My husband and I stayed at the Rapallo Hotel for one night during our Italian vacation. The hotel was an easy walk from the train station (if you follow the walking directions and not the driving directions). The hotel is a small boutique hotel located very centrally in Florence. The hotel was very clean, but small. When we arrived our room was not ready and the Manager on duty stored our luggage and directed us to a lovely Italian restaurant. He was incredibly friendly as I had read on several reviews. When we returned, a bit later, the night Manager was on duty. From the time we walked in the door it was a completely different atmosphere. He was not very friendly and acted as if he did not want to be bothered checking us in. He took a phone call mid-way through and upon returning abruptly handed us off to the bellman to take us to our room. Never explained breakfast, the snacks/drinks in the evenings, or when he would return our passports that he had already taken from us. When I asked him about our passports he very hastily asked that I come back in ten minutes. We booked our room through hotels.com and booked a standard room with a balcony and bath tub. Unfortunately, when we arrived at our room it was very small (even for Europe standards) and had no bath tub or balcony. The room actually looked out at a brick wall. When I went back down to get the passports, I took the hotel.com reservation to show the Manager. Upon looking at it he informed me that they do have these rooms, but that he never received my request. When I told him I was confused that it was on my confirmed reservation and I showed him the printed out reservation that clearly stated a balcony and bath tub he just looked at me. He did not attempt to rectify the situation or even apologize. I am not sure if this is an issue of the hotel or hotel.com, but unfortunately I paid for a room that I did not receive and the hotel made no attempt to even apologize. We were there for one evening so the room was fine, but I have read such great reviews of this hotel and how they go above and beyond to help and this was not my experience. My husband and I travel often and are not demanding travelers, but I do expect to receive what I have paid for and what is clearly spelled out on the reservation. When this does not occur, I do expect the hotel to at least act as if they care and attempt to rectify the situation or at a minimum give a sincere apology. Hopefully, this gentleman was having a bad night, because this was some of the worst customer service at a hotel I have experienced in a while. The next morning the day Manager was very apologetic when he asked us how the stay was and we explained what occurred the previous evening. In addition, we had a room right next to the elevator/stairs. You were able to hear anyone out in the hallway or anyone using the stairs. Also, early evening they played music throughout the common areas of the hotel and one of the speakers was directly outside of our room. We got to listen to Christmas music in our room (your call if this is good or bad). After my previous experience with the Manager, I never complained about the noise or music. My husband and I had a good laugh since the website stated the rooms are soundproofed. I think I was more disappointed because I booked the hotel based on all the great Trip advisor reviews. Other notes: The evening snacks and drinks are not worth the effort. Any alcoholic beverages you have to pay for and we were not told this in advance. I do not mind paying for a glass of wine, but it would be nice to know up front what is free and what is not. Plus you are in Italy, there is much better wine at some of the great restaurants. The breakfast the next morning was good. As mentioned, the hotel was very clean and in a great location, hopefully we just had an unfortunate experience with the customer service.