The hotel is quite beautiful, in that ornate overdone Florentine style. The ceiling in our room was a work of art. The staff was helpful and very nice. They were friendly and very welcoming. The breakfast buffet was quite adequate. The sea-view balcony was basically unusable because of the traffic - and the ants. And our room had ants. We had no food in the room but it was ant-ridden. The weather was extremely hot, so that may have contributed (or caused) the problem. It was very annoying. Our experience of the hotel may have been overshadowed by our opinion of Viareggio, which was quite negative. The sea was fine to swim in, and the town away from the beach area was charming. But the promenade and beach area was overpriced, with low quality dining choices. Yet it wasn't "honkey-tonk" enough to be fun. I understand the higher ratings the hotel received from other customers - but we did not have a five star experience. The staff was so nice I wish I could be more positive, but I can't.

We stayed one night here and it was lovely. We had a beautiful sea view and a balcony. The staff were all friendly and helpful. The hotel has kept many original pieces and is quite a grand building with lovely stained glass. Breakfast is fairly simple although they served the most delicious home made cakes, with a good selection of cold meats, cheese and fruit. We can't wait to return. Incidentally Viareggio is only about 30 mins from Pisa airport, so it's a really nice place to go for a short break, with no shortage of cheap flights from the uk.

I wholeheartedly endorse this hotel. It was perfect. After stays in Venice and Rome with staff who were practically annoyed by you, it was so pleasant to have a warm and welcoming and HELPFUL staff. I had to ask the staff for more assistance for more odd things than I have ever done in a hotel and I had help for absolutely everything. NICE help. Pleasant help and quick help. The Internet was down, but they did everything to quickly get it back up again.

Our rooms were just beautiful. Fabulous 20s decor and clean and nice. Better was the wonderful, wonderful breakfast. What a spread! Eggs, cereals, toast, jellies, cakes and all sorts of goodies. The staff would make any kind of coffee you liked. I watched an older lady get served everything she needed so she didn't have to get up.

It is a little noisy, but all the hotels on the beach are. I was serenaded by a harp in the evening and just the normal passing noises. I don't like noise, and this didn't bother me at all.

I would just highly recommend this hotel. It is not your run-of-the-mill beach hotel and just fab.

One thing to be aware of is that the beaches are paying beaches. That didn't bother me because we got chairs and an umbrella, but just beware. The beach is across the street from the hotel, a 2mn walk.

We spent one night here at the end of February. We were there to see the Carnival at the invitation of friends, who were staying at this hotel, as they had the previous two years, and thoroughly recommended it. We booked at short notice and there was not a lot of choice of available rooms - hardly surprising since the hotel has, I think, only 13 rooms in total. We chose a room with a sea view and were very pleased with it. Our room was on the upper floor and was everything we wanted and expected. We visited our friends who were staying in a sea-view room on the first floor - it was magnificent. (As mentioned in other reviews, the hotel has been converted from a sumptuous family villa - the ground and first floors are very grand - lots of marble, high ceilings, period furniture and decoration, the upper floor is more what you would expect of a good hotel. The staff were extremely pleasant and helpful; the breakfasts were plentiful and good. We would not hesitate to go back or to recommend this hotel to others. The Carnival is the biggest in italy and is great fun - very disrespectful of Italian politicians!