Grand Universe Lucca, Autograph Collection

盧卡古城區一個比較新的酒店，停車比較麻煩，需要停到火車站的統一停車場；入住和退房時可以開車到酒店提取行李，記得在前台登記車牌，否則會被ZTL

This hotel is in an excellent location near the ring road and just a block into the center of the old town from the ramparts.. The rooms are modern with fabulous comfortable beds. Best I have had. But the bathroom is awful. It is very dark and small. No place for toiletries just a sink. If the bathroom had been adequate than the room would have been just fine. The room had a lot of space in the sitting area where a shelf or a table could have been installed near the bathroom for people to put their toiletries on. Not ideal but certainly better. The Champagne rooftop experience on Friday and Saturday nights was a bit weird. To go up there you need to pay 20 Euro each. We took a peek and there were only a few tables in the place. It was beautiful up there, maybe it could have more tables and a general bar. we would have loved to sit up there. Also, I think that there needed to be more receptionists. We asked for reservations to a restaurant and went out for a few hours yet came back and a call was not made. One bag with our luggage was missing and they said they were coming up with it, but after an hour, we went to get it. It is a nice hotel and I would have rated it higher but for these issues.

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.

We only spent one night here but enjoyed our stay. Very well trained staff and property was beautiful- we had a great corner room overlooking the squares. Great breakfast- best cappuccino I had in Italy. Check in, luggage handler, wait staff were all exceptional. The room was great. Walking distance from the train station, the walls of the city and the rest of Lucca. So glad we were able to visit!

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.

…. exceptional place = Lucca. We enjoyed 6 days of great food and personal service in this gem. Hotel is well-managed. We could participate in year-end and bew years dinners and brunch. The empathetic and highly personaliswd service is worth to mention. Breakfast is good. Restaurant has really good dishes in combination with a pretty well assorted wine cellar (literally). We will get back there.