Second time for us at Villa Jolanda, after having tried other Hotels and Residence in Lido di Camaiore - one week in August in Apartment C, fifth floor with view to the mountains (but I cared most that it had 2 bathrooms :-))
Apartments are all brand new, air conditioning is great, as mattress and pillows :-)
Little kitchen is perfect for a pasta and the fridge is spacious and new.
The hotel/residence is in front of the sea, in a perfect position with no traffic noise: cross the desert street and you're at seaside. The hotel has a reserved park area at 50 mt, accessible via remote control - the hotel gave one to us for the entire week.
This year we also had breakfast down at the hotel: price was cheap and food satisfying.
And last but not least: the owner, Mr Claudio: he's a polite, caring person, a real gentleman, something nowadays not easy to find in people who regularly deal with lot of people/clients.

There was a day, some many years ago that this hotel justified its 3 stars, but those days have long gone.

It is difficult to list the positive points about this hotel, but I’m sure there are some. The location cannot be faulted – right on the sea front, with some clearly impressive views from some of the bedrooms. However, my family and I were placed in two rooms which appeared not to be part of the establishment. We were in the back two rooms of the hotel, on the top floor with “post it” notes on the door, indicating the room numbers. They were clearly recently furnished mainly indicated by the hole in the ceiling and the empty lift shaft full of rubbish outside the door. However, the rooms were generally clean but there were some odd smells that materialised during the night. I was sure that the owner/manager expected us to moan about the rooms after checking in and was perhaps surprised when we didn’t, frankly we knew that nothing would have been done about any of the problems we experienced so we just got on with it.

The hotel was generally impersonal and although the reception staff were helpful, they did little to make us feel particularly welcome. The hotel did seem to have a lot of Italian families staying so perhaps that is who they cater for primarily. Breakfast was awful (with the exception of the boiled eggs) Coffee was dispensed from a machine and was disgusting. At the very least, when travelling in Italy, I expect a decent espresso to start the day. Parking was a nightmare as the hotel car park was always full. Having said that, the hotel owner did seem to conjure up interesting places for us to park!

The hotel is akin to two star hotels I have stayed in throughout Italy but was acceptable for someone travelling on a budget. I don’t want to seem unfair in my review of this hotel as I feel my stay was coloured by a ridiculously busy, crowded and over-priced resort that offered nothing of the true nature of Italy. It wasn’t the best Italian hotel I’ve stayed in by a long shot, but it certainly wasn’t the worst! Decide for yourself, but if you want a true taste of Italy, move inland towards Lucca or San Gimignano (if you can park there).