I have a two night reservation at Hotel San Francesco in Assisi for May. I just read some really horrendous reviews of this hotel on Trip Advisor and am wondering if I should cancel. Does anyone have recent experience with this hotel or knowledge of it? If so, please share so I can make a decision to keep the reservation or cancel. Also, other hotel recommendations would be appreciated. Limit is $250/night with AC and parking. Thank you!

I'm afraid my post is not going to be very helpful, but perhaps someone better informed will see this and chime in.

First of all, I thought the San Francesco got good reviews. Isn't it recommended in a number of guide books? In any case, we recently stayed at Il Palazzo and were quite pleased.

http://www.hotelilpalazzo.it

My tripadvisor review is here:

http://tinyurl.com/96sbc6

http://preview.tinyurl.com/96sbc6

I doubt Il Palazzo has AC or private parking. And I can't think that the San Francesco has parking--at least not onsite. It's smack in the middle of the old town, right next to the basilica.

The two negative reviews of the San Francesco were bookended by very positive ones, so it's hard to know what to make of them. FWIW, I tend to take complaints about A/C with a grain of salt. Italians (and most Europeans) don't do A/C like Americans do A/C. They don't leave it on if no one is in the room, and they usually don't run it all night. The complaints about the lack of cleanliness, however...

Here are reviews of the hotel on Venere.com:

http://en.venere.com/hotels_assisi/b...850993#reviews

We enjoyed the Hotel Palazzo.

I thought the San Francesco Hotel was exactly what I expected and wanted in Assisi!! Very old and it has small rooms but has a spiritual ambiance unmatched because of its location-directly next door to the Basilica.
The rooftop patio is wonderful.
I loved it but the next time I went, we stayed in a modern hotel up in the hills and couldn't get into town without a taxi. I was wishing I was back at the SF. If modern and fancy is your desire then it is not for you. To me, St. Francis preached simple comforts and that is what you will find at this hotel!
Enjoy.

IF the complaints on Hotel San Francesco have just to do with A/C, I would not be too concerned, as May in Assisi is actually a very cool month. The reviews that would be bothersome to me and would make me run the other way are the ones about the filthy rooms. That is where I draw the line. There are many excellent hotels located on the hilltop village of Assisi, very easy walking distance to both Basilicas (St. Francis and St. Clare). I would strongly recommend Hotel Dei Priori- halfway both. This hotel also has a superb restaurant. There are also two hotels in Assisi that get rave reviews on this forum; Hotel Umbra and Residenza San Crispino. I visited Hotel Umbra nd the views from the front porch are spectacular. The word of mouth on San Crispino is just fabulous.

I guess my point of view is that with so many other incredible choices I am not sure whay are you sweating San Francesco....