Hotel Plaza e de Russie

To avoid disappointment, READ BELOW 24hrs after leaving the Hotel Plaza e de Russie (HPR), I received an email that the 400€ security deposit would be retained due to damage sustained in the room. No enquiry, no discussion - a short, curt email. Reviewing the reviews, clearly several guests at HPR have been wrongfully charged for alleged damage. We could not have caused this damage given the location of the edge of the table in question. An exchange of 10+ emails with HPR followed trying to point them in the right direction, ‘offline’ given the GM, in his responses to ‘online’ feedback, struggles to conceal his irritation at not having had a chance to resolve issues prior to a review being submitted. Having accorded him the courtesy & opportunity of resolving ‘quietly,’ not a word from him despite the ‘forward notice’ he so clearly covets. The hotel contact persisted it must have been me & was in no way prepared to acknowledge any other other means eg housekeeping, maintenance or previous guests etc. Their final proposed reconciliation was to split the 400€ fee, my liability now being 200€, yet re-confirming the HPR’s belief that I am still responsible for the damage & I am being dishonest. An assault on my good nature, honesty & integrity by a 5* hotel is a 1st for me. Am in my 50’s & have stayed in luxury hotels all over the world. Am yet to come across or even hear of such an approach as this. HPR protested that the rooms undergo not one but two inspections to confirm the condition of the room before guests are allowed in yet across the three platforms Google, Tripadvisor & Booking.com, several reviews citing levels of uncleanliness & poor condition of furniture & fittings throw into question the veracity of these alleged inspections. One reviewer asked the hotel to provide the inspection reports evidencing the damage allegedly caused by them - the hotel ‘disgracefully’ refused. Anticipating the same, I didn’t even ask, the assumption being the hotel will not share the reports, if they even exist. To all visitors to Viareggio, please read the recent review compilations below, all of which can be found online. This approach to hotel guests, absent elsewhere in the world, seems to be rampant of late at the HPR and, to some, may look more like a ‘practice’ or worse than an occurrence Some Fun Facts: There are 54 hotels in Viareggio as per reviews on Google, Tripadvisor & Booking.com, only two 5* hotels, HPR & the Grand Hotel de Principe (GHP) Booking.com - HPR score of 7.8 places it no.45 ex 54. GHP score of 9.4 places it no.2 ex 54…where a 5* hotel should be. Same website & method of scoring. BEWARE: the HPR will appear top of any Viareggio hotel searches on this platform, this search outcome is paid for by the hotel & is in no way a reflection of its popularity or score in any category Google - HPR is rated 4.3/5. In the last 6 months, the Google rating is 3.4/5. In the last month (at the time of writing), there have been 15 reviews eliciting a combined score of 3.1/5 Tripadvisor - HPR is ranked 22/54 The GHP is ranked No.1…where a 5* hotel should be Pricing at HPR is at 5* level yet the offering, as reviewed by so many across the platforms, falls well short. The HPR offers no value, no amenities (not even parking - ok, there is one space outside the front of the hotel if you're lucky otherwise you need to find you're own parking on the square. As one reviewer mentioned, the hotel says they will pay for it, but at checkout there was a 10euro/day charge for parking. That's just a petty add-on to a 3000euro 3 night stay), you're simply paying for the room or so we thought &, quite frankly, has no business operating as a 5* hotel, a medium 4* hotel at best, & in current form does a disservice to the revered Relais et Chateaux Hotel roster (the altogether separate Michelin * restaurant responsible for their tenuous inclusion), a roster of exemplary accommodation & service standards…& value! HPR has failed to listen to its guests hence its position & ratings in the online world & the GM may benefit from spending less time ‘on-line’ writing nauseatingly sycophantic responses to guests who review highly as well as excruciatingly slippery & argumentative responses to those who review less favourably. You can’t lead a hospitality team while ‘working from home.’ I cannot recommend highly enough that, if staying in Viareggio, choose any of the other 54 hotels. Without question, you will have a more rewarding stay than we, & many others it seems, discovered at HPR

Most accommodating staff we have ever met. Simple things like always a smile. On last day our taxi arrived very early when we were enjoying breakfast , so we stopped and got our luggage. By the time we got downstairs there was a bag prepared spontaneously by the breakfast staff so we could enjoy a meal later! On another evening we accidentally came downstairs with a bag we didn’t need. I asked if I could leave it in reception and collect on returning. On getting back we found that the staff had taken it up to our room. Simply put the staff care!