, just below the fortress and a few steps from almost all the sights. From our spacious, well-furnished room, the view was like a picture book. Every staff member was professional, very friendly and helpful. Thank you, Giulio. We'll be back!

We had three superior suite rooms on the top floor, all with great views over the walled city. Urbino is a substantial ancient city, but had less tourist bustle than we'd expected for the height of summer. You can drive to Hotel Raffaello only to drop off luggage, then need to park outside the old city walls. The proprietor gave us good directions so our vehicles were secure. There's a lovely park up a fairly steep walk from the hotel, and an extensive market was running the next morning. Breakfast was a generous, refined buffet with fresh fruit, cakes, breads, cheese, salami, ham, eggs, yogurt and other local products.