Top City and Country line Bonotto Hotel Belvedere - Bassano del Grappa, Italy 

We were advised this is the best hotel in Bassano - we were in for a rude shock. The hotel staff were polite but curt. We checked in, after waiting for quite some time, and got our key. We thought we would check out the room before dragging our bags up, and found we were walking along a long hallway with no lights. Given there was no sunlight into the hallway either, only my partners white shirt gave guidance to where I needed to follow! We walked into a room to open the security shutters onto a beautiful view... of the roof next door. Unimpressed we asked for any other rooms, perhaps on the other side of the hotel so we could have some sort of view and we ended up in a junior suite. After being told a price that was only 40euros more than our last room and agreeing, the manager came out while we were unloading the car and told us he had made a mistake and the rate was actually about 90 euros more. We had enough of moving around, after driving from the beautiful pristine waters of Lake Como that day, we decided to stay put. The room we stayed in can only be described as extremely dated 70's decor, with a lashing of dust and a slightly marked (with a somewhat mysterious reddish brown streak) blanket (a few dark hairs never go astray either!). Thank god the sheets were clean. The bathroom (although extreamly 70's and plastic!) was very clean. But the white sheer curtains in our room were rather dust infested and not a shade of white anymore. The mirror (complete with airbrushed flowers in each corner) in the ceiling and beside the bed only made us feel like we were in a really bad c-grade dirty movie. To give this review context, we have travelled 4-5star from Rome to Cortona to Lake Como, staying in spacious, fairly newly refurbished hotel/villa's and were expecting more. GIven that even the town-folk who we met at drinks that evening in town, advised we were staying at "the best hotel in town" - we would highly recommend finding a B&B or totally boutique hotel, even if out of town slightly. Our room ended up being more expenisve than our newly refurbished 5 star suite with 180 degree views on Lake Como. Breakfast was dismal, and I was ashamed to say the coffee we could help ourselves to did not reflect the quality one comes to expect from Italy. It was undrinkable (we love our coffee and do not go past instant if need be but this was seriously verging on glugg). The historical town itself was amazing. The river was beautiful and the city square quaint with a dash of elegance and sophistication. Highly recommend visiting Bassano Del Grappa, drinking at the little bar "Le Colone" and eating at an amazing trattoria up the road, but don't expect the same sophisticated elegance that the city has to offer at this hotel. Unfortunately. Its like the owners feel like they have the market share and are happy to sit back and not keep up with the times for quality.