B&B Vicolo della Scala — Hotel in Cortona

First the good: The location is great, right in the center of Cortona and excellent walking distance to all the sites we wanted to see. Our room was quite lovely, with a comfortable, romantic four-poster bed. We thought the price was very reasonable for what is offered. ||||What we didn't like so much:||The B&B seems to be run more as a business, rather than as the typical B&B of a host opening up their home to travelers. The family does not live there, so the property is left to just the guests in the evenings. I've never encountered this at a B&B before and I wondered what would happen if a guest has a problem, or needs help or assistance of any kind. I guess I just prefer knowing that there is someone around.||||Breakfast was a disappointment for us. Antonella is a beautiful baker, but there was a lack of ambience during breakfast due to the loud television playing in the breakfast room, plus there was a lack of any conversation with our hostess. Antonella sat in the corner of the breakfast room, busy on her smartphone. My husband has conversational-level Italian abilities, so it was not due to lack of being able to communicate. We tried to engage her in conversation and she would answer our questions very nicely, but soon returned to her smartphone, so we felt like we must be interrupting her. She was so engaged in her phone that she never offered us a second cup of coffee, which we were sorely hoping to have but didn't want to have to ask for it.||||Lastly, we were given poor instructions on catching a shuttle/bus back down to the bottom of the hill, leaving us standing around with our luggage for over an hour waiting for a bus that wouldn't arrive (due to it being a Sunday), until some gentleman took pity on us and helped us out.||||Even though the bedroom itself was lovely, we would look for different lodgings on a second...

We stayed here for two nights in December. What a charming little B&B! Inside, the building has been restored beautifully. We had a top-floor room with a gorgeous window letting in the sunlight. The bed and pillows were very comfortable. The WiFi works very well. Antonella bakes goodies for breakfast and also provides cold cuts, cheese, cereal and toast, and of course amazing coffee. Great location to walk on the main street and to the Piazza Garibaldi where we had a few picnic lunches, overlooking the incredible valley below. Highly recommend staying here! ||||Be prepared for a lot of stairs in Cortona. We parked in the free parking lot below the city. From there, you walk up to the Piazza Garibaldi by stairs and two escalators and onto the main street. Your first right will be Vicolo della Scala and it's stairs up to the B&B. The building is also three floors and we were on the top floor. For us, stairs are not a problem, part of the fun of...

This B&B is in a building was from the 1500's, I believe, and very nicely restored. It is run by Antonella. Pasquale, their son and daughter. Very well maintained with a good homemade breakfast. Their assistance with touring and dining recommendations was very valuable. When we asked for directions for getting to the train station (the bus was not running on Sunday) Pasquale was able to offer a ride to our next destination!!||||Vicolo della Scalla is easily accessible with a short walk if you take the bus to Piazza Garibaldi, except Sundays. ||||We highly recommend this B&B and the hosts, even with the stairs. Say hello for the visitors from...