I booked Jet 2 flights from Leeds-Bradford to Pisa myself and the Garden Hotel was recommended by Quartz Travel a local independent travel agency (who were very knowledgeable about Italy) for three nights, as a wedding anniversary surprise for my wife; our daughter & her boyfriend were also travelling with us. Later, and as an additional surprise, I arranged for some close friends to join us there. Right from the outset, the hotel was very helpful. Initially, the agent e-mailed them and asked them to arrange for a transfer to take all four of us from Pisa Airport & back again (our friends were driving there from France.) They responded by return with an acceptable price, so we booked it. Some months later, we decided it would be better to hire a car, so we could see something of the Tuscan countryside and they cancelled the taxi transfer without any complaint. The day before we left, the agents asked for all three rooms to be near each other, but we did not have a reply before leaving for the airport. We arrived in the late afternoon in a cloudburst, with a group checking in at the same time. Despite this, the harassed reception staff were friendly and cheerful. We had only paid the standard price, but in order to accommodate our request for three – more or less – adjacent rooms, we were accommodated in the Casabianca Wing. As far as we could tell, these were better than the standard rooms in another annexe, which we did not see – and seem to have drawn some adverse criticism from other contributors - so I can't comment on the quality of them. (The best rooms are in the older, original building). Umbrellas were found for us, so that we wouldn't get soaked on the short walk to our rooms. The Casabianca rooms are in a separate block, a minute or so from reception; all are air-conditioned and have double or twin beds; views of the gardens; a TV with local channels, plus the BBC World Service (Channel 11); a phone and, whilst there is no radio or alarm, they will arrange for a wake-up call; and a fridge with reasonably priced - as hotel prices go - water and alcoholic drinks. The bathrooms all have a shower and bathtub as well as the obvious (!) facilities and a bidet too; the washbasins have mixer taps, so you may wash or shave at the temperature you prefer; as well as soap, shower caps and shampoo are provided, with plenty of towels. All in all, and bearing in mind that you don't travel to somewhere like Siena to sit in your room for three days, all three couples found the rooms good and more than fit for purpose: primarily to sleep and shower in! The only criticism we could make of the rooms is that the beds are relatively hard, which was fine for us but, if you like a really soft mattress, then these are not for you. The weather being foul, we asked if we could get a table for dinner at the hotel but, with a group in – not to mention a good sized audience for Italy v Romania in the European Football Championships on the TV in the lounge – we had no chance of a table for six. No problem; I mentioned a restaurant that my wife and I had visited 15 years or so earlier that I knew was still good and they booked a table for us and called a taxi for us; excellent service from the reception desk staff. And so it was for the remainder of our stay; although there is a bus service into the city, buses are infrequent at the weekend and it's about a half hour walk into the centre, so we called taxis morning and evening, all of which arrived promptly and were good value, with the cost shared between us, especially when we could get one of the 6 seat vehicles, though most have 4 seats. The buffet breakfast is excellent, with a good choice of cereals, yoghurt, fresh fruit, pastries, cold ham & cheese and even scrambled eggs & bacon. The barman is a genial American (or Canadian: we didn't ask!) and, even when busy as when we arrived, we never had to wait long for a drink, which was always served with a smile. The gardens are large, with many rose bushes, though these had been beaten down by the storm, and there are great views of the city from the terrace and pool area. We had thought about taking a swim before breakfast, had the weather been a bit kinder, but that is not an option as the pool does not open until 09:00. Some people may not like the fact that the hotel takes groups, though Americans with a tenuous grasp of which country they are in can be entertaining; a lady at the next table to us asked for “caf? au lait” at breakfast! To sum up, unless you want to be right in the city centre, which would be better if can only stay for one or two nights, then I can confidently recommend this hotel but, if in doubt, do pay for the higher priced rooms.

This is definitely NOT a 4* hotel. Rooms need completely redecorating and updating. Bar area too small for the amount of people in the hotel. Swimming pool was closed, because they don't fill it up till May - we were not made aware of this on booking. No entertainment during the evenings, again, we were not made aware of this. However, Service and staff were very good and food was nice but with a limited menu. The Hotel seemed to cater more for the corporate market.

Stayed here with my husband for a short break. To be honest, very disappointed. This is not a 4 star hotel, despite the fact that we were charged four star prices. We were put in an extension of the hotel, not the main building, our double bed was 2 twin beds shoved together and one of us usually ended up slipping through the split in the middle. The floors are tiled so beds move around easily. Room small, shower over bath antiquated and not exactly a power shower. No tea/coffee etc. By UK standards this was a 2-3 star hotel. The pool was empty (granted it was april) and rather unattractive with the rubbish at the bottom. Staff were fairly helpful, except for the barman; when I sent my corked wine back; barman tried to fish out the cork and change the glass!. This hotel does need an overhaul I fear and I would not recommend it for that romantic break that you might be planning.

The Hotel Jolly in town referred us hear as we were in a tough position to find New Year's lodging. The staff was extremely accommodating and showed us several rooms before we booked. The grounds are nice (even in the winter) and would likely be beautiful once the flowers bloom. From their back terrace you'll get a solid view of Siena's skyline. The rooms could definitely use a little upgrading and much of the furniture throughout the hotel looks like it came out of the 70's. The hotel was definitely clean and was about a 15 minute walk to town. If you are traveling during warm weather months - this looks like a great spot to relax.

Grounds are beautiful, as is the view from the main building. But our room, in an annex, had old and somewhat torn furniture, was musty, and had no view other than a wall. Staff at the restaurant were rude; they promised early in the day that they would be serving dinner in the lovely outside porch that evening. We made reservations and cut our time in "old town" Sienna short in order to return to the hotel for dinner. When we arrived they informed us that they would not serve dinner in the porch. They were defensive, denying that such a promise had been made and then blaming other staff for the false promise. Their negative attitude was worse than our lost opportunity to eat in such a lovely setting. We spent 16 nights throughout Italy and this was the worst hotel during our stay. There are many other hotels in that area that have better rooms and friendlier staff.