Grand Universe Lucca, Autograph Collection

This hotel and staff are world class!! The reception staff is the best we have ever experienced-- no contest. The hotel itself and our room were both impeccable. We could not have selected a better place to stay inside the town walls. This is an extremely noteworthy Marriott property!!!... We certainly will be back.

This is a lovely hotel located adjacent to two public squares in the heart of Lucca. We stayed in room 106 (on the second floor) which had a generous balcony overlooking one of the squares (great for people watching). The room was beautiful with a high wood-beam ceiling, an excellent bathroom, many amenities — and the wonderful balcony. The only negative at this hotel was the bumbling front-desk staff, who were not very helpful and didn’t seem able to answer more than the most basic questions. The hotel is small, so I guess they can’t offer a concierge and the staff is not trained to fill that role.

Overall- very pleasant experience. Excellent location, modern rooms, nothing to complain about except breakfast Positive: great location, rooms facing very quiet square. Super comfy beds and pillows. Small hotel so no crowds. No issues with heating/cooling in the room. Negative: Buffet is 30 euro and the choice is super limited which feels like a scam in Italy:)) And things are slightly warm, not even hot. Very disappointed as a Platinum member. Not an issue to pay 30 euro but offer a choice. You can’t even get an omelette (only scrambled eggs available) and have to pay extra 12 euro. Hint: platinum members get water (from the mini bar) for free, but reception won’t tell you unless you ask

I’m mobility challenged, & far prefer a walk-in shower to an uneasy balancing act in a narrow old bathtub. This preference often means spending more money for a simple safety feature…the rooms & the hospitality venues I stay at often aren’t that great ..but yeah, they have that shower! So when recently we were in Lucca, we chose Marriott’s beautifully renovated former glassworks situated on a famous Square, as our destination. Our junior suite being the model of architecturally-influenced refinement did indeed have the promised (& spacious ) walk-in shower..but the huge base was not textured in any way ＞＞ & one was always fearful of slipping once the shower ran…indeed the adjacent flat section wasn’t textured either …so wet feet on a matt- finished stone platform ( with no wall hand rail ) was an accident waiting to happen as one gingerly stepped down onto the bath mat …in all an astoundingly ridiculous design failure …especially & ludicrously, seeing the surely almost never-used adjacent bathtub ( no doubt installed because they are ‘the thing’, aren’t they, those bid baths ?) …DID actually have …a nonslip base! Honestly. It was indeed a luxurious fitout, but the eyes-wide-shut hotel services manager nonetheless still allowed a vastly frayed edge to the lovely rug to greet us upon arrival…& I was always wary of that in case I tripped on it whilst being there. Awful such Raggedy Ann housekeeping …so-called Autograph Collection my foot! The 4 Star serve-yourself breakfast sadly wasn’t that good, with only very limited fresh fruit available & rather dry reconstituted ‘scrambled’ eggs …. Bewilderingly they offered just minimal cakes in a country that prides itself on glorious sweet beginnings to the day everywhere you go . Frankly I’ve had better breakfasts in far less prestigious places in Italy, many many times. And the ubiquitous caterer’s powdered eggs can be found everywhere….even zero-starred joints have those! Marriott can, & should do, better. The ground floor (sadly unsympathetically overlit in the evenings ) bar has a stellar Barman mixing a stunning Negroni…..but very ordinary snacks only to accompany a great cocktail..pity that. One wonders how it is an internationally famous hotel chain can’t get basic detail right when it presents one of its better brands in such a stunning city as Luca. Disappointed I was, so only a qualified recommendation, sadly. Hard to justify spending that much coin.

A stone’s throw from the train station, just inside the old city walls lies the beautifully renovated Grand Universe Lucca, Autograph Collection hotel. Our family of 3 had a wonderful 5 night stay here over Christmas. Antonia, Maria & the entire team went out of their way by preparing a birthday surprise for my son, and we had a Christmas treat lying in our room on the evening of 24th Dec. Breakfast was personalized, with staff recalling our favorite drinks, each of us being greeted warmly and someone checking multiple times to see that we had everything we needed. Our rooms were cleaned thoroughly every single day, including turn down service on Christmas Eve, when the service came with cookies- which was a real pleasure. Highly recommend a stay here. Needless to say Lucca itself is a beautiful, unspoilt city - which retains its small city charm. We had a Christmas market & live music just outside the hotel and were able to walk around the city walls with residents each morning in the bright sunshine. Lucca is also within easy reach of a number of other places- Pisa, Florence, Viareggio, Cinque Terre, making it a great pit stop. Arrivederci e grazie Lucca & Grand Universe!

Sharming Hotel in a sharming town! Enjoyed my stay. Service was above and beyond. Food was amazing, I tried so many local specialities. I highly recommend a visit to Lucca and a stay in the Grand Universe Hotel. Staff was really friendly and helpful. Make sure to avoid high season to enjoy a fully authentic experience in the city!