Hotel Apuana

“Great location”

Very friendly , good food and a lovely pool Poolside loungers would be better if they had cushions otherwise a lovely pool area. Rooms basic but clean. The owners were lovely and very helpful. The location was good only a few minutes into the town or to the beach. I would definitely return.

“Great location, relaxing hotel”

This hotel is run by the husband and wife owners, Andrea and Nora. This is not a modern, sophisticated hotel, and some of the rooms can be small. If you are going with Travel One (which I think the great majority of its British visitors are), I think you can safely assume that you won't get one of … more

This hotel is run by the husband and wife owners, Andrea and Nora. This is not a modern, sophisticated hotel, and some of the rooms can be small. If you are going with Travel One (which I think the great majority of its British visitors are), I think you can safely assume that you won't get one of the very few rooms with a balcony as they are for multiple occupants. However, don't let any of this put you off! The hotel is a lovely place to stay. The rooms are clean and functional, my bathroom was long and very narrow, possibly originally a cupboard, but it was modern with a really good shower. As far as a balcony is concerned, yes it's nice to have but throw open the windows and the shutters, let in the fresh air and you'll soon forget about the absence of a balcony. I like to wash a few things out when I'm on holiday and thought the lack of any drying space might be a problem but I found enough hooks and grab rails in the bathroom to hang my wet swimwear etc. I had booked a double room, it had a large wardrobe with a safe inside and two big drawers underneath, a dressing table with chair and a large mirror, also a fridge, aircon and TV. The aircon and fridge are not chargeable. From what other guests said it seems that the rooms and bathrooms vary in size and shape. The outside area of the hotel, the town and surrounding area are so lovely that I wanted to spend time there. The gardens and the verandah are lovely places to sit, the pool is lovely but I must say that the sun loungers are horribly uncomfortable, they are plastic with no cushions. Spending a few hours on one made my back ache! I rather liked the beach - although there were rows and rows of sun loungers and parasols they were very well spaced, the sun loungers were made of a mesh fabric and very comfortable, they even had a small sunshade you could pull over your head. I cannot agree with the reviewer who said that the hotel was lacking in good home made Italian food as that's exactly what we got. If we were around the hotel when the chef arrived she would always have a friendly greeting and a smile. I enjoyed all of the food we were presented with (apart from one dish, a cuttlefish stew). The first course had three options, two of them were pasta dishes (listed as Noodles) in various sauces and the other was soup. There were some particularly tasty pasta dishes, particularly the lasagne. If you haven't visited Italy before, don't expect the pasta dishes to be like those we have in Britain - spaghetti bolognese for instance isn't served with a large dollop of meat, the spaghetti is merely coated in the meat sauce. The second course is a smaller course, there was a always a fish dish, a veal dish and another dish. We only had chicken once in the two weeks I was there, it was served roasted on the Sunday, on the other Sunday roast beef was available. The fish dishes were excellent. Dessert was either something sweet like tiramisu or fresh fruit. The fresh fruit started off really well, lovely nectarines, cherries and apricots, but as the holiday progressed it was obvious that the fruit was being kept in the fridge until just before serving and as a result we had peaches etc that weren't ripe enough, which was disappointing. The reason for ordering your menu choices the night before is to cut down on waste, which is sensible. Breakfast choices included eggs, ham, cheese, cereal, yoghurt, cakes, croissants pretty much what you'd normally expect in a continental breakfast. There was fresh fruit such as pears, apples, bananas too. Drinks can be bought in the dining room, if you buy a bottle of wine, Paola the lovely waitress would put a tag around it with your room number, she always remembered your number. Drinks can be bought at the small bar next to the verandah, if it's not manned you just pop your head into the reception area and ask for a drink. The hotel doesn't do lunches but it's not far down the road to find plenty of places that do. Any information about where to catch buses, timetables or anything about the local area can be obtained from Nora at the reception desk. Her husband doesn't speak much English so it's best to wait till she's around. Although the staff don't speak English we managed to communicate with them, everyone was friendly and helpful. The town of Marina di Pietrasanta is a very Italian resort, we heard very few English voices, be prepared that not all of the staff in the restaurants and shops speak much English but you can always get by! The pedestrianised walkway into the town is only a couple of minutes down the road and it's lovely to walk into the town in the evenings. There's a huge market in the town on Saturdays. One thing to be aware of, I took some Euros and some English money to change but was told that the bank didn't change currency unless you had an account there, and there were no exchange bureaus. There are however several ATMs. The hotel is very conveniently situated, up to mid June the buses run past the hotel, after that you have to walk a couple of minutes down to the sea front where you can get the bus to Viareggio then others out to Pisa, Lucca, etc. Pietrasanta town itself is certainly worth a visit too. I really enjoyed my holiday and would definitely recommend the Apuana as a place to stay.

