Hotel Biondi

“Group trip to Montecattini.”

Stayed in Hotel Biondi on a goup trip, 20th to 27rh December. The water was constantly hot and the central heating warm. Food was plentiful and there were lots of choices plus an additional vegetarian menu. The rooms are a little tired but extremely clean. My only complaint is about the pillows whi… more

Stayed in Hotel Biondi on a goup trip, 20th to 27rh December. The water was constantly hot and the central heating warm. Food was plentiful and there were lots of choices plus an additional vegetarian menu. The rooms are a little tired but extremely clean. My only complaint is about the pillows which were awful. The hotel is about a ten minute walk from the town and closer to the spa. There is a train station with a good service. Would stay there again.

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“Quaint but quirky lovely place”

We stayed at this hotel for six nights as part of the Skills coach party from the UK. I had previously read the reviews on line and viewed the up coming visit with some trepidation. However this hotel was absolutely perfect, it’s dated yes, but then again it’s an old extended villa but full of char… more

We stayed at this hotel for six nights as part of the Skills coach party from the UK. I had previously read the reviews on line and viewed the up coming visit with some trepidation. However this hotel was absolutely perfect, it’s dated yes, but then again it’s an old extended villa but full of character and quirkiness. Its family owed and ran with their presence firmly in command throughout. Staff were mainly polite but standoffish. Several of our party had slight run ins with some of them whilst in the restaurant, when they were said to be a little surly and belligerent!, I however, had no such issues. Our room (didn’t see any of the others but guess they were similar) was large with a very high ceiling. Functional air condition which was a little noisy on full speed. It appeared to go off during the night from the slow speed I had adjusted it to coming on again around 6.00 am at full speed. The room was maid serviced every day and spotlessly clean. We had two large single beds that were on the firm side but still comfortable. I slept like a baby! Some of the furniture had undergone some remedial works to keep it going a bit longer but was fully functional and safe to use We had a built in wardrobe which had a tiny and I mean tiny safe securely fixed. It literally would hold our passports, loose Jewry and cash. We both had iPads we were hoping to secure but couldn’t. The safe was locked by a key from reception at a 5€ deposit refunded when you depart. The en suite, again spotless, even had a bidet. However the cubicle shower had a little damage in the perspex screen causing water to leak onto the tiled floor. The shower was adequate and the hot water plentiful. Toiletries are provided but we prefer our own products. A stand alone fridge, wicker table and chairs along with a comfy lounge chair were provided but tea and coffee facilities are not, so take your own if you can’t do without that morning cuppa! Hot drinks did appear to be available at the bar as is large bottled water. This hotel has a lovely indoor swimming pool and out door sun bathing area, which is situated in another building across a side street. Barking German Shepherd on what turned out to be the roof of the swimming pool was more amusement than irritating. We felt very sorry for it as it never left its confines once whilst we were there. It sleeps in a kennel on the roof, fed on the roof, has a couple of balls for its own amusement and poops there. It was in our opinion showing signs of stress as several times we saw it circling in tight circles. If it’s just a pet it was cruel, if it’s a guard dog what could it guard trapped in that small area? Yes it would occasionally bark and it was certainly heard throughout the area but not all the noise came from that dog as others in the locality would chat to each other. It just used to sound off occasionally but never for long and we certainly didn’t hear it during the night. Breakfast was continental style, croissants, pastries, toastable bread, limited fresh fruit, tinned fruit, limited selection of cereals, sliced ham, cheese, hard boiled eggs, fresh yogurt etc etc. various types of coffees and a selection of tea bag teas were readably available. Some bacon (if that’s what you could call it) and a type of scrambled eggs were also available. Breakfast was laid out for a serve yourself basis. You could have as much or as little as you wanted but as most of the guests were coach parties, it did get a bit of a free for all…… Dinner was a totally different experience. It commenced at 7.15pm with the whole hotel all in at the same time. You choose your evening meal at breakfast time by completing a slip of paper with your selection. Anybody who’s been on a Danish’s holidays will know exactly what I mean. You are treated to a four coarse meal, antipasto, starter, main and dessert a bootle of red Chianti wine, a bottle of water and bread basket per table of four. It’s all carved/served/dished up from a long table by the family members in the dining area under full view and brought to your table. The meals throughout were of very good quality, however I’ve never had a mixed meat kebab on a skewer that contained bones before. Later in the week we had chunks of chicken which had also been roughly chopped and contained the bones. The fish was gorgeous and the roast pork calved from a whole leg of pork was to die for. The crackling was superb but I had to go up and ask for it as they were throwing it away - shame on them! If you don’t like vegetable polenta, artichokes, cauliflower soup, courgette soup then you can help yourself to the mixed salad station. All the desserts were typical Italian which I can’t comment on as I’m diabetic so didn’t partake. My only issue were about staff who showed little or no knowledge of basic food hygiene practices or training. These although were minor, but bad handling practices leads to more severe problems. To put your mind at rest these were the things like the owner eating chips from the ones he was serving when he thought no one was looking - then carrying on serving. Food dropped on the table put back onto peoples plates. Handling food without gloves. Spinning a soup bowl around by the inside with his bare fingers then to be filled and issued. I would have liked to sneaky look around the kitchens and food prep areas. Just goes to show how thirty years in the food industry and all the hygiene training I underwent wasn’t a waste! Would we stay here again - should we find ourselves in the Montecatini-Terme area again - yes…. most definitely.

