Albergo Athenaeum

My friend came here for a trip but booked the wrong dates at another hotel, so in the end we had to book this hotel. That was the beginning of a nightmare. The front desk service was extremely poor, with very rude and unprofessional staff. At one point, we even asked to check out, but they refused, forcing us to stay one night—it was truly a nightmare. I experienced discrimination here that I have never encountered even in four-star or five-star hotels. When I visited my friend, the receptionist demanded to see my passport and register it, and told me I could only stay for 5 minutes. When we complained, asking why only 5 minutes, she changed it to 30 minutes, then to 20 minutes. Meanwhile, she held my passport in her hand and refused to return it. We argued for over an hour, from 7 pm to 8 pm. It was exhausting. Later, we requested to check out, but the manager came to mediate. I told him this was a very unpleasant experience, that I could not trust them—especially the reception staff—and that I felt discriminated against. But the nightmare did not end. When we went out for dinner and returned at 23:30, another receptionist demanded that we pay an extra €25, saying he had changed the booking from a single room to a double room, and that this was the total fee. But in fact, my friend had already booked a double room, and no room change was made. After confirming with him several times, we reluctantly paid. The next morning, as we were leaving, the receptionist stopped my friend again and demanded another €4 for city tax. This was nothing short of robbery—step by step. You simply cannot trust them. As for the hotel room, it was old and shabby. • The toilet was broken, it could not flush properly, requiring many attempts and great force. • The soundproofing was terrible—you could hear neighbors pulling curtains, flushing toilets, even scrubbing with a toilet brush—around 9 am. Absolutely disgusting. • The balcony was dirty, the chairs covered in dust, and our balcony was directly connected to the neighboring room’s balcony, which felt very unsafe. • The bathroom towels were old, worn, and fraying. The hotel’s location was also terrible—dirty and messy, with piles of trash nearby. It takes at least a 20-minute walk to find a decent restaurant. Do not be fooled by their spacious lobby. Once you go inside, you will realize it is a trap, a place of no return. As a Chinese proverb says, “In barren lands and wicked waters, there are always cunning people.”