This is a boutique hotel, offering 4-star superior accommodation and reliable facilities, directly in front of the train station and within 10 minutes walking distance of the historic city centre.
The hotel is a modern building, with a slightly forbidding exterior, but a welcoming clean and calm interior. Staff are helpful and the many business travellers appear satisfied with the service and decor. But this hotel isn't simply for the business traveller. It's perfect for families, with generously proportioned family rooms, public spaces and a large breakfast room where you can help yourself and the kids to the buffet and then eat outside on the terrace which overlooks the central courtyard and garage. It's also a handy spot for the traveller who needs a local base from which to tour Tuscany and dreads dragging heavy baggage to check into a new hotel every night. Positioned across the small square which houses the train station, it takes ten minutes to go from breakfast at the Excelsior to a seat on an air-conditioned train travelling to the delights of Siena, Pisa and Florence, all less than an hour away. (Note: the location adjacent to the train station means you should keep your wits about you while walking back to the hotel at night, though we really never found it a problem. If you're nervous a cab from the town centre is under €10.)
Bologna itself is a cooler, hipper version of Florence with enough history and shopping to keep you busy for at least a long weekend. The friendly locals are educated individuals, happy to be living in one of the quintessential Italian cities still unmarred by tourism. And as for the food –the only word for dining in the city known as La Grassa (the fat) is fantastico.
Essential information
Rooms 193
Rate €120-€280 Breakfast included
Check-out Midday; check-in, 2pm
Facilities Fitness centre, Bar, Restaurant, Gift Shop, Valet parking, Airport shuttle
The hotel is a modern building, with a slightly forbidding exterior, but a welcoming clean and calm interior. Staff are helpful and the many business travellers appear satisfied with the service and decor. But this hotel isn't simply for the business traveller. It's perfect for families, with generously proportioned family rooms, public spaces and a large breakfast room where you can help yourself and the kids to the buffet and then eat outside on the terrace which overlooks the central courtyard and garage. It's also a handy spot for the traveller who needs a local base from which to tour Tuscany and dreads dragging heavy baggage to check into a new hotel every night. Positioned across the small square which houses the train station, it takes ten minutes to go from breakfast at the Excelsior to a seat on an air-conditioned train travelling to the delights of Siena, Pisa and Florence, all less than an hour away. (Note: the location adjacent to the train station means you should keep your wits about you while walking back to the hotel at night, though we really never found it a problem. If you're nervous a cab from the town centre is under €10.)
Bologna itself is a cooler, hipper version of Florence with enough history and shopping to keep you busy for at least a long weekend. The friendly locals are educated individuals, happy to be living in one of the quintessential Italian cities still unmarred by tourism. And as for the food –the only word for dining in the city known as La Grassa (the fat) is fantastico.
Essential information
Rooms 193
Rate €120-€280 Breakfast included
Check-out Midday; check-in, 2pm
Facilities Fitness centre, Bar, Restaurant, Gift Shop, Valet parking, Airport shuttle
Starhotels Excelsior Bologna
