What a wonderful place Forte dei Marmi is - very very special indeed. Although the curse of the coastline HAS to be the ghastly silhouette of the Hotel Atlantico. It really should be razed as architecturally it is incredibly unsatisfying to the eye and a drag on such a cosmopolitan, clean and vibrant community. Okay so remember now, it's a recession so we're all cost conscious, we're downgrading our class of hotels from time to time, we must recalibrate our expectations mustn't we? Yes. Bottom line, this place was ugly from the outside, in a very good location just opposite the beach (probably the only thing keeping it alive), the lobby was orange orange orange - think the worst type of orange color imaginable and then you get more when you go into your room, more disgusting bright orange and brown carpet - orange and brown people, need I say more? Yes, I must, I can't help myself, I'm salivating at the thought of the loose knit nylon thread uniforms that the staff were squeezing into (most likely with the help of fishing line and olive oil). Once you get passed the uniforms (royal blue of course), the staff were actually quite helpful. Although strangely no english speakers were attending during check out or checkin - italian, french and german - no english. As it turns out the hotel gets a lot of business from German tour bus operators. Beds were uncomfortable, blanket was thin, old and mean. Bathroom super clean as a plus. Plenty of in room storage space for long stay guests. A couple of great restaurants near by, but all in all they really should level this place or do a major refit and redecoration as the location is just too good to waste on what is a hotel stuck in the mid seventies.