Residence Desenzano — Hotel in Milan

To be completely honest: Guests should be aware that they have(!) to (it's a must!) check in by 7:00 PM at the latest. There’s NO exception, NO flexibility AT ALL, which is honestly “not so great” for accommodation in a city like Milan. ||Our scheduled arrival at Milano Malpensa was 4:30 PM, but as everyone knows, you can never be 100% sure—there could be delays with the flight, the airport bus, but also traffic and it takes often much more time to get to the accommodation via two Metro lines and a walk. ||So we politely(!) asked if there is a solution in case we were a few minutes late—but the accommodation replied that they absolutely do not offer any flexibility. ||And it got even WORSE: on the day of our arrival (a few hours before the check in) they suddenly pushed the check-in deadline forward to 6:30 PM (really last minute they changed from 7:00 PM to 6:30 PM) which was very rude, especially since the advertised and confirmed check in time was clearly 7:00 PM. ||They even threatened to cancel our booking without a refund if we don't arrive latest at 6:30 PM (we have a chat conversation about this what can be documented with screenshots). ||Then I even called them to try to de-escalate the situation, and later contacted CS, who confirmed that if it says “check-in until 7:00 PM,” then 7:00 PM is the latest check-in and not 6:30, not 6:40, not 6:50. ||It seems like they did this intentionally to have a reason to cancel our booking and just as I wrote I had contact with the CS they changed completely back to a polite behaviour (again: screenshots).||In the end, things calmed down, and we finally arrived at 6:35 PM and were able to check in—but the stress beforehand was completely unnecessary. ||I’ve made dozens of bookings as Genius Member (and left mostly 8,5 up to 10 points) and I really never had an experience like this. ||It really makes a difference whether you’re just coming from another district of the city or travelling from another country, relying on flights, airport busses and public transport schedules. ||Conclusion: because of this stress, we definitely would NOT book this accommodation again (but read also the PROS below): ||To be fair: The accommodation has mostly not so bad reviews and is easy to reach (approx. 35 minutes from Milano Centrale via 2 Metro lines and a short walk through a residential area). ||The check-in experience itself was a bit better (the mood was in general not good anymore) than the communication beforehand and the room was overall okay —not fancy or special (more retro like in most of the pics), but clean, comfortable and we even had a small balcony. ||There’s a small kitchenette with a stove, sink, fridge with freezer, and microwave.||We got it for a good price and stayed from around 6:45 PM until the next morning around 9:00 AM —so basically just to sleep and take a shower. ||But after this all our mood was not the best anymore. ||Final thought: If you are 100% sure you’ll arrive there before 7:00 PM, you can definitely book it! If you are not sure: Forget this accommodation, you'll be just annoyed and stressed for hours. ||I saved the chat to have a...

The interaction with the hotel was appalling.
I booked a double room at Residence Desenzano a month before check-in. On all websites, on Booking.com, as well as in the direct messages (through Booking.com), it was stated that check-in was possible until 19:00. Moreover, we double-checked this information several times, writing directly to the hotel. On the day of arrival, early in the morning, we were informed that we had to check in before 18:30 because after the reception would be closed. A later check-in was not allowed. This created a huge problem for us, since at that time we were in another city and were scheduled to arrive in Milan only at 18:02, meaning we could not get to the hotel earlier than 18:40. Immediately after receiving this message, we asked if it was still possible to check in until 19:00, only to be refused. We then decided to clarify the situation again, pointing out that all hotel websites stated check-in was possible until 19:00. Once again, we were refused and instead offered to check in the following morning at 9:00. After this, we received a phone call from a hotel representative (judging by the voice, an older man). He spoke with my friend in a rather pressuring manner, once again denied our request to check in at the advertised time, and insisted on following their own schedule. At the end of the conversation, he said: “Give the phone to someone who actually understands WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT.” After such a rude exchange, I sent the message attached below and requested that all further communication be conducted in writing, so I could include it in my review. The hotel representative who corresponded with me kept insisting that check-in was only possible until 18:30 because it is their rules. However, as soon as I asked for proof of these rules, we were rudely told that check-in was indeed possible until 19:00 but not a single minute later. Even if, in some way, these really are the hotel’s rules, they should have been stated in advance: both in the correspondence and on the hotel’s official pages. But certainly not on the day of arrival. The stress we experienced due to the inconvenience caused by the hotel is the main reason for such a low rating. We spent the last hours of our trip in another city in constant worry that upon arriving in Milan, we would be left without a place to stay overnight. Moreover, I would also like to point out that neither at the reception desk nor in the rooms was the Wi-Fi password indicated. This caused additional inconvenience, since no one provided it at reception, and after the staff left (their shift really did end at 19:00), it was impossible to find out...

I experienced a great deal of inconvenience at check-in at your hotel. The 4 of us came from Germany with a reservation, when we showed a green certificate to none of us passed your scanner. The receptionist and another gentleman told us that in Italy it can take 5 or 6 months from the second vaccine, you were not sure. We also showed you a quick test done in Germany on the same day, which we did just in case, and that was not valid for you either. You were looking for a quick test from Italy. When we asked where we can do it at 18:30, you said that we can do it in any pharmacy, and the registration time is until 19:00. We ran around Milan to find a pharmacy, but a few of them turned us down because they don't do quick tests. We asked you to return the money we paid, you refused. You kicked us out of the reception in the most unpleasant way, you discriminated against us. You left us on the street in an unknown city, at night. We went directly to the police where they checked the importance of the vaccine and where they were valid for all 4 passengers. The policeman told us that the validity of the 2nd dose of the vaccine in Italy is 9 months. So you have committed several offenses related to us, your customers. Without any help, instructions on what to do, without any emotions, you left 4 women on the street in the middle of the night, in an unknown city. And you are still asking me to leave you a comment on how we spent our time at your hotel. I'll tell you how. By no means! And I want every guest to read this comment and no one comes to your hotel anymore. It is unheard of what you did to us, so we do not want anything like this to happen to anyone. So let me repeat, the law in Italy says that the second dose of the vaccine has a validity period of 9 months, and you refused us to enter the hotel with a 7-month vaccination certificate. Because of you, our vacation in beautiful Milan failed and we will think carefully when we return...