The room we booked was described as “Deluxe Double Room, Balcony” the room we were given was in the attic with no windows, except in the bathroom. The door of the room had frosted glass and led onto a communal external corridor, which was used by smokers (see photo).
We went back to reception to ask to be moved and were told that was the room we had been allocated, and the hotel was fully booked. However we had arrived as check in opened and there were many other keys on the counter for people who had yet to check in. We again asked to be moved but the receptionist said she could not and started checking in other guests as they arrived. We asked that she stop and deal with our issue, so she said she would call her manager. After a long time the manager arrived but instead of resolving the issue she berated us for using Hotels.com. She said she gets less money than when people use it. She said she didn’t have a contract with them and began listing other booking sites with which she did have a contract including Expedia. I explained that Hotels.com was owned by Expedia and she became very irate and said it wasn’t true. She then said she would phone Expedia and there then ensued a lengthy call in rapid Italian which we couldn’t understand. We gave up, asked the original receptionist for our key and went to the attic. The whole process wasted about an hour. It appears that the manager does not like people using Hotels.com and so allocates them the worst room.