Maison Matilda - Luxury Rooms

We received the most wonderful welcome at Maison Matilda even though it was quite late in the evening. I had exchanged e mails with Viviana before arrival and she is as charming in person as she was in the correspondence. We stayed in La Romantica - a suite with balcony which was lovely. It is furnished with antique (or at least antique looking) furniture. The bed was huge and extremely comfortable. The bathroom is a really good size and has a good shower. We had Italian breakfast each morning. The house is an old building and is tall and narrow - which means there are stairs to reach your room. This was absolutely no problem for us (in our 60s) but you should be aware. The room was a really good size and there is plenty of space for sitting in the house if you are travelling as a group - or outside space if the weather is warm. The location is excellent. The house, is set on a quiet side street but the walk into the centre of the town takes approximately 5 minutes passing shops, cafes and restaurants, along the way. If you wish to stay here and visit Venice (which I would recommend) the train station is a 10 minute walk away, the railway journey takes about 25 mins and costs €4 each way. A great way to experience the city but escape the crowds. We felt as if we were staying at the house of a friend. We had already planned our activities before we arrived (having travelled to Treviso many times) but Viviana was extremely engaging and helpful and would have provided suggestions of things to do had we required it. Maison Matilda is a lovely place to slow the pace of life for a while, step off the planet and enjoy what Treviso has to offer.

This is an expensive hotel with rooms costing more than E200/night. Is it unreasonable to expect air conditioning that works? Additional pillows if you need them? (apparently the rooms were full, so they were all in use - I saw no evidence of this). Or a receptionist who is available day and night to sort it? (and no instructions as to what you should do if there's a problem). Or a decent selection of food for breakfast, instead of an amiable but gormless youth who tells you that there isn't any cheese, or meat, and that essentially your choice is Peach juice, a selection of croissants and jam, some yoghurt and coffee? Oh, and he later realised that there was an orange that he could squeeze if we wanted fresh orange juice. The place looks stylish (though the staircase carpet is a bit frayed). The situation is ordinary (it's a residential street, so no special views) but reasonably close to the centre. The problem, I suspect, is that the owner just isn't prepared to invest in new carpets or working air conditioning, to pay for food for an adequate breakfast or staff to man the hotel. Even though she charges prices that would bring all of these things and more elsewhere. The impression that I had was that she simply didn't care. We had the most uncomfortable night that I can recall in any hotel that charged more than E100 a night. It was June. The temperature was high. The room was stifling and the lack of extra pillows was a real problem for us. The breakfast was embarrassing and made Fawlty Towers look professional. We cut our visit short. It's probably fine in cool weather and if you're happy with just coffee and pastries for breakfast and aren't gluten intolerant. At this price, though, it's still a rip off.