Corallo - Montecatini Terme, Italy 

Booked the hotel directly via the internet and were recommended to take a superior room at an additional cost of 10 euros. This turned out to be good value as we were able to look around a few of the standard rooms which were of various sizes and standards. Our room was large with a balcony off the bathroom (strange location we thought) and had a lovely view of Montecatini Alto. The staff were all helpful and friendly and the lobby area was very nicely decorated and furnished and internet access was available free of charge. The swimming pool was on the roof and provided a good view. Breakfast was adequate as is usual in Italian hotels and for the fisrt part of the week was taken in the rooftop bar, thereafter in the breakfast room on the ground floor. Only complaint would be that the elevator was quite noisy and we could hear this from our room. Found a nice cafe bar down the street from the hotel called Bar Manzoni and had a pre-dinner drink there most nights. Staff were lovely and they remembered you from day to day, drinks too! Restaurants we would reommend are the Libertine, Da Lorenzo and special mention to Il Vicolo - simply the best pizza - EVER!!

A very warm welcome from friendly, helpful staff with a good command of English. Room was clean and comfortable and there was a generous and varied buffet breakfast. A special treat was a trip by coach from the hotel to a magnificent villa, also owned by the hotel, for a truly wonderful dinner in spectacular surroundings. The hotel is very well situated for the rail and bus network and within 5 minutes walk of the centre. All in all, we had a great experience and would hope to repeat it sometime.