Ilaria & Residenza Dell' Alba

What a wonderful hotel! Spotlessly clean, lovely breakfast, open welcoming lounge areas. Free drinks, snacks and prosecco every afternoon and early evening. Helpful, welcoming staff. We had a family room in the annex and it suited us perfectly. The jacuzzi bath was a hit with our daughter! Only tiny negatives were that the jacuzzi on the terrace was rather cool and being in the Annex made it inconvenient to walk across the road in swimwear to use! The second bed is a sofa bed which was OK but two singles would be better than a double for families. Lastly, the route from the station might look short but is not at all easy to walk with cases. Plan on getting a taxi! At breakfast we had to sit away from our daughters on our last day as there were no tables for 4. All tables are for 2 and they will only move them if there are 2 free ones next to each other. I think with family rooms available, some tables for 4 should be too. Lucca is stunningly beautiful. We'd recommend restaurants in the amphitheatre for evening meals - a bit of a walk but Lucca is very safe to walk around in the evenings. The climb up the Torre is a must. We explored most of the city in a day and a half, including riding the circuit of the city walls in a rickshaw. We also went by train to the Cinque Terre which was well worth the trip. We have moved on to Pisa but if we'd known how accessible it was from Lucca we'd have stayed another couple of days at the Ilaria.

What a delightful hotel, such friendly and helpful staff made us feel comfortable from the moment we arrived. Even before we got there, Claudia, Paolo and Ilaria were great at responding to my (many!) questions regarding our stay. The location, just inside the walled city is excellent - all the city's attractions are nearby and the free bicycles provided make it so easy to get everywhere in town. A huge and unexpected bonus was the free snack bar in the afternoons with prosecco on tap from 5pm until 7pm, which made for some very pleasant early evenings making new friends. Breakfast is a simple affair, with fresh fruit, pastries galore and a selectio n of cold meats, bacon, scrambled and boiled eggs. Unlimited freshly-brewed coffe and fresh orange juice to drink, either in the dining area or outside on the airy balcony. Rooms are comfortable and clean, with daily linen changes. The shower could do with being enclosed on all sides, as it was hard not to get the bathroom floor soaking wet, but that's a very minor issue.