I've been very lame at returning ratings recently because I've become dooyoo obsessed. I will try to...
I've been very lame at returning ratings recently because I've become dooyoo obsessed. I will try to be better. Happy writing.
Member since:18.06.2003
Reviews:67
Members who trust:21
This was a definite 'how far can we go on a budget at Easter where it might be warm?' affair. Thank God for budget airlines. Me, the wife and the nipper/satan spawn off to Pisa on Ryanair from Liverpool for about £140 should do it.
But where to stay? I was all for sleeping on a beach but Italy in April wouldn't stop hypothermia I was told. So it was time to scour the internet for somewhere with 5 days availability, vaguely out of season and cheap. We had about £400 to play with. Not too bad. The wonders of the modern family meant that some of our kids were spending time with their real parents so we were down from 5 to 1. It wasn't my idea to conceive a child between us that we couldn't ship out. Damn female hormones. Rather than spend our time mourning, we thought it best to bugger off of on holiday without them to ease the pain.
I digress. After much uncertainty we decided on a rather pleasant looking hotel, vaguely posh, close to the airport and near a beach with its own pool in case of climate emergencies. It was a blind act but that only added to the excitement.
The Journey --------------- I don't care if Ryanair are tacky and a bit cramped and dirty. And smell. Or crash on landing. They get you there for buttons. Pisa Airport was OK. Small but with the bits you need - loos,
shops, pizza etc etc. We arrived at night and Easter is apparently a big deal for the Italians. Something about God and guilt. However, the taxis were plentiful and zipped us off to the nearby coastal resort of Tirrenia for about 25Euros for a 20km journey (memory may be fading). We kept going past Tirrenia for about 5km to the hotel. It was dark. I had absolutely no idea where I was.
The Reception ----------------- We were greeted in a pleasant foyer by a pleasant man. Signed the paperwork and were 'carted' on a pleasant golf buggy by a different pleasant man to our 'block' and room. Still dark. Still clueless as to where I was, but it looked green and leafy in the moonlight. In the light of a solar path light I saw a slightly deformed looking lemon on a bush. I just thought I'd throw that in for 'atmosphere'.
The room ----------- I was well impressed by the room. Dominated by a huge bed, the room was spacious and very chic. Suede headboards and furnishings with a huge sofa. The bathroom was a sparkly marble affair with a wall-sized mirror. It was one of the best looking rooms I've bee in. To one side was a patio door that opened out to a balcony which was bizarre, as we were on the ground floor. It was equipped with a table and chairs and turned out to be a good place to smoke fags and drink coffee. Still no idea where I was though.
The complex --------------- On waking, I finally got some idea of where I was. The hotel comprises of about 4 modern, low-rise blocks. The word 'block' here is not to confused with the use of the word in 'H-block' or indeed 'Prisoner of Cell Block H'. These were nice blocks - modern but in 'sympathy'. With something. Most were residential, one housing a rather posh, expensive restaurant that no-one ever seemed to use. Another housed the gym and swimming pool which I'll mention later. Another, the main restaurant - the place you go for breakfast or a drink. These were all loosely arranged around a central 'park' for want of a better word. A very pleasant area, filled with pine trees and paths as well as more local 'exotic' plants. The area of Tirrenia is a national park for pine woodland and the hotel, it turned out, had been built within it, nestling its many buildings within the existing wood. Very nicely done!
Near the main entrance was a barbecue area next to an outdoor swimming pool. Both these were closed due to being out of season which I knew before hand. Some of the leaflets around reception showed pictures in the height of summer and they cater for the bathers with freshly cooked barbecue stuff which looked all rather splendid. Shame it was shut. I fancied some meat around the pool.
Food ------ The large bar and restaurant was again well appointed and smart looking. The bar prices were reasonable - about 2 Euros for a bottle of Peroni.
Breakfast was a HUGE affair. A massive selection of continental goodies which never stopped coming. I love the breakfasts on the continent. UK breakfasts are very restricted in variety but here they just threw everything you could think off at you. Brill. Endless coffee and brioches, toast, meats, cheese, yoghurt stuff for stick insects. Everything.
We had dinner there one night which was a rushed affair as we had a 3 year old Jac (not a typo - Welsh spelling) and he was being a pain in the bum. I think it was fine but had no idea what it was I had.
The pool ---------- One thing I didn't realise was that the use of the pool was not free, even to residents unless you pay more up front. It was quite pricey as well with a days pass for the three of us to use the facilities being about 40 euros. On a slightly cloudy day we went for it and to be honest it was quite good value for money. The pool was very luxurious and obviously aimed at wealthy gym users. All manner of bubbly bits squirted my nether-regions until I felt value-for-money had been achieved. We spent a bit of time in the sauna. Jac passed out in there quite quickly so we got a bit of peace and quiet. There were also a lot of other treatments on offer within the price including use of the gm but I was on holiday so sod that. Upstairs has a bar and 'café' for light lunches and the like. All I all - not bad but not the sort of thing you'd want to spend money on every day.
The surroundings. --------------------- This is where we get to the catch. The local area isn't quite 'finished' yet. I don't mean that in the never finished 'costa' sort of way. No huge cranes everywhere or anything like that. I got the impression that when the area was flattened by the allied invasion in 1943 they started rebuilding. And they still are. Very slowly. There are some plush developments going up along the main coastal road the hotel sits on. In between these it is rather barren. Not nasty, just unused. The resort of Tirrenia 5 km away looks a bit unloved.
Just outside the hotel, over the main road is a beach. It looks like it is used by the locals - it's never going to be covered with Germans (not since 1943 anyway) but in April it looked like it was just getting ready for the holiday season. The beach bars were touching up their paintwork and the bulldozers were out sprucing and raking the sand. A month later it would have been pleasant but it wasn't just yet. The Med sparkled like it always does and the sun shone but the scene is slightly ruined by the port of Livorno, 5 miles south and you can see the huge tankers steaming into harbour and the massive dockside cranes dominated the distant skyline. I wasn't bad at all - just didn't fulfil my images of Club Tropicana.
We caught the bus to Pisa one day, which was an enjoyable exploration and went to Livorno as well, which wasn't unpleasant. Other that that we were happy kicking round the hotel and beach. Jac loved it.
Overall -------- Well I had a really good time. I like these shoestring, where-can-we-go-for-the-money expeditions we go on. I always set out to enjoy my plan-less adventure. This was a good hotel with good service, rooms and food. It was inI a bit of a funny place and in hindsight I wish I had hired a car to go exploring a bit more. I wouldn't go there for a family holiday - the beach and surroundings aren't up to it but if you want to go somewhere on-the-hop for a bit of a break you won't go far wrong. For 3 return flights and the hotel for 4 nights we paid around £550 which I think was Billy Bargain.
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Price is per double room per night and may vary depending on date booked...
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