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“Average hotel, clean but comes with a curfew!”

I stayed at the above hotel for one weeks holiday. I found the hotel to be clean and basic. The hotel owners were friendly and pleasant. on arrival and handed me a envelope with some details from Travelone... I arrived at approx. 11-12 midday and found myself to be the only resident here.. I was on… more

I stayed at the above hotel for one weeks holiday. I found the hotel to be clean and basic. The hotel owners were friendly and pleasant. on arrival and handed me a envelope with some details from Travelone... I arrived at approx. 11-12 midday and found myself to be the only resident here.. I was on my own till 7pm till I met the rest of the Guests. That evening I met the rep (BIll) (I use the term "Rep"Lightly!.. As through the week He arrived twice and only stayed for 15 minutes maximum. he had poor knowledge or Information regarding the trips. He was at times rude with some guests when asked a question regarding information on the trips. .He didn't turn up for any transfers to or from the airport. .( I have been on many single holidays with other company's and have never experienced a rep like him? ) Each day we had to order our dinner for the next evening. (Which I found too rigid. (I was told by the rep that the hotel was on a budget , Hence ordering in advance. When on holiday you shouldn't have to think about the hotels budget? On one day there was beef on the menu. As one Guest had the cold beef and hadn't enjoyed it , but said the hot beef was lovely. I asked the waiter if the beef on the menu was "hot or cold"? He said "HOT" So I ordered the hot beef for the following evening. The following evening I was served cold beef!! I politely said to the waiter that it wasn't what I ordered , he didn't seem to understand and I tried to explain to the owners who were there also.. there seemed to be a "huge" discussion in the dining room and as some was in Italian, but some English.. And the mention of the hot and cold beef which was in English and raised voices made me feel embarrassed and uncomfortable as the room went silent as the raised discussions went on . I was the customer and they had got the order wrong. No apology was offered and eventually I was given Turkey as there was no other option available.. On another evening after buying wine from the hotel and drinking with another guest enjoying the warm evening We were asked to go to bed as it was late.. We weren't causing any noise just chatting with a glass of wine. I felt like I was in and institution with rules that I had never experienced in any other hotel in Italy or anywhere else.. I felt uncomfortable and when leaving the hotel in the evening to go out I was conscious of the time .and didn't feel like I was on holiday at all as I was constantly clock watching to go back to the hotel. Overall The hotel was clean and generally the owners were pleasant. The rooms were clean and fresh towels were given each day (the rooms do however need updating and some don't have balcony's. The pool was ok and was plagued by ants. There was a Jacuzzi but it was never on? The food served was ok but lacked variety and choice and was rigid in its regime . I have been on other singles holidays and The reps were more attentive and supportive to guests if they needed it. Dinners are more flexible and varied. For e.g. Another singles holiday offers 4 meals in the hotel and 3 at local restaurants. The location of the hotel is good and the small town is around the corner. With bars, restaurants and shops. you can get a bus outside to most places and I would recommend lucca as being a particularly nice place. (Please also note that this is a NON- smoking hotel with notices everywhere . Yet the owners smoked like troopers and I found myself coughing by the end of the week.

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