Hotel Maxim

The one bright spot was Desmond, I think, the friendly and accommodating guy behind the bar. I wanted to like this hotel, but couldn’t. It felt more like two stars had been painted onto the windows by mistake than a four-star place. The neighbourhood is a mix of apartments, semi-derelict factories and building sites, with litter on the ground and some questionable people around. It took us about 25 minutes to walk into Verona. The hotel looked disappointing at first, and unfortunately the first impression held up. Check-in was okay, I guess. The staff member didn’t speak English, but I don’t speak Italian either, so I can’t complain about that. The lift was slow and busy, and only one was working. Our room was dated but seemed clean, and the TV and Wi-Fi worked. The beds were hard, though that was fine for me. On the first night, a beeping noise started around 3 am and kept going. I tried to ignore it but barely slept. Breakfast was rubbish, basically eggs and pastries, and when the eggs ran out there wasn’t much choice left. The beeping started again on night two. My call to reception didn’t go through, and I wasn’t going downstairs in the middle of the night. On top of that, a room full of drunk guys next door found bouncing a call at 3 am hilarious. Nobody said or did anything about it. The noise had stopped by the third night, until the fire alarm went off at 1:10 am and we were evacuated. In the foyer, staff told us absolutely nothing. One person shouted random things in Italian, but there was no information about the reason, the evacuation route, or where to gather. If it had been a serious emergency, I wouldn’t have known what to do. An angry guest demanded an explanation and learned it was apparently because someone had smoked in their room. We were told we could go back once the alarms stopped. Thanks to that guest for being more informative than the staff. The next morning, nobody said anything or even apologized for the disturbance. Underground parking is available for €10 a day, in the spaces not taken up by discarded hotel junk.

Desmond at the bar was a really nice man, and I’d give him five stars. Restaurant staff were nice too, kept busy and cleaned the tables. Reception was just okay. I stayed five nights and was woken very early every morning by what I think was the cleaning staff banging the vacuum into every door and wall in the corridor. I know they have work to do, but they should do it more gently. One morning, a cleaner came into my room without knocking while I was in the bathroom. She ran off without saying anything, and it was a very uncomfortable situation. The place needs security, too. It seemed strange that anyone could come in.

The rooms were dark and extremely hot, and the AC wasn’t working. When I asked them to turn it on, they said they were trying, but I felt they were lying to my face. A technician later said they switch off the AC during winter. I had to leave the window open, and the cold, uneven breeze left me with a cold, a throat infection, fever and shivering. I had to take antibiotics. There was no drinking water, and we were told to drink from the bathroom taps. I’d never recommend this hotel. It felt like a health hazard. Getting into the hotel was a mess too. There was no lift for carrying heavy suitcases up to the lobby in the basement. Everyone was handed room key cards that hadn’t been activated, so each guest had to go back down to get theirs activated. Very unprofessional. It seems to be booked mainly by group tours like Europamunda to save money. It’s a cheap, badly maintained hotel, and one of the worst I’ve stayed in.

The staff are really nice, but the rest was disappointing. There are odd smells, stains that look like they’ve been there for ages, dated decor and hardly any amenities. The place could be so much better. Maybe it earned its four stars back in the 80s, but it doesn’t seem like anything has been updated since.