My boyfriend and I thought we would love this hotel after staying in Florence on a budget however we did not. Luckily we only had to stay for one night. The hotel is certainly impressive and the lights at night are really nice however that was about it. The woman on the reception desk was perfunctory and official. There was no warmth or sincerity to her speel and she had all the charm of a napkin.

The hotel itself as a former reviewer remarked was sterile. We were given a room on the ground floor which I wasn't happy about. The room itself looked fancy initially but on closer inspection the furniture wasn't that amazing and all the switches were needlessly complicated. The floor of the room was freezing and the ceiling was just concrete. The room itself was cold and if you wanted to turn the heating up you had to ring and ask reception (which I had to do twice).The bathroom was very nice but didn't have a nice odour when we first went in.

We didn't want to eat in the restaurant as everyone there looked like they had a cattle prod shoved up their backsides-very pretentious and cold! My boyfriend went on the hunt for somewhere else for us to eat and found a charming little restaurant for us where the waitress spoke no English but couldn't have been more helpful-a stark contrast from the hotel.

The location of the hotel itself is bizarre. It literally is in the middle of nowhere, just a cafe up the road and some fields and houses-not centrally located for the city although it was only 5 minutes to the airport in a taxi.

I think this is a hotel for the business traveller. Someone who wants a clean, modern, formal place to stay conveniently located to the airport. if you want a central location-DO NOT STAY HERE. Also, if you are laid back and relaxed i wouldn't recommend it either. Stay there if you like modern things and have a superiority complex.

On the plus side, it was clean and the building is certainly nice, just don't take your family there!

We stayed at the San Ranieri in August, as we drove to Pisa for one day to visit the leaning tower.

The San Ranieri hotel is a 7-10 minute drive away from the Piazza dei Miracoli.

The building is simply beautiful, especially at night when light up in different colours. It is quite an extrem design-hotel.

Check-In was convenient and quick. The concierge was also eager to recommend places such as restaurants and stores.

The rooms was simple yet l=very nicely designed. The size was everage. The kingsize bed was very confortable and the bed sheet felt great. The bathroom was small and only had a shower (large shower). I was not too fond of the floor (not sure was material it was, but if was some synthetic coating).

The hotel has a couple of very nice balconies on the second floor with grass on the floor. Again, I must stress that this hotel was very well designed and is simpky beautiful.

I found this hotel to be extremely sterile, uppity, super ultramodern and eccentric, not what I am use to while visiting Italy.

We were not greeted at the front desk but stared at. The desk clerk treated us in a bored and tired attitude. Without any direction or assistance from the clerk, we found our room thru a dimly lit hallway. The room was nice just totally unexpected for Italy. The bathroom was bright orange with glowing lights that never turned off. The room itself was white and silver and the furniture was glossy black. On the outside of the hotel the lighting changes from orange, blule, green, purple and pink.

The "american bar" was comfortable with long white settes and a flat screen tv, the table was long and too low to set a drink on. I will say that the snacks were outstanding, not just peanuts and chips, but kabobs and bruschettes of raw salmon, tuna, fruits, cheeses and olives. After our first drink order was delivered we were asked to sign our bill, when we asked to start a tab, the bartender said we could have another bill...........

We dined in the hotel restuarant out of necessity. The hotel is really too far away from everything and anything. Be aware that there are TWO menus. There is a small slip of paper inside one of the brochures in your room that offers more reasonably priced and typical Italian selections. The menu the waiters offers is twice the price and offers food that are odd choices. The wine selection was surprisingly good. The atmosphere was sterile and cold. The furniture is white and chrome with white gauzy drapes to seperate different areas of the dinning room

The buffet breakfast was plentiful. It offered a wide selection of breads, pastries, cereals, eggs, bacons, coldcuts, cheeses, , fruits, jams and spreads. They do not offer a personal pot of coffee or tea for your table.

Although I can't say I disliked this place, it just wasn't to my liking.

More importantl, the hotel is way too far from the train station, the airport, the tower, local restuarants and shopping.

The good points:
This hotel is interesting and modern as far as the architecture and rooms are concerned. Our room was very clean and the breakfast buffet was good.

The bad points:
It is far from the tower (which is pretty much the only thing to see in Pisa). We had to take taxis which got kind of pricey, and they are also hard to come by in Pisa. You can't just flag them down - you actually call the taxi company - which is difficult if you don't have a cell phone or speak Italian or know how to use their pay phones.

The man working the reception desk was snobby and rude. He condescendingly told us we couldn't just "wave our hands" to get a taxi "like they do in New York". He also did not offer or even mention that the hotel has complementary shuttle service - which we read later in our info booklet in our room. Never smiled once.

The doors must be made of cardboard because we could hear every sound coming from the hallway as if the people were standing at the foot of our bed. To make it worse, our room was on the end next to the metal door leading into our hallway, which slammed shut each time someone went through it.

Lastly, the beds were very hard, not comfy at all.

Overall it was okay - I mean, it was very clean - which goes a long way in my book. But I didn't sleep at all due to the noise and uncomfortable bed.