scfphoto

Looking for a very nice special occasion hotel in or very near Lucca. Preferably a smaller boutique hotel. Tasteful luxury and quiet location. Does it exist?

zeppole

Have you checked Tripadvisor, which not only has current user reviews but lets you map the hotel? The key to a hotel in Lucca is staying inside the walls. You should also check out B*Bs and specialty lodging.

The advantage of Tripadvisor is that its reviews are so current.

HappyTrvlr

We enjoyed staying inside the walls at Palazzo Alexnader. They provided parking in a private lot.

Jean

I also like to look at TripAdvisor reviews, but you need to read them carefully. TA has had some problems with reviews planted by property owners/friends. Also, occasionally a person will write a really cranky, negative review which was prompted more by unrealistic expectations or a single problem than the typical experience of the majority of guests.

We stayed outside the walls, about 10 minutes away (3-4 miles), at Villa Marta which is an old hunting lodge. Very peaceful and relaxing. Nice on-site restaurant, and a swimming pool.

http://www.albergovillamarta.it/

cruiseluv

Hi,

My husband and I and another couple stayed at the Hotel San Luca Palace, inside the walls. It is a fairly new hotel. I thought it was lovely. The rooms were of a good size and the bathrooms very modern. The included breakfast was very good. I highly recommend it. Check the tripadvisor comments, I wrote one after our trip.

Alice9

We also stayed at the Palazzo Alexander and we were very pleased with it. I agree it's important to stay inside the walls, and they provided parking, which is otherwise scarce.

Alice

zeppole

I think everybody knows how to read Tripadvisor's 30 million reviews by now. I actually do want to read the unfiltered cranky complaints of princess-and-the-pea travelers. While it surely doesn't matter to me if the person who booked his family of 14 into a hotel and didn't get 14 pool towels fast enough, I do like to know if there is ambient cigarette odor other happy travelers didn't notice, breakfast room noise that didn't wake up anybody else at 6am, construction in the lobby that started last month, , of if the spa was out of order some travelers entire stay even if others rave about the location.

One problem with message board recommendations is that people seldom include the information of what time of year it was they stayed some place. Tripadvisor reviewers tell you when they stayed there, month and year. If you are traveling in winter, you can find out if the heat was sufficient. In summer, the air conditioning. Were I planning a stay in Lucca, that's the sort of thing I definitely would want to hear about firsthand.

Message board posts are seldom as informative as Tripadvisor reviews, and sometimes message board posters haven't been to a place in years.

zeppole

PS, Jean:

It's not a problem thus far with this thread, but surely the bigger problem for unsuspecting travelers than the occasional "plant" review Tripadvisor didn't catch is the Fodor's posters who pop into threads to recommend -- even push -- hotels they've never stayed in at all, for reasons they don't disclose.

LoveItaly

Good grief, zeppole, you are really on a role again, lol. Having a bad week?

For those of you that have given recommendations please don't take zeppole's commments personally as she is known for her rudeness and arrogance. Which is why, as she posted some time ago, she has had 5 different names on Fodor's and 3 different names on the SlowTrav website.

Jean

I no longer respond to Zeppole's counter-comments, although I suppose she'll consider this post a response of sorts.

asalamy

Last Autumn I stayed at the Hotel Ilaria within the Lucca walls, and it was lovely.

It had parking, breakfast, a free bar (water, sodas, wine, beer), internet and there was courtesy bikes to take out along the wall. There was also a pool (and hot tub, I think).

On TripAdvisor its currently #2 for Lucca.

violetduck

We have stayed two times at www.allacortedegliangeli.com and
the last time was Sept, 2009. Perfect location within the walls, quiet side street, lovely rooms, fairly average breakfast and amicable and helpful staff.

Surfergirl

I've heard of ambient noise, music, lighting, and temperature, but never heard of ambient cigarette odor. I thought ambient came from ambience, which means atmosphere. Nonetheless, posters here generally also include things like noise, construction, stale cigarette odors, plumbing problems, and the like, but that would be in response to a question, where not to stay rather than where should I stay.

I do agree, however, as also stated by other posters, that TA reviews are a great accompaniment (as in intended to give completeness) to both new and seasoned posters' recs, since they do provide the negatives as well as the positives.

Regarding the PS comment, it really was not necessary and has not been something I've experienced in the over 10 years I've been on Fodors when looking for Fodors forum recs. Yes, there is the odd person coming to advertise, which is not permitted, and those posts are generally immediately brought to the attention of the editors who remove them.

Another really good resource is to use the Fodors Hotels link above that provides a limited number of hotels, sometimes only reviewed by the great Fodors editors, and sometimes includes reviews from travelers, like on the TA website. This link is often overlooked, but is a very helpful tool in addition to the Forum and TA.