I spent four days in Ravenna at Hotel al Giaciglio. The title, I think, says it all. The hotel is on a pleasant mostly-residential street a couple blocks from the station, within walking distance of all sites in Ravenna's Medieval center. It is on the north side of the Medieval center, and thus closer to the modern part of the city, on the harbor -- altho I wouldn't call it walking distance (nor does Hotel al Giaciglio).

Consistent and good: The rooms were small but warm and very clean, as were the shared baths and other common areas. Lots of hot water. The staff were friendly, helpful, available and spoke enough English to handle the usual sorts of tourist requests and questions. The small restaurant offered exactly three choices in each of: primi, secondi, contorni, dolci. The list changed daily, and my plates were very good -- a real bargain, too, at 14 Euros. The simple breakfast buffet offered cereals, juices, coffee, breadrolls -- and a freshly baked fruit tart.

My only complaints are: 1) The walls are thin. I could hear TVs, a fussy baby several doors down, and some guy bellowing into his mobile at all hours. 2) The rooms are a bit inconsistent in quality of furnishings. I was assigned a room on the noisy street-side. The bed was saggy, the faucet dripped, the bedside lamp was inoperable. I asked to be moved to a quieter room on the courtyard -- which request was immediately granted, and most graciously. That room had a fine bed, a working lamp and no drip. Oddly, its furnishings were rather more worn -- but I don't care, so long as they're clean and they function.

The hotel has no internet for guests, by the way, and the closest nearby Internet cafe seemed -- even by my tolerant standards -- quite dodgy.

I still rank the al Giaciglio "above average", because I think it's good value. But it may not be the right choice for a light sleeper.

This is a pretty basic and a little worn one star hotel, but everything was clean and run by a pleasant, friendly family who gave us maps of the town etc. and were happy to mind luggage during the day. The room was very spacious and the beds were comfortable. We had a back room which was quiet but I suspect the rooms on the street would be quite noisy as there was a lot of heavy traffic going by. At €65 with private bathroom and including a basic breakfast this was good value.

Dinner in the restaurant downstairs is not included in the room price but it is well worth dining there, as we had a lovely meal of local-style but not cliched Italian dishes, plus the best vegetable sides we
had anywhere in the country. Very good value too at €14 per person for
a two-course set menu plus drinks.

The hotel is very close to the railway station and to the Battistero dei Ariani, one of the oldest sites in Ravenna with some lovely mosaics - not to be missed. We loved our time in Ravenna as it combines its stunning architectural and artsitic heritage with the feel of a town occupied by local people doing their own thing, without
too many tourists.

We stayed here one night at the end of our vacation in Italy in mid-September 2006. The staff was very cordial. The restaurant on the ground floor didn't look like much, but that night we were exhausted and decided to stay for dinner. The food was plentiful and excellent. That night we slept comfortably, except for the English-speaking couple next door who complained and moaned loudly for over an hour about how they hated the place. Finally they got up and departed before dawn. So the walls were a little thin. There was a mosquito in the room, a problem one encounters all through Italy in summer. We don't know what they expected for one star in a tourist town. The place is adequate: clean, safe, with friendly people who gave us good advice about what to see. There are no luxuries here, but the price is fair. Their web site says they speak English. Maybe so, but we never heard anything but Italian being spoken to anyone. Ravenna is a gorgeous place and utterly walkable. The hotel was a short walk to the train, another plus. Busses run in abundance nearby to the sights in the town. I'd stay here again.

Routard gave their recommendation in 2001 and 2002 to Al Giaciglio, as posted on their front door. Rick Steves calls it a "last resort." We visited in Dec 2004. Al Giaciglio had single-paned windows and the saggy beds showed their age. (Rooms P-1 & P-2) Upstairs the radiator was on all day, all night which made the room hot even for Winter. We could not leave the windows open for the traffic till 2am, and for such a little street, too. It is close to the Train station which is a plus. There did not seem to be individual room thermostats although I saw the lobby has an air conditioner. We met a lady on the train who said her apartment was converting to a hotel in June 2005. It looked nice inside, but no availability for us then, at the Residenza Galletti Abbiosi. Yet the clerk there was kind enough to give us tourist maps and brochures. Al Giaciglio did not. On the plus side, across the street from Al G. there was a little pannetteria/pasticceria which was great for fresh fruit, big bottles of water at reasonable rates and, of course, pandolche. Two blocks down from the train station is a Business Center where we got our fix of Internet for cheap. They had computers at 3-4 tables with 4 computers at each station, 2.5 euros per HOUR (calculated by minute) and discounts if you can show you're a student! But, watch that European keyboard, it can throw you off when typing in a password with ASCI characters. Babaleus was a hit for lunch!