Ilaria & Residenza Dell' Alba

We stayed here for one night in January 2023. The hotel is located right across from one of the main gates into the walled city, so the location is very convenient. It's about a 5-minute walk to shops, restaurants etc. A tip if you're arriving at Lucca train station: we chose the "walk" option on Google maps to guide our way to the hotel. That will lead you across the city wall, which involves a few difficult stairs. It's ok if you have no luggage, but we found it a bit difficult carrying our suitcases up the stairs. On our way back to the train station on the following day, we used the "car/drive" option. That added about five minutes to our walk but it was flat and involved no stairs, and 20 vs 15 minutes was no big deal. The hotel stands out because of its added extras. We had a complimentary bottle of Chianti in our room (as well as complimentary water) and there is an area in the lobby where in the afternoon they leave out wine, beer, Coke, pastries, chips, peanuts etc - all free! You can sit there and enjoy an afternoon snack. We read in other reviews that there is Prosecco from 5pm, but we weren't there at that time. The room itself was good with a safe, TV, good wifi etc. The bathroom was very large with a bath, shower over the bath, and with lots of mirrors. In some hotel bathrooms the small mirror fogs up and that makes it hard to shave - no such problems with this hotel! The breakfast was good in a conservatory room overlooking a garden. There was not a huge choice for hot food, but plenty of bread, cheese, cereal, juices, coffee etc. Because of its location and the added extras, we will definitely consider staying here if we return to Lucca. For what we paid and for what we received in return, we considered that this hotel was very good value.

Hotel Ilaria was the perfect home-away-from-home to experience the beauties of Lucca. The staff are friendly and helpful, and made perfect recommendations such as enjoying circumnavigating Lucca by cycling atop the city walls on the hotel's free-loaned bicycles. I had read in previous reviews of the charm of the 5:00 pm complimentary prosecco in Hotel Ilaria's bar/cafe, and true to form we met several lovely guests and compared travel notes on the day's sightseeing. As vegans we so appreciated that the breakfast staff presented beautiful dairy- and egg-free croissants, and the morning cappuccinos with soymilk were fabulous. While the standard omnivorous fare was also prodigious and beautifully laid out, we applaud Hotel Ilaria for such personal culinary care and expertise. Our rooms were clean, comfortable, and well-appointed, looking over the Via del Fosso's canal and the medieval Porta di San Girvasio. Thank you Hotel Ilaria for a lovely stay.