La Riviera is convenient to get to as it is a 4/5 min walk up the street directly opposite Montecatini Terme station (beware: Montecatini has 2 stations and the Centro station is further away). The hotel is about a 8/9 minute walk up a straight road to town centre.Montecatini is convenient for travel to Florence, Pisa, Lucca and Viareggio by train - which is a very cheap way to travel and avoids the dreaded ZTL (no cars here zones in Florence and Pisa). If you get car hire I suggest you look these ZTL zones up in detail, as failure to comply will be very expensive. Lucca is a lovely place not to be missed and make sure you go up to Montecatini Alto.Have a coffee before you go as Montecatini Alto prices are 3 times what you would pay in Montecatini Terme.For toilets in Montecatini Alto ask for the key from the funicular railway attendant at the top.La Riviera is clean and comfortable and what it lacks in modern up to date bedroom furniture is more than made up for by the excellent food and welcome. Take the evening meal option as it is inexpensive and very good in quantity and quality ( seconds are available, even having a second (different)starter that you hadn't ordered!).Simple, not particularly expensive, ingredients but cooked to perfection by Antonella. I am quite fussy about food but I was impressed.The house wine is ok but it only costs 7€ a bottle or 1 and a half € a glass. Vincenzo will chat to you in English or Italian and this is a pleasurable change from places where they don't seem to have time for human contact. You will no doubt already know that Florence (and Pisa to a lesser extent) are much more expensive for hotels than Montecatini, so using the cheap trains and using Montecatini as a CENTRALLY PLACED base is a good idea. Also recommended is the confectioners Giovannini just off the main square (Piazza del Popolo) where you will get a BRILLIANT ice cream.(although Vincenzo said La Goma was an even better ice cream parlour, though I find that hard to believe).Admire the window displays at Giovannini's and you can have a good inexpensive coffee there (though there are only 4 seats and no tables!) as it is only really set up for people who want to stand and have a quick coffee. The automatic ticket machines in the stations are easy to use and take cash or credit card or both.You can choose your language before embarking on the ticket purchase process. Don't forget to validate your train ticket by having the date stamped on it at the small machines dotted around the station. You then have 6 hours to use it. Checks we found to be infrequent but I think it is 40€ each if you get caught (not recommended!). There are also buses from Montecatini Terme station to various locations eg Florence. I believe the journey time is not much different to the trains and is probably a bit cheaper.