Hotel Europa

Business hotel. Excellent location. Not much to mention other than standard.

Hotel Europa is well positioned, just in front of the "Cappella degli Scrovegni", and it is 5-6 minutes walk both from the railway station and from the main squares in the old city. I had a good room with a comfortable bed and a balcony. Wi-fi worked very well. It was far too hot in the room, and the heating control did not have any effect on the room temperature. Insulation from outside noise was not very good. Insulation from other rooms was poor - I could hear noises from nearby rooms and from the room above. The bathroom was just ok, with an uncomfortable shower-in-tub. Breakfast was good, with some choices available. Service was OK.

Quite a central location and inexpensive home away from Jone with FREE Wi-Fi! Just like most 4* accommodations in Italy, the unobtrusive entrance and slightly cramped entry , waiting lounged was very clean and serene. When you register for one of their 80 rooms (junior suites) you can see their ristorante and 2 elevators to your right. We stayed on the 3rd floor and my husband took advantage of the stairs AND exercise room. The free breakfast buffet was amazing: breads, pastries, cereals, fresh fruits (banana, apple, orange and pears), hard boiled eggs, hams, cheese, scrambled eggs, bacon, condiments galore and a coffee maker with several choices including hot milk and hot water for tea. When you check in your room your key powers up the A/C, lights and outlets. There is a nice balcony on the third floor that allows you to sample the night air and hear the sounds of a thriving city life, but not in a crazy, blood-pressure increasing way. SO many shops and eateries close by. Padua (Padova) is such a nice walking town! But is you have many shopping bags or do not have the energy to walk back, taxi (look for signs for the stands) are inexpensive. You can call for one or hail one if you are feeling lucky.

The Hotel Europa is only a ten or twelve minute walk from the Padova railway station and is easy to find. The hotel is also only about a ten minute walk to the centre of the old town, with historical sites and shopping, restaurants and bars all being fairly close. Check-in was easy and despite being early by about twenty minutes, the receptionist gave me a room. A double room, it had an independent air-conditioning unit, a safe (which was unfortunately locked when I arrived), plenty plug points, a fridge with two bottles of water and a bathroom with very basic toiletries. The internet wifi worked alright. Rather strangely for a 4 star hotel however, there was no coffee machine/kettle in the room with instant coffee/tea etc. The room was clean and although not luxurious was comfortable enough. Breakfast was of the usual continental style but with the addition of bacon and scrambled or boiled eggs. A few rolls, breads, croissants, pastries, tarts as well as cold meat, cheese, yoghurt, choice of cereals, fruit juice and some fresh fruit. Sounds like a lot, but compared with other hotel breakfast buffets, it was actually quite meagre. No self-service coffee machine (probably a good thing!) but you could ask the staff for a cappucini or whatever. They didn’t actively ask if you wanted a coffee; you had to approach and ask them. Likewise when first entering the restaurant there was no ‘buongiorno” or “good morning”, just a rather sour faced woman asking for your room number. I did ask the receptionist if the safe in my room could be opened so as I could use it and was promised that somebody would come later to fix it but they never did. However having lost my phone charger, I also asked if I could borrow one and the receptionist went into a drawer and gave me one to use. Check-out was quick with another cheery guy at reception. Overall, a bit of a hit or a miss type of place. The receptionists were fine (other than not following up on my request regarding the room safe) but the attitude of the breakfast staff leaves a lot to be desired and I can’t understand a 4 star hotel not having a kettle in the room. At best an average hotel which seemed to me to be more of a 3 than a 4 star. I’ve actually stayed in several better 3 star hotels in Italy than this place. Significantly better!

It was in a great location for most sightseeing experiences and the restaurant associated with itbdid really nice food in the evening. But the breakfast was limited and unimaginative and the gym was ill equiped and some items like the treadmill did not work, very weights which were old. An inversion machine did not work and the air conditioner was inadequate and there was no water or towels provided