Characterful Guesthouse in a Lovely Town (Bed and Breakfast L' Angolo del Poeta (Bergamo, Italy))

Member Name: MagdaDH

Product:	Bed and Breakfast L' Angolo del Poeta (Bergamo, Italy)
Date:	03/11/09 (23 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: nice building, nice room, helpful owners

Disadvantages: shower could be more usable, no a/c

We spend our last night in Italy in beautiful Bergamo, a town from whose Orio al Serio airport we were flying back to Prestwick and which Ryanair calls "Milan - Bergamo", but which is in fact located 50km away from Milan, in the beautiful, hilly area near Lake Como and which is a worthy destination in itself.

We booked a triple the room plus cot for the toddler over the phone, using Internet information and we were picked up at the train station by the proprietress, who made us feel very welcome indeed and who spoke good English. Later on she gave us a map of town and clear instructions on how to get to the centre as well as recommending good restaurant to eat in in the old town.

The B&B is located on an old, pleasant street in the Lower Town (Cita Bassa), next to an Ice Cream shop and about 15 minute walk from the station. A gate leads through the arch to an inner, porticoed courtyard round which several apartments are located - one of them forming the Poet's Corner ( L' Angolo del Poeta). It's a graceful old building, with interiors that are renovated but retain quite a few of the original features. Our room was spacious and comfortable, with a large double bed, camp bed set up for the bigger child and a cot for the little one. There was a dresser, rocking chair and a table with chairs and coffee cups. Quite uniquely for Italy, there was also a kettle for tea or coffee making and a small fridge contained coke, chocolate and a few bottle of cheap beer and wine.

The room had definite character; decorated in a warm colour scheme, with local paintings on the walls, bare-wood ceiling, wooden beams visible on the ceiling and walls and stone floor, it had hints of medieval and baronial of long time ago.

The bed was comfortable and although unfortunately there was no air-conditioning, the fan helped and we found that temperatures in Bergamo were not as high as by the Adriatic, but it was still hot.

The room had a balcony to the back of the property, and there was also a table on the terrace in the courtyard.

The bathroom was modern and handsomely decorated, with, with a bidet, efficient shower and terracotta tiles on the floor. However, the shower had just a curtain which didn't reach all the way down to the floor, there was no shower base. This meant that a special care had to be taken when taking a shower not to flood the bathroom, and when my eight year old didn't, the water just stayed there and waited for me to mop it up using spare towels, as the floor didn't really slope towards the drain.

The breakfast was served in the hall and was pretty good for Italy, with eggs and ham, toast, jam, coffee and juice. The proprietor gave us a lift to the station and even persuaded the airport bus driver to allow us on without tickets on our behalf!

We paid 89 Euro for the room for the four of us, including breakfast and the drinks from the fridge.

I would wholeheartedly recommend L' Angolo del Poeta to anybody needing a place to stay in Bergamo. Pleasant, characterful room in a lovely building, extremely helpful owners and comfortable beds at good price - what else do one needs?

The main disadvantage (as long as you discount the shower deluge caused by the child) was lack of air-conditioning, so for those very sensitive to heat it's perhaps better as a low to mid season option.

Tel: +39 35 23 76 31 Mobile: +39 348 80 38 813

Summary: as per title