Agave Hotel Residence Inn - Pozzuoli, Italy     

Arrived at Pozzuoli Metro line from Naples - only a few people where still left on the train - felt like I'd arrived at a backwater village - taxi rank but no taxis. Eventually got a lift from a local whose driving was on a par with a kamikaze pilot and paid 20 euros for the experience. Hotel is on a dual carriageway so can not walk anywhere - got a taxi into Pozzuoli the first night as the onsite restaurant did not open on an evening whilst I was there - arranged with receptionist who assured me the taxi would only cost 4 euros - when I returned with the taxi driver he asked for 40 euros as agreed with the hotel (the total meter reading for the round trip was 22 euros and it was on 9 when he picked us up !!!) went to see the receptionist with the taxi driver, who suddenly had a memory lapse and said she had said 40 euros all along which was untrue and I had my daughter as a witness - in the end paid him 35 euros. So my advise would be do not book a taxi via the hotel otherwise you will get ripped off big time !!!! Fortunately, we were only staying for a total of 3 nights so bought pizza/pasta slices from the attached shop for the rest of our stay, and chilled out next to the pool. Was going to test out the onsite tennis courts however they had no rackets for hire ! Rooms nice and airey with a microwave/fridge and cooking area (which you will need if you don't have a car and cannot afford 40 euros a night for a 10 minute taxi ride). In the end could not wait to leave and would not stay in Pozzouli again unless I had a hire car, and to be honest after my experience with the receptionist I would not stay at this hotel/motel. My overall impression of Pozzouli is they are trying to attract tourist yet I don't think they are ready. If you don't speak any Italian I wouldn't visit as most of the people I encountered did not speak English. Fortunately, I do speak some Italian so I was able to get by, and I would strongly recommend not visiting without a CAR !