Four Points by Sheraton Padova Map, Address, Transportation & Nearest Stations and Airport

There was no welcome when we arrived neither were we asked how our stay was at the end. In fact we found the reception quite standoffish apart from a young man (see below) The hotel is tired, we booked a mid range room. A lot of the room was a corridor so completely wasted space. The rollers in the shower screen had come out of the guide, the toilet was constantly running water and there was a strange mark on the toilet seat and the bathroom fittings were definitely not four star standard. We were given one complimentary bottle of water between two of us and one extra pillow between of us for a two night stay. None of the bathroom lotions were replenished after the first night. Everything seemed to have an extra price attached to it which has been complimentary in similar hotels My husband was feeling very ill and asked if he could have a glass of tap water at the bar and was refused. He was told he had to pay for water. (The previous hotel gave a glass of tap water with every drink at the bar so it wouldn’t have been an unreasonable request) Whilst we were in our room at 9am on a Saturday morning there was loud intermittent power drilling in the hotel on and off for about an hour. We felt this was a totally inappropriate time to be doing that sort of work then. There was one positive point,a young man on the desk was very helpful when we asked for directions to the nearest pharmacy. We loved Padova and would highly recommend a stay there just not at this hotel

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 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!

I have rarely stayed in such a large room with such unsatisfactory design and contents. Even a basic budget hotel always has a place to stand a suitcase effectively. If a safe is provided,it will always be large enough to hold a camera.Window cills do not have over a one inch gap from the wall ,so admitting unwanted light. Apart from the total omissions, there were a couple of really slovenly management failings.The builders’ red plastic packing wedges between floor and wall fittings were still in place.The bidet was emitting a strong drain smell, as the trap seemed to have dried out through disuse by the occupants , and the housekeeper had failed to run any water through. The things I merely thought very poor for a four star hotel were numerous-the inappropriateness for a hot climate of the giant duvets and clinging soft topped mattresses,the lack of any work space( only “ desk” was occupied by ridiculous flashy kettle),poor bedside tables,and the bathroom - huge,but no bath. The reception staff were not very bright,and gave me a “map” with an incorrect street name at the hotel location! The breakfast had nothing in common with the attributes of the room- just a standard “ International” type with no failures. I am at present in an “Ibis” hotel somewhere even hotter than Padova.It is superior in every way ,except that it fails to look flashy.They even have a map.

This hotel ranks very well, given it is a three star hotel. The location is close to the train and walking distance to the main squares. It has five floors all accessible by a modern lift. Our room was scrupulously clean and received a full service each day. The bathroom clean and modern and the hot water pressure was fine. . All staff were helpful. The buffet breakfast was typical for the region, although it did not include any hot dishes. Two suggested for travellers, book tours to see the Giotto frescoes in advance, and consider being here for the Saturday market.