The Contessa

Posted by John from Seattle, WA on 1/22/06

We recently stayed at the Hotel Mona Lisa. Nice location and very quite. Our room, in the older villa, was small and nothing special as was the long narrow bathroom. The included breakfast was very good and the staff in the dinning room were excellent! The front staff, which must take their lead from the owner, the Contessa were sultry and not very friendly. The one event that caused me to grade down this hotel was our interaction with the Contessa. One evening my wife and I along with our travel companions were have an early evening snack of leftovers and a bottle of wine in one of the many common areas of the hotel. This happened to be just outside of the Contessas residence. We were involved in normal conversation and not at all loud or boisterous. The Contessa emerged out of her apartment, stopped and reviewed the situation and left without saying a word. However, shortly thereafter the bartender arrived demanding to know why we were consuming a bottle of wine that had not been purchased at the hotel. He related that the Contessa had sent him up to query us and also had admonished him on why we had not purchased the wine from the hotel bar. Needless to say we were taken back but politely thanked him for his time. This is not a cheap hotel and the audacity of the owner to make such a demand is beyond comprehension. I will never recommend this hotel or stay there again!

server at breakfast had bad B.O.

Posted by mark from oxford ms on 12/18/05

good location but nothing to write home about