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“It is basic but if you’re touring it does the job!”

Just returned from a stay at the Biondi Hotel in Montecatini as part of a Newmarket Holidays tour, and overall it was a bit of a mixed bag. The hotel itself is quite dated and could really benefit from refurbishment. The rooms are very basic in terms of decor and facilities, though they were clean… more

Just returned from a stay at the Biondi Hotel in Montecatini as part of a Newmarket Holidays tour, and overall it was a bit of a mixed bag. The hotel itself is quite dated and could really benefit from refurbishment. The rooms are very basic in terms of decor and facilities, though they were cleaned daily and the beds were comfortable, which made a difference after long days out. One downside was the swimming pool, which is located in a separate building and wasn’t in use during our stay — a bit disappointing if you’re expecting to make use of it. Food-wise, breakfast was good with a decent selection, and evening meals were four courses. While the dinners were generally okay, they didn’t particularly stand out. On the plus side, the staff were friendly and helpful throughout our stay, and the view from our room was lovely — definitely one of the highlights. The real star of the trip was the location. Montecatini is a great base for exploring Tuscany, and the excursions were well organised. In summary, if you’re booking as part of a tour and plan to spend most of your time exploring, the hotel does the job. Just don’t expect luxury.

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“OK but nothing special”

Having read some of the reviews I was so.ewhat nervous ahead of our recent trip. However nothing was as bad as some of the reviews suggested. Our room.was very large, the furnishings were basic but more than acceptable, bathroom had the usual , the only annoying thing being there was no shelf or… more

Having read some of the reviews I was so.ewhat nervous ahead of our recent trip. However nothing was as bad as some of the reviews suggested. Our room.was very large, the furnishings were basic but more than acceptable, bathroom had the usual , the only annoying thing being there was no shelf or similar in the shower to hold shower gel or shampoo bottles. Everything was spotlessly clean with the rooms cleaned daily. The food was OK. Continental breakfast with hot eggs and bacon , fresh pastries was fine. Evening meal was the standard starter, pasta or soup, main and desert with a salad buffet. Choice and quality of the food varied by day. Some days everything was very nice, especially the roasted pork and tiramasu, other days not so impressed but that's just personal likes and dislikes. Just one request - please stop overcooking the vegetables! Hotel swimming pool is in a separate building just across the street. It is COLD, not heated and with little direct sun to warm it. All in all I would say the hotel is a reasonable base for touring but not somewhere for just a hotel stay.

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