The checkin was easy. All the staff were pleasant and answered all my questions. I had a room three floors up (no elevator). The A/C worked well. The TV had no English channels, but that was OK. The bathroom door was this flimsy wooden folding door; I was afraid to push it to full closure for fear it would fall down, which meant it was impossible to make the room dark for early mornings or naps.
The continental breakfast was grim. The espresso machine that worked less and less each day to the point of only making hot chocolate.
My main concern was a large dog that moved around the first floor. His owners no doubt know him to be friendly and good-natured, but he is an unfamiliar dog to me, and I prefer he be leashed or kept behind a gate (they have one but don’t use it).
One morning around 7am, an alarm went off. There was no attempt to ensure that guests went downstairs, nor were guests told it was a false alarm. In fact I never received any communication before, during or after that explained the alarm. This is serious to me. Furthermore, as I was heading down the stairs (only I responded to the alarm), the dog was behind one of the doors on the stair landing. This time he was very agitated from the alarm and was snarling and barking. I knew they were about to open the door and felt very vulnerable on the stairs. I yelled “hold the dog” several times and got down the stairs. I do not want this kind of stress when I traveling.