Hotel Manzoni — Hotel in Montecatini Terme

Do not be put off by the bad reviews of this hotel. We have just returned from a very enjoyable week in Tuscany based at this hotel. This was our first time using Newmarket Travel, and our philosophy is that the hotel is only a base and somewhere to sleep. Only after booking did I read the reviews and a bit of panic set in.|On arrival the coach dropped us off two streets away and we had to walk to the hotel. A car was waiting to take our cases for us, and we thought that may have been the last we saw of them. Walking down the lane to the hotel we wondered what we had let ourselves in for, but the external appearance of the hotel was very nice. Check in was very easy, and quick. We had paid extra for a room with a balcony overlooking the pool. The room was light and airy, furniture was adequate, and a nice big bathroom with shower over the bath.|It was a nice hot day, so the free air con is definitely an added bonus. |Evening meal was at 19:30 and on the first night we didn't go to the restaurant until after 20:00. When we were looking for a table we were directed to a table already occupied by other Newmarket customers. This was not what we expected, however, we all got on extremely well with eacg other, and spent most evenings in their company and also ventured in to town and other trips with them.|The food that we were served was very good. A choice of three starters and three main courses every night and a good selection of deserts. There was always something on the menu for everyone, and the quality was of a very high standard.|Breakfast was a good selection of cold meats, cheese, breads, fruit and also hot bacon, scrambled eggs and boiled eggs. My only issue was that the coffee from the machine was never hot enough, however, if you asked one of the servers they would go away and make a nice hot coffee for you.|The bar, lounge and outside seating area were very well kept and seating was very comfortable, and several nights were spent with our new friends enjoying a late night drink.|The pool and surrounding area is quite small, and can't accommodate a great number of sunbeds, and like every other hotel/resort it is spoiled by people reserving sunbeds with there towels and not using the bed all day. As we were out most of the days it didn't affect us too much, but it was annoying when you did want to lie around the pool, selfish people had denied you this opportunity.|Another of our concerns before arrival was some people had said about the noise from the bar area at night. We never experienced any of this, and our room was on the first floor directly above the entrance to the hotel. |The first few nights of our stay there was a large group of young lads attending a sports camp staying at the hotel. Some nights in the restaurant they made presentations to individuals, and this could be quite noisy, and sometimes they would be hanging around the front of the hotel, but there was never any rowdiness, and normally they wee in bed by about 22:30.|If I was to be extremely fussy and look for something to complain about it would be that our shower-head was in the centre of the bath and the screen wasn't large enough to stop water splashing on the floor.|In our opinion, this is a great hotel to stay in and explore the delights of Montecatini and the surrounding area.|Very close to all the amenaties and attractions. 10 minutes to the train stations and the fernicular.|A special mention to Federico and Simone our waiters for the week, who were absolutely brilliant and looked after us extremely well. Nothing was ever too much for them. Both working extremely hard and catering to all our needs.|If we ever return to the area I would definitely use Hotel...

I usually don’t leave hotel reviews but I must do it in this case. Most things were good, there were just tiny details to improve and something that to me is a very concerning security issue (you can jump to that one further down below).

I will focus first on the positive and the on the negative.

I reserved through booking and reviews and everything looked quite alright.

Check-in went smoothly, a very friendly lady welcomed us, explained parking and gave us what was supposedly a good offer to park outside in front of the hotel on the blue line parking (total €9 for 4 nights) instead of using the free parking a few blocks away. To me the free parking was quite alright but we opted for convenience. The hotel parking was €12 a night which was too expensive.

The room looked quite alright, spacious, modern, good furniture, comfortable bed, properly aired, no smoking smell or anything like it, looked very clean, well lit, spacious bathroom, vanity kit, glasses, TV, AC, minibar.

And a couple of last things to mention: breakfast was quite alright, diverse. We liked it. Not too crowded.

Bar staff were friendly also and have a good selection of drinks.

WiFi has been excellent so it is likely a good place to work too.

There were a few minor issues like the lack of a key for the lockbox. The emergency plan belonged to another hotel. The floor was poorly cleaned, I wore black socks and they ended up all white, I guess the room was renovated or something recently, and there’s still dust from the materials used or something else. The jacuzzi and pool could use some care there are floating things, dirty pool floor, rotten table boards.

Now the most concerning problem to me, was that the door which did not properly lock. Two ladies mixed the floor (they were in the same room one floor down) and they opened our door! My gf had just come out from the shower and she was naked! The 2 ladies and I went to the reception to report the incident and I was accused of not properly locking the door! The 2 ladies, the guy at the front desk and I went upstairs to replicate the problem and we could sporadically open the room!!! It was insane and the guy kept telling me that I was not closing the door right! I was literally opening with my card key, pushing the door open, releasing it, the door was closing and locking on its own! You could hear it locking and the lady was still able to open it just by pushing it! And the guy kept telling me you’re doing it wrong! The night didn’t end well, I went to sleep a bit paranoid, the ladies left, and I heard the guy saying something to the ladies when they left with him.

The next day I tried on my own to replicate the problem. I couldn’t. A few hours later I tried again multiple times until I managed to open the door even when I believed it was locked. So the system is faulty! It happens sporadically and to me it is a serious concern! Other people in the reviews have reported door locking issues.

This last experience really changed my opinion of this hotel, mainly because of the useless staff guy who was rude and felt like he treated me like a crazy guy just making things up and also because of how poorly this matter was taken into account. Security is no joke, especially when anyone can walk into a hotel, and you have your things in your room.

So no, not again here. I’m not a guy that ever expects compensation for anything. I did not get any for this incident and I don’t want one. Here’s the truth and a warning for everyone staying here. No hate....

We have just returned from a Newmarket tour of Tuscany and stayed in the Manzoni Hotel in Montecatini. We have given it 2 stars mainly for food and lack helpfulness of staff. Only one of the Dining room waiters, Frederico, (also tended the bar) was exceptional and took notice of our complaints about the evening meal. Food was luke warm at best and often so well done that you couldn't eat it, especially the meat. A pork shank we had, for instance, was so hard I couldn't cut the meat of the bone. Mashed potatoes were sloppy and lumpy and the pasta courses were completely tasteless. In their defence, after complaining and leaving food, Frederico seemed to have stirred the chef into cooking better food, but that was the 4th day of 7!!! Breakfast was abysmal, the bacon and scrambled eggs were burnt every morning and you could eat the bacon or was so hard, eggs like rubber. Boiled eggs were OK but that was the hot choice. Bowls of yoghurt, toasting bread and jugs of milk were never replenished and on an early start day we had to go into the kitchen to get someone to get some. The waiters were grumpy and acted as if we were a bother to them!||We had a large room, extremely old fashioned but clean except being plagued by ants running over the drawers and up the hanging space by the window! We complained to the hotel and Newmarket rep and thought it was sorted but NO!! The shower was in a cubicle and the doors kept falling off the rails. The second time it happened, the young girl behind the desk actually said that she had been told to fix them and she didn't have a clue. One night we had a visitor in the shower, a Gecko, it was just enjoying the water as I showered and clung to the glass . That was quite endearing really. On early morning starts it was really dark in the reception area, no lights on and nobody behind the desk. On the plus side it had a nice pool which had a sliding cover and whirl pool which was nice on the one down day we had. Would we go back - No! I will also do a separate review of Newmarket Holidays as that is a...