Grand Universe Lucca, Autograph Collection

We had a fantastic time at the Grand Universe Hotel in Lucca. It is located right in the middle of the old city, surrounded by plazas and cathedrals. There was an opera show right around the corner that was just beautiful. The staff are so friendly and helpful, we immediately felt at home. The room was comfortable and very clean. Like all rooms in Italy, it  is a bit compact but they make amazing use of the space. The breakfast was delicious and had a huge variety of delicious offerings. The rooftop bar is small but has a beautiful view. We loved our stay here and are looking forward to returning.

This is a lovely hotel located adjacent to two public squares in the heart of Lucca. We stayed in room 106 (on the second floor) which had a generous balcony overlooking one of the squares (great for people watching). The room was beautiful with a high wood-beam ceiling, an excellent bathroom, many amenities — and the wonderful balcony. The only negative at this hotel was the bumbling front-desk staff, who were not very helpful and didn’t seem able to answer more than the most basic questions. The hotel is small, so I guess they can’t offer a concierge and the staff is not trained to fill that role.

I’m mobility challenged, & far prefer a walk-in shower to an uneasy balancing act in a narrow old bathtub. This preference often means spending more money for a simple safety feature…the rooms & the hospitality venues I stay at often aren’t that great ..but yeah, they have that shower! So when recently we were in Lucca, we chose Marriott’s beautifully renovated former glassworks situated on a famous Square, as our destination. Our junior suite being the model of architecturally-influenced refinement did indeed have the promised (& spacious ) walk-in shower..but the huge base was not textured in any way ＞＞ & one was always fearful of slipping once the shower ran…indeed the adjacent flat section wasn’t textured either …so wet feet on a matt- finished stone platform ( with no wall hand rail ) was an accident waiting to happen as one gingerly stepped down onto the bath mat …in all an astoundingly ridiculous design failure …especially & ludicrously, seeing the surely almost never-used adjacent bathtub ( no doubt installed because they are ‘the thing’, aren’t they, those bid baths ?) …DID actually have …a nonslip base! Honestly. It was indeed a luxurious fitout, but the eyes-wide-shut hotel services manager nonetheless still allowed a vastly frayed edge to the lovely rug to greet us upon arrival…& I was always wary of that in case I tripped on it whilst being there. Awful such Raggedy Ann housekeeping …so-called Autograph Collection my foot! The 4 Star serve-yourself breakfast sadly wasn’t that good, with only very limited fresh fruit available & rather dry reconstituted ‘scrambled’ eggs …. Bewilderingly they offered just minimal cakes in a country that prides itself on glorious sweet beginnings to the day everywhere you go . Frankly I’ve had better breakfasts in far less prestigious places in Italy, many many times. And the ubiquitous caterer’s powdered eggs can be found everywhere….even zero-starred joints have those! Marriott can, & should do, better. The ground floor (sadly unsympathetically overlit in the evenings ) bar has a stellar Barman mixing a stunning Negroni…..but very ordinary snacks only to accompany a great cocktail..pity that. One wonders how it is an internationally famous hotel chain can’t get basic detail right when it presents one of its better brands in such a stunning city as Luca. Disappointed I was, so only a qualified recommendation, sadly. Hard to justify spending that much coin.