Al Tuscany B&B

Breafast was great but I think we were charged extra for it at some point? (Price seemed like it came out to more than when we first booked, plus there was a 9 euro city tax we had to pay.) Place was quirky & interesting. Great location.

TV did not work and our queries to staff were met with ... disinterest. Bad sewer smell in the bathroom. Light on one bedside table had no where to plug it in, so was useless. We kind of liked the room , but many people would not - only a tiny sunlight in the roof to peek out of (and see only rooftops), and on that side of the bed, even I at 5 feet tall could not stand upright. Stairs to attic very difficult with suitcases.

The breakfast was served at 8am in a welcoming room with high ceiling and some just visible frescoes. It was completed with contemporary paintings, a reproduction of Rodin`s sculpture, a large mirror and more of that nice Italian charm. I met some interesting travellers here: a painter/jeweller couple from Melbourne, a professor from Venice, a group of Japanese youth... There was plenty of food to choose from: delicious pastries delivered fresh every morning, different types of bread including dry, fresh and wholemeal, ham, mozarella and other types of cheese, boiled eggs, a reasonable fruit selection, coffee and tea, supermarket pre-packed pastries, juice, water etc. To use the toaster however, was a bit of a challenge and a good conversation starter. On two occassions, I was to leave at 7am and it was ok to have the kitchen at my disposal to prepare the breakfast as the staff don`t stay at this B&B overnight.

My plan was to stay in Lucca for 5 nights and use it as a base for short trips. So I reserved one of the attic rooms but was disappointed to be given room C which was not the room I booked. It was unsatisfactory for a number of reasons. Firstly, it was almost impossible to lock and unlock, was as tiny as a shoe box, the roof opening (not a window) didn`t close properly, the bathroom roof opening was open on arrival due to a bad smell from the plumbing. Consequently, the room was full of mosquitoes and I didn`t sleep. On the inside of the door was a note that if there are problems, we need to speak to the manager. Clearly, there would have been damaging reviews before. I welcomed the offer, listed the issues on a piece of paper, left it on the keyboard in the breakfast room and politely asked for a quick solution. That very morning, I was given a new room (attic B) which was very good and Claudio, the owner, kept checking how things were going. Also, the lock on room C was fixed the following evening. To improve things more, there should be mosquito screens everywhere and the TV should work as advertised.