Hotel Continental — Hotel in Cremona

The Continental Hotel in Cremona is not the place of accomodation independent travellers should look for. First of all, its location, far away from the historic centre and from the train and bus stations makes it almost impossible to enjoy the activity rife in the centre: medieval architecture, atmospheric shops, eating and drinking al-fresco and the general atmosphere that an old ambience provides. This hotel caters mostly for tour groups (mostly German tourists) who come here by coaches all the way from another European country. I did not stay here and so I cannot judge what the rooms are like but I came here for dinner in the hotel's restaurant: a really fine place with a menu that leaves nothing to be desired. The service in the restaurant was excellent, the food delicious and the general ambience much beyond my expectations. The price you pay for all this is obviously in the top-end bracket. This hotel is without doubt Cremona's best place of accomodation but... being on a noisy highway and far from the centre, I would never choose to spend my vacation here.

Three weeks later: These comments were added after I received a notification from Hotel Continental, claiming that 2 of my previous comments were erroneous.

Hotel Continental claimed that its location is on the periphery of the medieval centre. My response: the hotel is located on a noisy and busy thoroughfare, almost 2km away from Piazza del Comune, the Duomo and Via Solferino (the centre of all activity in Cremona). Now it's up to the Cremonesi and the visiting tourists to judge for themselves whether Hotel Continental lies within the medieval centre or close enough to make walking from the hotel to the centre an enjoyable experience.

I attended for dinner in the excellent hotel's restaurant on three occasions. The food was good, the service impeccable. On each of these three occasions, the language spoken by the guests in the restaurant was unquestionably German. I also talked to some German guests on my way out. In addition to this, I saw German tourist coaches parked in front of the hotel on two occasions. The tourists were leaving the coach and queuing up to take their luggage from the hold. My conclusion was obvious: does this hotel cater for tourist groups, mostly German? In spite of this, I apologise to the management if my review was in any way harmful...

The Hotel is located in a pleasant area of ​​Cremona, just outside the historic center and close to the main roads. The building has been well renovated, enhancing the spaces with quality: in particular the Hall and the panoramic terrace where the restaurant is located. The rooms are spacious and well-kept with a beautiful simplicity of style. Inside and outside the rooms and in the common areas, you can see artistic images, including photographs representing Ugo Tognazzi, a great cinematographic artist from Cremona. Even in time of Covid-19 the hotel is kept up and running despite the use of all safety measures. In the evening it is possible to dine at the panoramic restaurant, if you are a customer of the hotel. The food is well cooked and well presented and some very affordable offerings. The staff, especially the girl in charge of the reception, nice and professional, is competent and available to give directions and to solve the needs of the guests. The prices are good, taking into account the quality of the structure. It is a place to be held in high regard, both for a business stay and for a family holiday. Breakfast is served in a picturesque room, located on the first underground floor. The breakfast room is well furnished, with an 'Old Cremona' atmosphere and with brick arches kept in their original and visible form. The manager is kind and competent and the food of excellent quality as well as varied and capable of satisfying the demands of customers. Other beautiful paintings representing Italian cinema artists hang on the walls and the pleasant presence of the image of Ugo Tognazzi is striking on the placemat...

Nicely located a few minutes walk from the centre of Cremona, where there are a good number of restaurants, shops and bars. ||The hotel is clean, reasonably comfortable and not badly presented. It may be too modern and a bit of a concrete maze for some however. It was quite hot in the rooms and it looked as if 22C was the lower limit on the air conditioning. Being only supplied with one small pillow did not make for the best nights sleep. On that note the front rooms onto the street are noisy, especially if you keep the window open to cool the room.||The food was nothing special, basic, reasonably presented and as in most of Italy far from hot on arrival. Breakfast was again basic. If you eat in the basement it can be claustrophobic and warm down there. ||There is a roof top restaurant which is superb for seafood, it's not cheap but well worth a try, we ate there on our second night as we were not impressed with the hotel food. There is also a pizza place next to the reception . ||I cannot speak to the staff as I did not interact or really see any of them, other than saying good morning at breakfast and handing in my room key..||Rated very good based on location and the roof top restaurant, other than that probably just above average.||OK for a one or two night stay, but would not be my first choice should I be in...