Tuscany

Why You Can’t Trust Travel Guidebooks

antica-torre-siena-italy

Room at Antica Torre

If you just read reviews of Antica Torre hotel in the Italy travel guidebooks, you’d be forgiven for thinking it would make a great place to stay in Siena, Italy.

For example, both the Frommer’s guidebook and the EyeWitness Guide to Florence and Tuscany provide glowing reviews of Antica Torre hotel in Siena:

From the Frommer’s guidebook:

Antica Torre is a restored 17th Century tower within the city walls of Siena. It’s a ten-minute walk from Piazza del Campo. Tall and graceful, the tower sits on top of the century’s old potter’s workshop that is now the breakfast room. Take a stone staircase to the small but comfortable guestrooms, each with some Tuscan antiques, iron filigree headboard and marble floors. Try to get one of the accommodations on the top floor for a panoramic view of the medieval city and the rolling Tuscan hills. It costs 90 Euros a night and there is parking on the street nearby.

Antica Torre hotel Siena, Italy

Antica Torre hotel Siena, Italy

Sounds delightful, but not so quick

Sounds delightful and good value for Siena, right? But wait, check out the “real-life advice” on TripAdvisor:

We stayed there for a single night. It was OK, but I am glad we did not spend too much time there.

- location is good, about 5 min walk from main square in Siena
- room is quite small but it’s actually the bathroom that feels very very small – and while it has recent fixtures, it does not feel terribly clean
- if you stay at the top (as we did), going up and down is quite challenging

The one employee we interacted with was the most clueless and least helpful person we met in Italy. In general, it was an ok experience but if I return to Siena I’ll first look for something else.

Some people liked it…

The most complimentary review on TripAdvisor put Antica Torre at a 4/5 with these comments:

My partner and I stayed for one night at the Antica Torre so that we could spend a day in Siena. We found both our room and the hotel itself to be very well-kept and charming. It’s in a pleasant neighborhood of Siena that is close to all of the sights but also quiet and residential (I stepped out early in the morning and was pleasantly surprised to see real people going to work, as opposed to other tourists, which seems to be the norm in Tuscany).

The hotel appears to be family run, and the main proprietor was very friendly and called us a cab the next morning so that we could go pick up our rental car in the Siena suburbs. At 113 euros per night the hotel in not exactly a bargain for budget travellers (we stayed at places in Florence for less), but what you are paying for is a clean space and a bit of charm and it is definitely worth it!

On a final note, the hotel is definitely not a good option for the elderly or disabled- I had to carry our very large suitcase up three flights of narrow stairs to reach our room.

Antica Torre hotel, Siena

Antica Torre hotel, Siena

But just as many didn’t like it…

What follows is not the most scathing TripAdvisor review about Antica Torre (I usually ignore the most scathing as possibly written by an unreasonable person), but it is representative of those who were disappointed by Antica Torre.

Two nights in this hotel was plenty. It’s recommended in some guidebooks, but I’m sure they haven’t been there in a while. We knew we’d have to haul our own bags up the stairs. Okay. The bathroom had blackish mold on the wall. The sheets and towels seemed clean. The a/c worked. The view out the window was nice. Location was okay. I think the bathroom was once a closet or small hallway — access was through a folding door. Maybe other rooms are better.  I’d pass next time.

I don’t know about you, but I’m too picky about accommodation to risk staying in a place described by several reviewers as just “OK” and as having “blackish mold on the wall”.

The moral of this story

Don’t just buy an Italy travel guide and trustingly follow the recommendations. Use travel guidebooks as a starting point but double-check at places like TripAdvisor.

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Rick Steves Italy Audio Tours

rick-steves-italyMy friend Diane suggested that I go to Rick Steves’ site and download some free Italy audio tours of the major sights in Venice, Florence and Rome. These are recorded versions of the highlights from his guide books. They are designed to give you a private walking tour, and are so descriptive that it pays to listen in advance. As with his TV programs, Rick provides a nice blend of history, architecture and regular life.

I took Diane’s advice and was glad that I did. However, due to my personal preference of just walking around looking at things without necessarily “learning” as I go, I didn’t actually use the audio tours in the way they are intended. Instead of listening to the tours as I walked through neighbourhoods in Venice, Florence and Rome,  I listened to them before and after my actual wanderings.

I find that I can’t fully immerse myself in the experience if I’m trying to take in all the information while walking. So what I do is listen to the tour the night before in my hotel room, and then if I have time, listen to it again after the day’s outing. Hearing a review of what I’ve just seen helped me to understand and assimiliate the information.

So what’s included in these audio tours? Currently there are three major cities in Italy that Rick has recorded tours for: Venice, Florence and Rome.

Rick’s Venice Audio Tours  feature the Grand Canal Cruise, St. Mark’s Square, St. Mark’s Basilica, and Frari Church.

The Florence Audio Tours take you on a tour of the Renaissance Walk, Accademia and Michelangelo’s David, and Uffizi Gallery.

The Rome Audio Tours include the Colosseum, Roman Forum, St. Peter’s Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Trastevere Walk, Jewish Ghetto Walk, Ostia Antica, and Pompeii. I found the audio tour of the Sistine Chapel particularly valuable, as it explained how to get the most out of viewing Michelangelo’s famous ceiling.

Like so many things these days, there are myriad ways to access these audio tours. I downloaded them onto my iPod Touch directly from the RickSteves website. You can also get the Rick Steves Audio Europe app, or download them to any mp3 player.  The app is perhaps the easiest and best experience if you have an iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, or Android.

One thing I should mention: there are two disadvantages to listening to the audio tours on your mp3 player as opposed to a device like an iPhone. First, you won’t see the pictures. But frankly, you won’t be missing much because the audio tours actually don’t include many pictures; they just have the occasional still photo to illustrate the audio.

The second disadvantage is that the chapter breaks and subheadings may not show up. But that’s not a big deal; basically it will work just fine. After all, you’re going to be looking at the real thing as you walk around, so why would you want to have your head down looking at pictures on an electronic device? :)

Get the Rick Steves Italy audio tours here

 

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