Hotel Sovrana - Rimini, Italy     

Having read the reviews on the TripAdvisor web site; I booked the Hotel Sovrana for three nights in September for myself, wife and 2yr old son. We had a triple room on the corner of the building with a great balcony, the weather was still nice enough to sit out and watch people going about their business. The room was spacious enough, very clean and nice linen / towels etc. The hotel staff were very nice, friendly and helpful but also professional. I can’t add much more about the good bits as they have all been said before. The beach area and use of hotel beach towels was super. The breakfast was great, with a huge table laid out with most of the European type breakfast items. My best bit of advice, is to remember where you are when you stay at a hotel. Don’t expect the Grand Plaza building etc unless you pay for it. Don’t expect a “Full English” or “stack of pancakes” for breakfast you are in Europe, it will be continental. Rooms in European hotels are generally smaller than the US hotels due to building ages and land premiums. If you are not satisfied with cleanliness or service ask the staff nicely to sort it out, if they don’t then vote with your feet.

After reading the great reviews of this hotel I tried to book through Trip Advisor links but all showed the hotel fully booked. I phoned the hotel direct and had no problem booking a room for 3 nights @ 110 Eur.?? When we arrived we were very disappointed, the exterior has a run down feel and the car park can only accommodate 3 small cars - during the peak months parking must be a nightmare. The main part of the hotel has been refurbished to a modern standard but our room was small and the bedding seemed non too fresh. The biggest problem however is the building work being carried out directly next to the property, this will obviously continue for a considerable time. After a poor breakfast we checked out after the 1st night sighting the building noise as the reason for leaving , this didn't seem to come as any surprise to the reception staff who simply scowled and said it wasn't their fault. I would urge anyone thinking of booking this hotel to check re. the building work progress and expect no more than good boarding house standards.