The Hotel An ugly 3 star hotel is in a small boring village about 5 miles from Pisa that looks like a set of shipping containers. You'll need a car if you don't like waiting around for buses. I used it for business purposes for several months, had a company car so wasn't fussed about it's location. Everything in the hotel was dated from the 1970s and you did not have a good comfortable feel when you entered the hotel. The hotel was kept clean. Breakfast wasn't great and having tried dinner once, I didn't try it again, it was really substandard. The staff were very unfriendly so I kept my interaction with them to an absolute minimum. I asked them if I would pay a premium for using the room phone for national and international calls, they said no, but when I got the bill I could see that they did charge extra. When I confronted them with this they became dismissive of my argument. The hotel doesn't really offer anything to the tourist that they can't get in Pisa. I would never stay there as a tourist. So stay in Pisa rather than this place. Personally, as a tourist wouldn't stay in Pisa either: see below The Pisani The attitude on the hotel staff is symptomatic of Pisani. They are in general rude people who only want your money. I lived there for a while and believe me I have experienced it. You are just dollar signs to them - hotels, restaurants, buses, train station staff all the same. Three of us enjoying a Friday night in a restaurant were screamed at to get out 5 minutes after we had finished the third course of a three course meal, we were not allowed to buy more drinks and enjoy the end of a hard weeks work. Disgusting. In restaurants NEVER complain about the service or food before they have finished serving everything. If you don't like it send it back and walk away. I was told this by several Italian friends. Pisa One day is enough in Pisa. There is nothing else to look at other than this over hyped Tower, it will take roughly 20 minutes. You can spend the rest of the day shopping or visiting the fort town of Luca. I would certainly avoid staying in Pisa and book a hotel in Florence, from where you can visit San Giminiano and Siena.

The TVs have poor reception, the rooms are sprayed with a particularly nauseating fragrance, the decor is tatty, the staff are surly, the bar is an utter rip-off, the lift almost jammed and the breakfast buffet is a sorry excuse of discount supermarket scraps. And they clean so well that there was a pubic hair in the drinking glass in the bathroom. Apart from that, we enjoyed our stay a great deal.

Lovely quiet surroundings, hotel clean but basic with pleasant staff, food ok and reasonably priced. Bus stop and Train station just a short walk from Hotel which is great if you like using public transport, if your not used to it can be a bit daunting, lady at tourist info in station very helpfull and fluent english. Taxi from airport cost 19euros + tip, as we couldnt find correct bus but if you want to try, look for Blue 'Vai BUS' heading for Luka, up past taxi rank, possibly get ticket from inside airport as no money is taken on board, drivers speak little or no english. Suitable for couples staying for a few nights, nothing at all for children. Plenty places to visit if you reserch and plan in advance. Use bus back to airport anyway as it only cost 1.50euros and is as quick and easy as taxi.

The Hotel Granduca is situated just north of Pisa. My aim was to visit the city of Pisa but stay at a hotel outside of the city so that I could get some relaxation time too. The taxi from the airport (Pisa) cost 25 euros (including a tip), but as there were 4 of us it was reasonable. The hotel is set in a small village called San Giuliano Terme. It is a very quiet village sitting at the foot of some very scenic hills with a small number of shops and a few restaurants. The hotel is a very nice place to stay and is clean and comfortable. The staff I found to be very friendly and willing to help out where they can. The rooms are basic with bed(s), desk, chair, coffe table, fridge, wardrobe and television (only 1 free english channel - BBC news 24). The bathroom in our room was again clean and was fitted with a shower. The breakfast at the hotel suited us as there was a choice of cornflakes or museli, a selection of danish pastries and croissants, cheeses and meats, fruit juices, tea and various types of coffee. We had an evening meal on 2 of our nights at the restaurant and the variety was good but the portions were smaller than expected - only slight disappointment there. However, there is a very very nice restaurant just outside of the hotel on the opposite side of the road which served excellent pizza! The bus stop for Pisa is a 2 minute walk from the hotel and only costs 1.5 euro to Pisa (buy tickets from the newsagent next to the bus stop). Better still, walk another 200 yards past the bus stop and you will find the train station. Just 1 station down the line and you are right next to the leaning tower of Pisa. I would recommend this way of travel as trying to get a bus back to the hotel was a bit of a nightmare for us. If you have a day to spare then catch the train to Pisa station and change to the train to Viaraggio. It is a beatiful town with a lovely beach, clear cooling sea and a very busy marina. It only cost 4.95 euros for the Pisa - Viaraggio return ticket. I intend to go back to Pisa very soon and I will be staying again at the Hotel Granduca, I found it value for money and a great place to stay where I could also sit and relax in peaceful surroundings.

We weren't expecting much from this hotel after looking at previous reviews, but we were pleasantly surprised. We only stayed there one night during an Archers Direct tour. The room we had was a good size as was the batroom. Everything was very clean. We had a good uninterrupted sleep in a comfortable bed. The evening meal was OK but the breakfast was disappointing. If we were going to that area again we would stay there.