The Hotel Europa is only a ten or twelve minute walk from the Padova railway station and is easy to find. The hotel is also only about a ten minute walk to the centre of the old town, with historical sites and shopping, restaurants and bars all being fairly close. Check-in was easy and despite being early by about twenty minutes, the receptionist gave me a room. A double room, it had an independent air-conditioning unit, a safe (which was unfortunately locked when I arrived), plenty plug points, a fridge with two bottles of water and a bathroom with very basic toiletries. The internet wifi worked alright. Rather strangely for a 4 star hotel however, there was no coffee machine/kettle in the room with instant coffee/tea etc. The room was clean and although not luxurious was comfortable enough. Breakfast was of the usual continental style but with the addition of bacon and scrambled or boiled eggs. A few rolls, breads, croissants, pastries, tarts as well as cold meat, cheese, yoghurt, choice of cereals, fruit juice and some fresh fruit. Sounds like a lot, but compared with other hotel breakfast buffets, it was actually quite meagre. No self-service coffee machine (probably a good thing!) but you could ask the staff for a cappucini or whatever. They didn’t actively ask if you wanted a coffee; you had to approach and ask them. Likewise when first entering the restaurant there was no ‘buongiorno” or “good morning”, just a rather sour faced woman asking for your room number. I did ask the receptionist if the safe in my room could be opened so as I could use it and was promised that somebody would come later to fix it but they never did. However having lost my phone charger, I also asked if I could borrow one and the receptionist went into a drawer and gave me one to use. Check-out was quick with another cheery guy at reception. Overall, a bit of a hit or a miss type of place. The receptionists were fine (other than not following up on my request regarding the room safe) but the attitude of the breakfast staff leaves a lot to be desired and I can’t understand a 4 star hotel not having a kettle in the room. At best an average hotel which seemed to me to be more of a 3 than a 4 star. I’ve actually stayed in several better 3 star hotels in Italy than this place. Significantly better!
Very Good
54 Reviews