Review of Grand Hotel Villa Castagnola – A Complete Disaster. If I could give this place a negative rating, I absolutely would. From the very first day, the experience was nothing short of shocking for a so-called 5-star hotel.
On arrival, we went for breakfast and waited over an hour for a simple omelette that never arrived. During that time, not even a glass of water was offered. We had a tight schedule and eventually had to walk out. After complaining at reception, the waiter actually chased me down in the lobby, screaming at me in front of other guests, as if I had walked out on the bill. Utterly humiliating and completely unacceptable. The following day, after a long day of sightseeing, I returned to the hotel bar to share a very special moment with my wife. I had planned a surprise—telling her I would be renewing our vows and celebrating her 40th birthday with family in Cartagena, Colombia. She was overwhelmed with excitement, but in the middle of this intimate, emotional moment, the bartender told us to “keep our voices down” because the piano player was performing. The bar was empty. Imagine being told to quiet down while celebrating such an occasion. Truly disgraceful. Finally, to top it all off, on the last day I received my dry cleaning back and discovered that two very expensive pairs of pants had been ruined. They had been washed instead of dry cleaned. No apology. No accountability. No contact from management. DO NOT STAY HERE. Save yourself the disappointment!!