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<BR>2-cents <BR> <BR>We have had sub-par experiences at 2 of R.S's hotels in Italy. I'd not use his hotel list as a result and agree that the hotel picks are not Rick's strong suit.

xxx

I still have one of his 1994 area guide books (Germany & Austria)and in it he specifically states that checking out and rating hotels is not one of his favorite things to do, but that his readers repeatedly asked for more hotel recommendations.

Kathy

To get back to Jeff's original post, I think he is right that too much popularity can become the downfall of a good hotel. It seems that most hotels (whether in the states or elsewhere)do not do much in the way of constant refurbishing and repairs, waiting until the whole place is run down before they renovate. It only stands to reason that the more traffic a hotel has, the faster this delapidation occurs. We have stayed in hotels highly recommended in quidebooks and this forum that were only 2-3 years old and were much more worn than their age would indicate. I think the increased traffic due to recommendations was just more than these small hotels could keep up with, and I think the constantly increased traffic can also frazzle the staff.