Hotel Miralago — Hotel in Albano Laziale

OK, let's not beat around the bush: this is the worst hotel I have stayed at for a very, very long time ! I was there for work, with a group of colleagues, and we ended up demanding a refund several days before we were due to leave because there were so many things wrong with this hotel. As soon as we arrived, the first issue arose: there was zero Wifi in the room I was given (even though we had emphasised before that we needed at least semi-decent Wifi for work). In order to get any kind of Wifi, I had to swap for a room without any air-con (bearing in mind that temperatures were - on some days - above 30 degrees C). So for minimal Wifi (between 1 and 2 bars), I now had to permanently leave my windows open throughout the night, so that I wouldn't wake up soaked in sweat in the mornings. Wifi throughout the hotel was a problem as well - there were hardly any areas where there was decent Wifi - I tried to make a Whatsapp voice call to my office in quite a few areas of the hotel and was usually cut off after about 10-20 seconds or so. Next issue: breakfast - first of all, the quality and selection of food available was very poor - in the bowl of fruit, there were frequently several fruits that were clearly rotting (which seems to indicate that none of the staff ever properly check). Also, whenever a guest is finished with their breakfast and leaves, it seems that none of the staff properly clean the tables afterwards - pretty much every breakfast I was down there, all the tables were still dirty and not properly laid with new cutlery. When I pointed this out to a member of staff, she just laughed at me and didn't do anything. Next issue - noise levels during the night: during several nights I was there, there was an unacceptable level of loud noise going on until the early morning hours - people shouting, partying, etc (at some point, it sounded like there were about 20-30 people or so in the room above me having a party until about 2am). Obviously, the fact that I had to keep my windows open because of the lack of air-con didn't help. Next issue - mould (or 'muffa' in Italian): in my bathroom there were clear signs of mould on the walls - because of all the other issues, I didn't even bother to tell the hotel about this. Finally - management & staff: First of all, I want to emphasise that there were some members of staff who were perfectly friendly (and almost seemed apologetic at times about the state of this hotel themselves). But some of the staff (at breakfast, for example), clearly did not give a s* about the guests and did nothing at all to help. The manager - and I am guessing a lot of the flaws of the hotel and the staff attitude stem directly from him - was completely disinterested in any form of criticism (or anything else at all, really). He couldn't even be bothered to look up and acknowledge guests when they walked past reception and at some point, when my colleague wanted his room keys, basically just threw them at him. When I told him my opinion of the hotel when I checked out, rather than perhaps apologising for anything, he just looked extremely grumpy and didn't say anything. It is actually kind of a shame - because the location of the hotel is very idyllic, with great views of the lake at the front, and there are lovely outside terraces. But this hotel needs a serious overhaul and needs to sack its management as soon as possible and start from scratch. At the moment, this hotel doesn't even deserve 2 stars (never mind 3 stars) and is certainly not worth the around £100 we were charged per room.

PS: Another thing I found quite annoying was that - on a couple of occasions - the staff cleaned my room but then did not lock the door when they were finished; anyone could have walked into my room while I...

OK, let's not beat around the bush: this is the worst hotel I have stayed at for a very, very long time ! I was there for work, with a group of colleagues, and we ended up demanding a refund several days before we were due to leave because there were so many things wrong with this hotel. As soon as we arrived, the first issue arose: there was zero Wifi in the room I was given (even though we had emphasised before that we needed at least semi-decent Wifi for work). In order to get any kind of Wifi, I had to swap for a room without any air-con (bearing in mind that temperatures were - on some days - above 30 degrees C). So for minimal Wifi (between 1 and 2 bars), I now had to permanently leave my windows open throughout the night, so that I wouldn't wake up soaked in sweat in the mornings. Wifi throughout the hotel was a problem as well - there were hardly any areas where there was decent Wifi - I tried to make a Whatsapp voice call to my office in quite a few areas of the hotel and was usually cut off after about 10-20 seconds or so. Next issue: breakfast - first of all, the quality and selection of food available was very poor - in the bowl of fruit, there were frequently several fruits that were clearly rotting (which seems to indicate that none of the staff ever properly check). Also, whenever a guest is finished with their breakfast and leaves, it seems that none of the staff properly clean the tables afterwards - pretty much every breakfast I was down there, all the tables were still dirty and not properly laid with new cutlery. When I pointed this out to a member of staff, she just laughed at me and didn't do anything. Next issue - noise levels during the night: during several nights I was there, there was an unacceptable level of loud noise going on until the early morning hours - people shouting, partying, etc (at some point, it sounded like there were about 20-30 people or so in the room above me having a party until about 2am). Obviously, the fact that I had to keep my windows open because of the lack of air-con didn't help. Next issue - mould (or 'muffa' in Italian): in my bathroom there were clear signs of mould on the walls - because of all the other issues, I didn't even bother to tell the hotel about this. Finally - management & staff: First of all, I want to emphasise that there were some members of staff who were perfectly friendly (and almost seemed apologetic at times about the state of this hotel themselves). But some of the staff (at breakfast, for example), clearly did not give a s* about the guests and did nothing at all to help. The manager - and I am guessing a lot of the flaws of the hotel and the staff attitude stem directly from him - was completely disinterested in any form of criticism (or anything else at all, really). He couldn't even be bothered to look up and acknowledge guests when they walked past reception and at some point, when my colleague wanted his room keys, basically just threw them at him. When I told him my opinion of the hotel when I checked out, rather than perhaps apologising for anything, he just looked extremely grumpy and didn't say anything. It is actually kind of a shame - because the location of the hotel is very idyllic, with great views of the lake at the front, and there are lovely outside terraces. But this hotel needs a serious overhaul and needs to sack its management as soon as possible and start from scratch. At the moment, this hotel doesn't even deserve 2 stars (never mind 3 stars) and is certainly not worth the around £100 we were...

Without a car this place isn't an option. However, it's got a beautiful location just behind a vista point overlooking Lago Albano towards Rome. The hotel itself is dated. It needs some serious renovation TLC (bathrooms have a lot of limescale buildup, bedding is dated, etc), but in all that kitsch there's a certain eclectic charm. Good news is the basics are there: shower was warm, the room was otherwise clean, there's a TV and we could see the lake from the room's bedroom. And amongst that are very friendly and helpful staff. Bonus is the hotel bar is also the local area's bar, so in the morning the place is bustling with locals getting their morning coffee on the way to work. If you can get a room on a deal, do it. However given the current state, I wouldn't pay more than €90 for a double here....