Hotel Ariston — Hotel in Montecatini Terme

Spent a week at this hotel as part of an organised tour and in no way did it live up to a 4 star rating. Our first room was very small,dark, dated furniture no real space for clothes and only one standard size electrical socket.Air con did not work either. Having asked for another room we had the choice of two other rooms.Neither was a real improvement on the first. We eventually accepted one on the basis that it had a slightly bigger bathroom and one window had clear glass rather than the orange tinged glass in the first. It was still impossible to open the door fully as it caught on the bed, still no space for clothes and still only one socket.Later that evening when putting an adapter in the socket there was a loud flash and the plug arched across the socket plate. This did not cause any reaction from the desk clerk who came to reset the fuse board apart from saying" were you trying to charge your phone".||In the 1980s this hotel would have been very acceptable but an obvious lack of investment means it is in a time warp reflected in the defective electrical wiring decor etc.On two occassions we found a beetle in the bathroom .The restaurant is in the basement and the standard of food was unacceptable. We had to order the day before ,with very little choice and really bland food. On the first night we had a small bowl of pasta with tomato sauce,one boiled chicken leg and a small potato ,desert was a slice of pineapple with a scoop of ice cream. I have had many visits to Italy and never came across such a low standard restaurant . You do not expect to come to Tuscany and eat this type of food in a basement canteen.||Needless to say we ate out every other night and had some wonderful Italian food.||It would appear that this hotel is used for groups on tour staying only 1- 2 nights as this is what we saw when there. It did appear that the food was taken in from outside.||There is a roof top terrace which had some plastic loungers most of them broken and no real shade , cigarette butts were in each corner making it even less welcome.There is no swimming pool but were told we could use the hotel pool next door if we bought drinks or food at that hotel.||Their is a small bar in reception which requires the desk clerk to come over to serve you.||We were told to "enjoy the the fabulous facilities of the hotel while there", these were nonexistent. It is more reminiscent of a 2 star B&B. We did expect Basil Fawlty to turn up some evening as it was so like Fawlty Towers.albeit over 20 years after it was topical.||The only positive here is that it is centrally located but so are many better hotels which we checked out to see if this was the standard...

Spent a week at this hotel as part of an organised tour and in no way did it live up to a 4 star rating. Our first room was very small,dark, dated furniture no real space for clothes and only one standard size electrical socket.Air con did not work either. Having asked for another room we had the choice of two other rooms.Neither was a real improvement on the first. We eventually accepted one on the basis that it had a slightly bigger bathroom and one window had clear glass rather than the orange tinged glass in the first. It was still impossible to open the door fully as it caught on the bed, still no space for clothes and still only one socket.Later that evening when putting an adapter in the socket there was a loud flash and the plug arched across the socket plate. This did not cause any reaction from the desk clerk who came to reset the fuse board apart from saying" were you trying to charge your phone".||In the 1980s this hotel would have been very acceptable but an obvious lack of investment means it is in a time warp reflected in the defective electrical wiring decor etc.On two occassions we found a beetle in the bathroom .The restaurant is in the basement and the standard of food was unacceptable. We had to order the day before ,with very little choice and really bland food. On the first night we had a small bowl of pasta with tomato sauce,one boiled chicken leg and a small potato ,desert was a slice of pineapple with a scoop of ice cream. I have had many visits to Italy and never came across such a low standard restaurant . You do not expect to come to Tuscany and eat this type of food in a basement canteen.||Needless to say we ate out every other night and had some wonderful Italian food.||It would appear that this hotel is used for groups on tour staying only 1- 2 nights as this is what we saw when there. It did appear that the food was taken in from outside.||There is a roof top terrace which had some plastic loungers most of them broken and no real shade , cigarette butts were in each corner making it even less welcome.There is no swimming pool but were told we could use the hotel pool next door if we bought drinks or food at that hotel.||Their is a small bar in reception which requires the desk clerk to come over to serve you.||We were told to "enjoy the the fabulous facilities of the hotel while there", these were nonexistent. It is more reminiscent of a 2 star B&B. We did expect Basil Fawlty to turn up some evening as it was so like Fawlty Towers.albeit over 20 years after it was topical.||The only positive here is that it is centrally located but so are many better hotels which we checked out to see if this was the standard...

Our room was lovely. Spacious and clean. Over the side street so it was quiet. Beside the elevator on the fourth floor. ||The hotel location is great. On a side street but a short walk from everywhere. Nice safe area. Hairdressers that were reasonably priced very near. ||TripAdvisor local restaurants. Lots of very good food within a short distance. Trottaire Toscana a two minute walk. It’s excellent. ||The hotel common areas are very comfortable. Inside and out. The roof terrace is great for an early morning read. ||The staff are very nice. In particular Sarah on reception and the cleaning staff. ||The restaurant is in the lowest floor. Pictures reflect it accurately. The food was fresh and plentiful. True Italian food is plainer than our Irish ☘️ representations of it. So some of our companions were disappointed that their expectations were not met. I think this was just a cultural misunderstanding on our behalf. ||Restaurants in the area do an amazing T bone steak 🥩 served rare, don’t miss out on this opportunity to troll your taste buds. ||We enjoyed our stay. Mosquito 🦟 are the worst, remember to bring lots of chemicals to deter this blood hungry beasts while...