Casa Isolani Charms Rooms Santo Stefano

We stayed at Casa Isolani for 9 nights as we explored various parts of Italy as part of our holiday, concluding with the recent Formula One race at Imola. Bologna was a lovely city with a wide range of shops, restaurants and tourist attractions. Most of the shops were in undercover archways as well; something that is useful when the weather turns. There's also lovely restaurants and ice cream shops in close proximity to the hotel. We recommend 'Fra Diavolo' for a good pizza! Bare in mind that if you are doing a lot of travelling, the B&B is 30 mins from the train station. Not the best for tired legs/feet! For breakfast, you are provided with tokens that you can exchange at a local patisserie (1 min walk from the hotel). Breakfast consists of a hot drink, fruit juice and a croissant per person. We found breakfast lovely. We stayed in Di Mezzo (Loft) so we had no view but found the room met our needs. There was great wifi, satisfactory wardrobe space, a powerful shower and working aircon. The main drawback we experienced was the night of Bologna Wine Festival, which was held in the courtyard of the accommodation. We were not told that this event was going to be on and did not appreciate the very loud music until the middle of the night. Overall, we enjoyed our stay at Casa Isolani and believe the price of the accommodation was very reasonable.

Casa Isolani is a bed and breakfast establishment right in the centre of Bologna. Getting there: From the airport take a taxi to Piazza Maggiore for around 20 Euros, couldn’t be simpler. About: This is a set of serviced apartments. They are located behind a large wooden door just off the Piazza Maggiore. You are given your own keys. Worth a view on Google Maps before you arrive so you know where you are heading. Checking in: There is no reception and rarely anyone on site so you have to contact the manager about 30 mins before you arrive to arrange to meet them at the apartment. This is the part of the process that needs improvement. You can not get into your room until 2pm, but you can drop off your bags by prior arrangement. So if you have an early flight in you will be walking around Bologna until 2. Also we ended up waiting outside for 30 minutes waiting for someone to let us in after a few ‘we are here’ phone calls went unanswered. Worth bearing in mind. Location: you are right in the heart of Bologna, walking distance to most attractions, tourist office, tourist drop off points and transport links. Loads of restaurants, bars and shops right on your doorstep. The location is ideal for your Bologna stay. The apartment: We stayed at the Neptune apartment. It had a safe, fridge, air con, a comfy bed, TV (Italian TV only), shower, lots of soaps etc and was very clean and serviced daily. If you have the window open at night because you are so central you will get street noise, but closing the window shuts it out completely. Breakfast: You are given tokens to use at a cafe on the Piazza. You get a coffee, pastry and juice. Leaving: There is a taxi rank on the Piazza. If you are leaving early you may like to pre book as at 6am there were no taxies there. A shout out here to Luca who runs the newsagent stand near the taxi rank. He helped us book a taxi that morning. Again a downside of no reception. Overall: A perfectly located, clean place from which to explore. The only irritant is the arrival process. But once in you will have a great stay.

This is simply an exceptional place to stay. It is very comfortable and clean, convenient too as it is in the Plaza Maggiore. Restaurants and shops all located near by, as a disabled person, this was very convenient and there was an elevator to the rooms. I honestly don't think a traveller can do better than this beautiful apartment. I spent far too much time looking out the window at all the sights and sounds below and it wasn't noisy at all during the night. It was the perfect place to stay while in Bologna.

Excellent place to stay, beautiful room with exceptional views across Bologna,very close to nearby restaurants and attractions, hotel met us on arrival and arranged taxi to the airport,100% coming back