My fiancé and I stayed at UNA Hotel during the second half of our Italy trip. We took a train from Rome and had a very short walk to the hotel from the train station in Naples (it is basically across the street, but a very large street with two hectic intersections to cross ... we had tour guides warn us that in Italy you basically just walk in the direction of incoming traffic and hope that the cars stop as you approach them).
Upon first entering the hotel there was another couple checking in ahead of us. The lady at the front desk who handled their check in offered a map of the area and suggestions of what to do and where to go nearby, and their luggage was brought up to their room.
A man took care of our check in, which was short and sweet (well, not really sweet because we had nobody offer to take our luggage, nor did anyone offer us any maps or suggestions). We got our room key with no further explanation of anything and went on our merry way.
As soon as we entered the room it was ...hot. Stuffy. Gross.
Our entire Italy trip took place during very the hot, humid month of July and we did a lot of excursions. You want to come back to a well air-conditioned room afterwards. That is not what we got here.
We left the AC on and decided to go for dinner at the hotel's rooftop restaurant (we actually opted for dinner here two times and went for drinks once, since the surrounding area is anything but appealing and we wanted to walk around here as little as possible).
We were hoping to come back to our room in about an hour or two and expected it to cool down. Little did we know, we came back to once again a hot and stuffy room. We returned and our AC was off. Confused, we called the receptionist, thinking that there must be a problem with the AC. Instead, we found out that the hotel controls the air conditioners in each room and seems to shut them off as they please.
We practically begged the hotel to blast our AC on numerous days and nights after coming back to a hot room. That did nothing.
Once we called the receptionist to ask them to turn up the AC we had no control over it at all from our end. Even after asking for the AC to be stronger it wasn't so we made attempts to again lower the temperature from our end. At one point it seemed that we were shut out from the system and our AC shut off completely. Wonderful. Ugh.
It was so stuffy in our room that we periodically opened the door out into the hallway to air out the room.
Oh and any time we called the desk to complain about the AC they kept asking us if our windows are closed or else the cold air will escape (Yes, they're closed! Just please, put the air up!).
One night it was so hot that we couldn't resist but drink the cold water from the mini-bar in our room and ended up paying the overpriced fee for that.
Aside from the AC issue:
- The windows face the busy intersection that you cross from the train station. It is very noisy in the evening time.
- The shower is ...unusual. The glass door only goes out to half of the bathtub length, so you need to stand directly under the shower head while showering because the rest of the area is open or you'll just be uncomfortable and freeze. That being said, when you stood directly under the shower head, you also stood in a pool of water because the shower drain sucked and the water filled up in the tub quicker than it was able to go down.
- The rooftop restaurant & bar is overpriced. Naples is the cheapest area we visited during our Italy trip and anything you buy at the restaurant/bar is way more expensive than you can get anywhere else in the area. However, the area is sketchy and you really don't want to venture out here at night.
- The wifi connection was very weak throughout our entire stay.
The positives:
- The breakfast was great. There was bacon, sausage, eggs, mozzarella, salad, various pastries/sweets, and more. The only thing I was not thrilled about was the coffee. This is probably the only place throughout our entire Italy trip that I did not enjoy the coffee.
- The location is very convenient.
A flat rate taxi ride to the airport cost us 20 euros. A flat rate taxi ride to the main port (to Capri) cost us 15 euros. The train station is a block away.
There is also a theatre near the port (10 minute walk) and we went to the opera one night.
- The room was clean and the hotel has a very modern look overall.
All in all, I can honestly say we had a much better experience at a 3 star hotel we stayed in at Rome, rather than this hotel which is rated as a 4 star hotel. read more