One of the worst hotels I stayed in was a Frommer's recommendation for moderate price, in Riva Del Garda, on Lake Garda in northern Italy. Beautiful locale, but the room was up two very narrow and steep flights, above the restuarant. The room/bath was just okay, but the bed was a thin mattrass atop a wire frame. My body was bent into the shape of a "C" either on my back or stomach. If that weren't enough to preclude sleep, the town's church bells rang all night,to me still unfathomable: 11:13PM, 11:49PM, 3:33AM, 7:22AM....

The worst place was a pension, another of Frommer's finest recommendations (do they EVER visit/stay at any of these places?), in Rome. Driving into Rome on a Sunday, found the pension in the "artsy" district, each floor of this once grand home, was separately owned/operated. With each floor I ascended, the rents gots cheaper, seedier and as I discovered, why they were available. This time I asked to see the room, before I paid. I remember standing in the doorway, frozen for at least a minute, calculating if I could find another hotel at this hour and secure another coveted parking space. The door barely locked, the whole bath "room" WAS the shower; the spigot emerged out of the ceiling so everything got wet. The bed provided the all too familiar sleeping position of the letter "C"; it took a month for my back to straighten. After one night,I bid Arivaderci to this fallen manse, I high tailed it to the Sheraton with my hotel certs and enjoyed some much needed sleep the rest of my stay in Italy.


[This message has been edited by Rogues88 (edited 09-21-2000).]