Ravenna Centro Hotel Best-Value Hotel - Historic Residence

Character: Very spacious guestrooms in a garden mansion right in the center of town. Advantages: Walk to all the World Heritage Sites. Location: Two blocks from Piazza Kennedy, the heart of Ravenna. Walk to the train station in 10 minutes. San Vitale is even closer, and six of the other World Heritage sites are an easy walk away. Click here for a map. It will never be possible for us to rave too much about Ravenna, one of the least known treasures that Italy has to offer. In the first place, this quintessential sleepy village is home to no less than eight World Heritage Sites: the astounding and unforgettable Byzantine churches whose drab brick exteriors belie the lavish and colorful mosaics that cover their interiors. You can easily spend two days just wandering amongst these masterpieces while young and old delight to the deciphering of the historic and religious messages hidden in their symbolic pictures. When that’s done, drive a couple miles to the broad sandy beach and reward yourselves with a swim or a sunbath. Or take the youngsters to Mirabilandia, the local version of Disneyland complete with rides and mascots. Ravenna also makes a great base for exploring nearby Bologna, whose perennial trade fairs make it impossible to get a hotel room there at any price; and then there are the Formula One race track at Imola, the balsamic vinegar workshops in Modena, the parmesan cheese farms outside Parma and, for opera fans, a mini-scavenger hunt of Verdi locations to visit. And since you are bound to work up a good appetite doing all this sightseeing, isn’t it nice to know that the area around Ravenna is also a gourmet paradise? The only thing we can’t figure out about Ravenna is why so few people visit it – but that makes it an even more ideal destination for the adventurous In Italy Online reader!

Public Transportation: There are frequent trains between Bologna and Ravenna. The trip takes 75 minutes.         Rooms: About 20, including classic doubles and triples, and several suites. All the rooms are very large for Italy, with marble or parquet floors, big double-paned windows, full-length mirrors and LOTS of built-in wardrobes, dressers and cabinets. All the built-ins and many of the exquisite Murano glass chandeliers, as well as some very fancy bathrooms, were put in by the nationally renowned attorney who owned this mansion before it became a hotel. All the rooms can have two single beds or one king bed; triple rooms also have a daybed or an alcove with a single bed. There are two connecting superior rooms (one with stall shower and the other with whirlpool bathtub). There are several suites, which can be fine for a family or, in some cases, for two couples. One duplex suite is on the ground floor and faces the garden; it has two single sofas downstairs, plus a queen bedroom with skylight and en suite bathroom with stall shower upstairs. Another suite has a king bedroom, a sitting room with double sleep sofa, a bathroom and terrace (both accessed through the sitting room). On the top floor (one flight up from the elevator), there is a suite for up to five people with two king/twin bedrooms joined by archways to a sitting room with a single daybed; the very large bathroom has a whirlpool tub and shower (accessed through the first bedroom). Another suite has a king/twin room with walk-in closet, terrace, and huge bathroom with double whirlpool bathtub/shower; this bathroom can be shared with another king/twin room.         Features: Air conditioning, central heating, direct-dial telephone, complimentary wireless access, satellite TV, private bathroom with stall shower or tub with wall shower, and hair dryer.         Facilities: Elevator to some rooms, inner garden, free bikes or rented electric bikes, library with complimentary wireless Internet point, kitchen where you can store food and drinks for cold meals (no cooking is allowed), sitting room with plasma TV, covered terrace, buffet breakfast with fresh juice and organic foods, public parking very nearby (2.50 Euro/day).

Please note that the elevator at this hotel does not go to all the rooms. Be sure to let us know if you need elevator access to your room.

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