Al Mercato B&B

Location is excellent very near Siena main square, yet peaceful for a night. Staff was very friendly and check in was smooth. Rooms are very basic, but clean, and breakfast is very basic, but value for money is very very good. Parking some 300 metres away. Would go back.

This B&B was a €12.50 taxi from Siena railway station but on checking out it cost €15.60 due to a phone booking fee. Quite expensive. It had restrictive check in hours of 1500 to 1900, a key reason why in Europe I prefer hotels. In contrast in the UK B&B owners seem much more flexible. Owner Mara met us on arrival. She gave us the impression it would be hard to store our luggage and pick it up next day. Housekeeper Luisa was far more accommodating in the morning. She was cleaning rooms until after 1130 hours. She understood our needs better than Mara. Room 2 was a reasonable size. A great feature was how the comfortable bed had a top sheet and lacked a doona. The latter are often too warm for me. The pillows were most satisfactory. There was a desk while lighting was adequate. A bad feature was that the curtains failed to block out light. I found this annoying as I prefer a completely dark room. WiFi dropped out a bit. The bathroom was fairly poky and the shower more so but hot water was adequate. There was no shelf in the shower to accommodate shampoo. Nor was any supplied, but there was a hairdryer. Bath towels were generously sized. The supplied toilet paper was el cheapo. The breakfast was fine with a coffee machine, flavoured yoghurt, croissants and unexpectdly various treats like small jam tarts and slices of local cake. The market square was a very short walk with its overpriced restaurants.