Hotel President - Viareggio, Italy 

Spent the last night of our Italian trip here so our grandson could say he had seen the Mediterranean. The hotel was lovely, our room was very nice, with two balconies looking out at the sea. Everything was perfect except the RAIN! Can't fault the hotel for that. They did have umbrellas for us, so we did walk the beach after all.

I wouldn't say this is a bad hotel, but surely the only person who could give it a 4 star rating would be the owner. Even he would need a few drinks first! I've stayed in various 4 star hotels before, and this place was well behind on every level. Where to begin... The public areas and room were well decorated and clean, but the first word you would think of is small; The air conditioning only made the room warmer; Even on the top floor you could hear traffic noise all night; The shower only worked if there was no one else using it, and even then the pressure was poor and it went hot or cold without warning; The buffet breakfast never changed, and was cheap - instant coffee, dry pastries, greasy scrambled eggs, microwaved bacon... The evening menu was very limited and grossly overpriced. I also suspect it was the chefs first time in the country, as we never saw any Italian food on the menu; The 'private beach' and most of the facilities promised turned out to be in a beachclub half a mile down the road, it cost 20 euros pp pd, and half of the services are only for 'locals' anyway. In conclusion, not a bad place, but nowhere near 4 stars. It didn't even compare to the 3 star places we stayed in immediately before and after.