Whilst traveling with my mother (in her 50's) through Europe, we got to visit some lovely hotels. This is not one of them. The shock of such poor service at this hotel, from the moment we arrived, tarnished our excitiement of being in such a mind blowing city.

When you first enter the 'lobby' you see front desk staff in smart suits and a beautifully presented polished reception desk. Very impressive. There is nothing impressive to follow. We were checked in by 'robotic' staff who lacked personally and never showed any kind of hospitality training. We struggled carrying our bags through some clumbsy doors which led to the lift area. No one offered to assist us...they just watched. Whne we got to the lift...it was (to be polite) quirky. It was so small and ancient, you had to laugh. It was ridiculous. My mother and I had one bag each and for us to fit in the lift and close the door, I had to actually sit on my luggage. No joke. Please note: there is a new fantastic modern glass lift recently built out in the courtyard...but don't get too excitied...it doesn't go to all floors! After the laughing and struggling with our bags, we were really looking forward to just getting into our room. What a surprise! I can imagine this is what a juvenile detention room must look like (minus the bars on the windows of course). The glass in the mirrors were old and discoloured, not in a lovely distressed vintage way either. The carpets were stained and had food crumbs next to the bed. Speaking of beds...we booked a suite with two queen beds. We got two single beds, which wasn't a huge disaster except the room was so small there was no room to walk between the beds on one side and they were pushed against the wall on the other. No room for luggage on the floor or on a table/desk area. I slept crunched up with my luggage on the end of my bed. My mother had to put her luggage on the grubby and tired bathroom floor.

The builders started banging and crashing at about 6.30am. Our window was open for ventilation and we started the day with cigarette smoke drifting into our room from the builders. It wasn't a huge problem as we wanted an early start, but it may be a problem if you like to sleep in. The cold buffet breakfast wasn't terrible, but just ok. Nothing too inspiring.

You may be thinking, did you make a complaint? Well...yes we did. The manager/ owner was 'missing in action' for a while, but he did eventually appear, dressed in a white, expensive looking fine Italian suit with gold dripping from every limb. He said as we had paid in full prior to our arrival, he had no other rooms available and he had already allocate our money to his renovations, there wasn't a lot he could do. We had no option but to stay at this disappointing and depressing hotel for another 6 days.

I think our final conversation with the owner really does sum up our entire stay.
He was enthusiastically telling my mother and I (in perfect English) about his wonderful adventures traveling around the world. He told us of his dreams to turn his hotel into a luxury world renowned hotel like the others he has stayed in - you'll be happy to know he has lots of good ideas he has brought back with him.
As we were walking out the door, my mother turned to him and asked "You have stayed in some lovely hotels haven't you?" he replied "Yes I have". My mother asked "Would you ever stay here at Hotel De Petris?" He looked her in the eye and said nothing. Absolute silence. Enough said.