Palazzo di Alcina - Residenza d'Epoca - Luxury-

This is a difficult review to write because I had expected to love the Palazzo di Alcina Residence/B&B. But I regret staying there and would not stay there again. There are some real pluses. The breakfast is sumptuous, really spectacular. The location is central (more on that below). The B&B portion of the historic building is one corner on the 1st floor (US 2nd floor) and is run by the owners, Christine and Piero, who raised their family there. The common rooms have high ceilings and are decorated in a classic way. Christine does not speak English and Piero is limited in his English-speaking ability so communication can be unsteady. (Interestingly, all of our email communications had been in English.) Both can be charming at times. There is no other staff, except for an attendant at breakfast. All of the other guests we met conversed in English. Our room was of an adequate size with a large bath and a firm, comfortable bed. But we had no hot water on the first night because they forgot to turn it on (it requires a key). There is no air conditioning in the common rooms, but there was a standalone air conditioning unit in the bedroom, inconveniently positioned at the foot of the bed in the path to the bathroom. Because of ducting, it could not be moved a lot. It was somewhat noisy at night. We might have overlooked these drawbacks but for our car experience. We arrived by rental car. The location of the B&B is in Bologna’s restricted traffic area. (Unsurprisingly, there is an exception for driving to lodging in the restricted area for that very purpose.) They suggested that we stop by to drop off our bags before returning the rental car. When we arrived in the rental car to drop off our bags, we explained to Christine and Piero (more than once) that we were on our way to returning the car and provided them with the license plate number specifically requesting that they report our brief stop in the restricted area as authorized to the traffic authorities. We reiterated our understanding that only they as owners of the lodging could to make such a report to the traffic authorities. They did not say that they needed any additional information from us nor that we needed to do anything else. So, we assumed that they would timely make this administrative report to the appropriate traffic authority. During breakfast the next morning, we inquired about the required report and asked them to confirm that it had been made to the traffic authority. To our surprise, they had not. Indeed, for the first time, they expressed a complete lack of knowledge as how to do so! They said that had we parked the car at the garage they usually use, instead of returning the rental car, the garage would have handled the details of a report. They then did some searching on a government website and informed us that if we had only purchased a permit by midnight the night before on an Italian-language website we would have been fine, but now there was n

The best place to stay when you visit Bologna. A real palace. The owners and staff are very friendly and helpful! A fantastic breakfast! When you stay here you fell like you are in another century! We suggest this place to everyone! Panos & Lydia

Whilst nearly everything was perfect with our stay at the Palazzo, we were very frustrated with the amount of street noise that we heard in our room each night of our stay. The double glazing of the first floor windows was still not enough to keep street noise out – particularly motor bikes. This is not really an issue that the owners of the Palazzo can doing anything about and I only mention this for light sleepers as I know they have other rooms that face an internal courtyard and may be much quieter. Now on to the good parts, and there were many. The décor of the palazzo is amazing – a 500 year old building that has been beautifully restored and is a pleasure to be immersed in. Christina provides an incredible breakfast, to the point of being excessive with choice and far too much food for any of the guests to get through. Food quality is excellent with many home made items. The room was extremely comfortable, with a great bed and pillows, excellent water pressure in the shower and generous inclusions. The overall location of the palazzo is very good with respect to the main tourist area of Bologna.

If you want to maximize your experience in Bologna, you MUST stay here! Ideally located in the heart of Bologna (walkable to train station), this 1600s palace is a truly special place. Piero-Francisco and Maria Christina, the owners and hosts, made every effort to welcome us and assist us in anything we needed. The room was very uniquely decorated and very comfortable. The bed linens were exquisite. Breakfast was so tasty with an assortment of many tasty items. The palace is decorated with renaissance period artwork and truly outstanding antiques. If you are traveling to Bologna, you cannot miss this experience. We have traveled to Europe many times and this place rates at the top!

Personne dans le palais ne parlait correctement français. Et j'avais des difficultés de communication. Dans une telle structure, il faut qu'il y ait quelqu'un qui parle français. Dans d’autres hôtels de Bologna, j’ai toujours trouvé du personnel connaissant plusieurs langues étrangères.