Cosmos put us here for the May Splendors of Italy tour. You arrive here after a pleasant drive around 4 in the afternoon. My advice - push yourself to head up to Siena it is well worth it! There is plenty of place for you to relax and sit or even lie down on the Il Campo (the gorgeous city square..pedestrian only). Some folks on our tour didn't make the effort and really missed out on what could have been a nice relaxed evening. Room was large, bathroom moderate - clean but the flush didn't work and my resourceful better half fixed it, we got a room on the quiet side but some folks got rooms facing the motorway and couldn't sleep at all - carry earplugs or an ipod to plug into your ears just in case. Breakfast was BAD. Everything was sweet and we chose to avoid the meat having read someone else's review mentioning worms in the meat. Had coffee, a sweet orange marmalade tart. GETTING TO SIENA/AROUND Cross the main road from Moderno, turn left and about 50 metres from the hotel is the entrance to the covered escalators leading up to Siena(which is on top of a hill). After taking 4-5 escalators up you are in Siena just behind the San Francesco cathedral. It is an austere structure but dramatic! Entry is free and inside are some nice stained glass windows that are good photo ops though they were created only in the 1900s so aren't 'history'. Arm yourself with a map/directions from google earth and check out the siena city website to pick out shopping/eating options before you go. Head to Il Campo for a rest and a gelato. After you're rested walk up to the Duomo and if you're looking for spectacular views of Siena and around, go into the Museum del Opera del Duomo which is right next to the striped Duomo. Pay a 12 euro entry for 2(they sell entry in pairs!) and follow signs saying Panorama. A few flights of stairs later the signs end, ask a museum curator for directions to the panorama and he will show you the spiral staircase leading up to the unfinished wall near the duomo. From up here you get great views of the city and the countryside. Worth every penny! Then go visit the Duomo itself and walk back towards Il Campo down Via Di Citta shopping on the way! Do dinner in Siena or pack dinner if you're tired, the hotel restaurant was really bad according to folks who ate there. Pack stuff for breakfast the next day too if you can.

I passed recently through Siena on my way to the Tirrenian coast , and I stopped for lunch at Albergo Moderno. I must say was a very pleasant surprise, starting from the warm welcome I received from the owner of the Hotel. This is a family run hotel with a very traditional and familiar cuisine, based on tuscan foods, excellent olive oil and wine. I strongly suggest you to order the red house-wine, it's a must! After having visited some of the rooms I realized that this three stars hotel is indeed a good buy. Even if not all the rooms are really "modern" , all of them are sparkly clean and well equipped. It really depends on what you are looking for. I prefer family-oriented places with character to modern and cold ones. Alessandro Natili

Date: 27. May 2008 Reviewer: wg, 8707 Uetikon am See / CH We are back in Switzerland since 2 weeks now, but already missing Siena and our friendly and familiar hotel Moderno accomodation as well downtown Siena again. The hotel itself is just what you need if you like to make a Siena City visit. The location is very good and close to every place dowtown Siena. An escalator just across the street of the hotel brings you up into the center of the city within 5 minutes. Lets say, all the famous historical places are right in front of your nose. A very competent and friendly hotel reception crew assist you with their knowledge regarding historical places, museum, nice gardens/parks, surplus and food market as well lovely restaurants. At the hotel itself you get for EUR 100 to 140 per night a double or two bed room and if its necessary a (add) bed-sofa for a child or additional addult, including breakfast. The toilet and bathroom are quite big and the bad towls and bedspread are going to be changed every day. Within the same price you get a continental breakfast which includes italian panini, toast, cheese, marmalade, salami and ham, cake, cornflex, yoghurt, fruit juice, etc. and of cours the famous capuccino or cafe americano / espresso. The hotel also provides lunch and dinner on chargable basis (not included in the room price per night). Close to Siena you have the famous Chianti wineyards, wineries and its excelent restaurants. Don' t forget to visit the famous Castello di Brolio with its very nice few into and over the country of the Toskana and back to Siena. The famous City of San Giminiagno and Volterra are also reachable within 30 - 45 Minutes. The castello of Montriggioni is just a stone throw away from Siena and can be combiened with a half a day trip by visiting the castle first and having lunch in a nice restaurant afterwards. Overall I would say this is most probably the best hotel for a combined 5 - 7 days trip to and around Siena. From our side the hotel gets a very possitive vote because hotel accomodation and price and its (very) good services (clean rooms, good and plenty of breakfast, friendly staff service) are in a very good balance. In Italy we have never ever stayed in a hotel on this price class with such incredible service before. If you expect to choose a hotel with such a qualified level of hotel service vice versa room price then it is an absolute must to go for the decision of the location of HOTEL MODERNO. Greatings from a very satisfied visitor of Switzerland

Like many other reviewers, we stayed at this hotel as part of an Archer's tour group. I can only echo other comments that it's scruffy, dirty, tired and worn out and should be taken off the Archers list of hotels or better still, demolished! t claims to be a 3 star hotel, but I would give it a 1 star if it was at all possible. The comical thing was the waiters and other staff that rushed around everywhere as if the placed was packed to capacity! In fact the tour group seemed to be the only guests and no-one wanted to spend any time in this dump anyway, so apart from breakfast time, it was virtually deserted the rest of the time. Thank God we only stayed one night!