The hotel Donatello is well located across from the city's Basilica di San Antonio, and about 5 minutes from the famous Prato della Valle and 10-15 from the city centre and old city (university, ghetto, daily markets, pedestrian street, etc). From the outside, the hotel looks quite elegant and I suspect that front facing rooms have a nice view. To be honest, however, everything else about the hotel was rather disappointing. Rooms are actually tired and pretty gloomy. The single rooms are extremely small, the doubles are of decent size but tend to overlook blind narrow courtyards and feel rather dark and a bit depressing with a decor that seems stuck in the 1970s. Cleanliness is variable, lighting unpleasant, and whilst beds are decent, the pillows are hard and quite uncomfortable. Breakfast is quite poor. If you come when one of the ladies taking care of the breakfast room are around, they will prepare you a decent coffee from the barista machine, however, if they are not, it is a fairly ghastly automatic machine that uses instant coffee to make ”fake” espressos and cappuccino which is used instead. Juice is a strange watery thing from a machine. The best part are the nice homemade cornetti (croissants filled with jam, cream or chocolate) but apart from them, fruit, salad, bread, etc are all of poor quality and the scrambled eggs and meat are stone cold. There is a toaster which doesn't seem to work well and mediocre bread. Service in the hotel is not very friendly - reception staff ranged from reasonably cordial to barely polite and in one case, outright unpleasant. In short, the place is certainly not horrible, but equally, it doesn't seem too bothered about customers let alone interested in making them want to come back. A bit of a wasted opportunity given the nice location they fail to capitalise on.
The breakfast at this hotel is simply outstanding, providing a delightful start to each day of my stay. The wide variety of dishes catered to all dietary needs and preferences, ensuring that every guest found something to enjoy. From freshly baked pastries to omelettes and a selection of coffees, the breakfast spread was a true culinary delight. The impeccable service provided by the attentive and friendly receptionists ( especially Davide) added an extra touch of warmth to my mornings. They greeted guests with genuine smiles, promptly seating them and ensuring that their dining experience exceeded expectations. The receptionist's attentiveness to detail and willingness to accommodate special requests truly made me feel like a valued guest.
The photos of the hotel internally is nothing like it is now so don’t expect what you see. The staff were exceptional, friendly, accommodating and very helpful. Nothing detrimental on their behalf and our room was clean, spacious and the bed was very comfortable.Aircon was ok but doesn’t go below 20 so I think the summer temperatures might have a struggle. However! The wellness centre is closed completely. The pool is closed. for private functions only . The bar closes early. Breakfast is …..well the reviews were not wrong. We tried the restaurant….when it was open ( closed during our visit more than once) set menu, costly and …..like the breakfast, lacking in quantity. The bar has no ambience and the chairs are boardroom style and uncomfortable. This is not our first BW hotel stay but it very nearly could be.
This hotel is very nice, big clean and the staff are very helpful. The location is 30 min walking distance from center padova, but also has convenient bus stop few min walk from the hotel that gets to all central places.
Hotel exceeded my expectations. Typical room in Europe, small and compact vs hotels in America. Awesome staff at front desk, very warm and helpful. Convenient parking behind hotel. Amazing breakfast, inexpensive but very valuable, waffle maker, hot eggs, bacon, cold cuts, drinks desserts and so much more. Great find. Lots of restauranrts near by and shopping center. Was there on business, but would return for family vacation
The Best Western Plus location was very close to all of the activities we had planned for our quick visit to Padova. The hotel is clean, modern, updated, with the convenience of breakfast served daily. Staff are extremely helpful. Would highly recommend this hotel.
I just arrived for the first time at this lovely hotel. I was greeted warmly with a smile by Andrea and offered a choice of two different rooms. Tomaso brought everything up before I could blink and deposited it in my room. Upon learning I needed something to keep from falling in the bath he immediately brought not one but two bath mats. The dinner was abundant and so flavorful. The choice of salads alone would have sufficed but as there were four courses I dutifully had each one! The sea bream was fresh and heavenly, served with attentive care by Alice. What I also noticed is that the restaurant was full of mostly Italians. Its always a good sign when there are a lot of local guests. Everyone looked happy and comfortable. And this is still low season! In the morning I met the lovely Samanta, with whom I had corresponded to book the room. She is smiling, knowledgeable and speaks a beautiful English. I asked to have a pool view room and she worked very hard to accommodate me. Then I met Victoria, the lovely Spa coordinator, who listened to me explain in my not so perfect Italian about all my aches and pains. She then introduced Maximilian, who is so knowledgeable about the body I immediately knew he would be the best massage therapist. Then suddenly it was time for lunch, with more gorgeous salads, and eggplant parmesan served with flourish by the handsome young waiter. I haven't yet used the pool, but it must be like everything else in the Hotel Antoniano: Warm, inviting, and caressing you with a gentle welcome. Come and be welcome. You won't regret it.
I spent one night at this hotel and I really liked it here. My room was spacious and clean, it was quiet here, no noise from the hallway. The breakfast was standard, there was a lot of fruit and pastries. Check in and check out was quick and staff friendly. Bonus: there was a huge supermarket right across the street.
Great place for the money. Loved the restaurant at Giorgio, they make exceptional pizza. We spent all the time in the gym and later in the pool, where we met two great tip-tap-toe dancers from Frosinone. The only problem was that the neighbouring room complained for the banging at 3 am. But that was our fault, we admit, and we’re deeply sorry. Padova (Padua) is an amazing city, full of things, but a bit over the place. The main sight we suggest is the “Ponte de quatro martiri” where you can enjoy the sunset and the spiders hanging around. Also we suggest a day to Legnaro, the only thing is to beware incoming thunderstorms. The best thing about Padua though is the bus system, which is free and always on time. I’ve forgot to mention the beautiful Capela di Scovregni, where you can admire the masterpieces by Lionardo and Rafaello. We would also like to thank the staff for their exceptional service, summed by the motto: “NO”, which they told meant “of course”. The only complaint was when we asked for the access to the meeting room, to which they replied: “…cuesti a un cost”, which made us realise how tough life is for everyone
We were only there for a night. We have a quadruple room which is separated through a sliding door. At check in time the room were ready, it was clean and okay. The kettle was there with instant coffee, tea, sugar and 2 paper cups. More you could ask at the reception. At night the room with the twin bed were suddenly smell like cigarette. As a non smoking family, with a child which has asthma, not a good sign. The smell was so intensive, that it was impossible to sleep. I would say the window has bad isolation. They were fully booked, but at least after begging hard i could get an extra room for my asthmatic child at midnight. Try to get the room with odd number, they are definitely quieter.