I was in “Villa d’Este” in the beginning of July 2014. To be honest based on the reviews, I’ve expected more.

There are free parking spaces on the street available near to the hotel. Additionally there are two parkings available – one for “Villa d’Este” (free of charge) and one for Hotel Touring (5 euro per day).

The pool, which you can see on the picture is in fact really small. I wouldn’t say it’s suitable for swimming.

The room was relatively small and in desperate need of renovation. There were stains all over the walls, the tiles on the floor were not in the best conditions. Time to time the hallway in front of our room smelled like feet (no joke :) ). The bathroom was clean, but again with some broken tiles, etc. Unfortunately, several times the towels were far away from clean. The shower cabin was a bit small, but obviously it tends to be a standard in 3-stars hotels in Italy. There was a small fridge, air-condition and TV in the room – all working fine. The balcony was OK as well - small, but enough for a table and two chairs.

If your room is looking towards the street – be prepared for noisy mornings! We had the “luck” to have a bunch of “early birds” for neighbors and they woke us up at 8 o’clock latest every morning.

The breakfast was good. Boiled eggs, salami, ham and cheese, muesli, yogurt and fruits together with croissants, white and full grain bread.

There is a grocery shop, pharmacy and pizza place really close to the hotel. The beach is also not far away – about 10 min. walking distance. For the ‘newbies’ in going to Italy’s sea side (as we were this year) – be prepared that you have to pay to enter the beach. The minimum amount is 2 euro/person (just to enter) and it can grow to 8-13 euro/person if you want sun-chair and umbrella.

To sum up – “Villa d’Este” was not the worst place I’ve been, but I doubt I go back.