Though we had just one night in Verona, we intended to pack every minute in with as much exploring as possible and that definitely didn’t involve having to walk or travel far to get to the action – and so it was with this mindset, that we ended up at Hotel Albergo Mazzanti, right downtown in Verona.

As 3-star hotels go, the location was – very clearly – impeccable, as we struggled in our taxi to get down the narrow streets leading up to the neighbouring Piazza delle Erbe, before the driver decanted us out onto the side street that leads a few footsteps down to the hotel. One thing is for sure, you can’t possibly complain about the hotels proximity to all main attractions – Juliet’s house and the famous balcony are not more than a 5 minute walk away, the river not more than a 10 minute walk away.

Check-in was swift and efficient, in what is a surprisingly grand wood-panelled reception, with a quick photocopy of our passports required, before being sent on our merry way to our room on the top floor.

First impressions of the room were positive, though clearly the hotel is quite dated. It is a city hotel, as I say right in the thick of the action, so the view was also nothing to get particularly excited about, facing, as it did, into a block of apartments right across the side street from the entrance.

On the bright side, I did manage to spot a pizzeria to the left down the road – which we hastily made our way to after dropping our bags.

The dated feel definitely shines through in the bathroom, which was clean and functional, but assuredly gave me early 90’s package holiday hotel bathroom vibes.

As I say, there was nothing at all to complain about though by and large, with everything being completely spotless.

Although street noise was initially a concern, pulling the wooden blinds shut surprisingly kept most noise at bay with the exception of some incessant bottle bin emptying that took place sporadically throughout the night. Overall though, I’d be lying if I said I had anything other than a pretty good sleep.

In order to pack in a weighty schedule of downtown touring and wine-tasting, we were up at the crack of dawn the next morning, ready to see what the breakfast offering had in store for us.

When I saw the living-room sized space allocated to breakfast, I didn’t actually have much hope – but was pleasantly surprised to find a wide variety of cold meats and cheeses, hot food, local sweet offerings, juice and probably the friendliest, most enthusiastic host I’ve ever met who somehow single-handedly managed both cooking the breakfast items, replenishing items, and also greeting all guests and making them coffee.

As check-out time approached, we had to admit we both really enjoyed our stay in this quirky, convenient downtown hotel. There were no real downsides with the one exception being that there was – during our stay – no public toilet whatsoever (as in, it was broken and even the receptionist, as she told us, was having to go and use the facilities at local restaurants), which became a big problem on our return to collect our luggage and make the long drive to our hotel in Lake Garda.

Otherwise, a surprisingly pleasant stay at this pleasant, well-located city hotel in Verona!