Hotel Astoria in Bologna

Located just a short walk from Bologna's central train station, the Hotel Astoria offers a convenient, if not spectacular, starting point for exploring the city. The location is serviceable, making it easy to arrive and depart, but it lacks the charm and vibrancy of the city center, which is a bit of a walk away.

Upon arrival, we found the staff to be polite, though not particularly welcoming or friendly. They handled the check-in and check-out processes with an efficient, no-frills approach. While they were helpful with basic requests, there was a sense of detachment that made the stay feel a little impersonal.

The rooms themselves were of an acceptable standard but showed some signs of wear. The beds were adequate but nothing to write home about—a decent night's sleep was possible, but not in a great deal of comfort. The decor felt a bit dated, and while everything was clean, the overall impression was one of a mid-quality accommodation. The hotel provides a base to see the city, but it doesn't add to the experience. For the price, it's an "okay" option if your primary goal is convenience to the train station.

I had the misfortune to stay here for 4 days on a business trip. Whilst the room was large, that’s where the positives stop. The bed was extremely uncomfortable with a mattress that was very hard / like sleeping on concrete / so I slept terribly. The room was dirty. Dirty furniture, dirty floor, dirty lamps and most disgusting of all - there are NO duvet covers just one sheet separating you from the uncovered duvet which was full of stains. I did ask reception for a cover but nothing was done. My colleagues duvets were all the same also. So unhygienic. Water pressure poor. Water temperature hit and miss. Air conditioning and heating didn’t work well. Certainly one of the worst hotels I’ve stayed in.

The air conditioner failed often and even flooded the room a couple of times. Most of the pan fryers weren’t compatible with the induction stove. They didn’t fix the security box until the third day. The service was bad too. I don’t recommend this place.

*Don't believe the pictures. I repeat: don't believe the pictures!*
I was placed on the ground floor of a side building in a room that was extremely basic—nothing like what I had expected from the photos on Booking. The main issue was the window: it was about one and a half metres away, covered by a fixed sunshade and bars (!) that couldn’t be moved. The result? I slept in what felt like a prison cell. No surprise the air was musty—it was nearly impossible to ventilate the room properly.

And that wasn’t the end of it. The morning after my late arrival, roadworks began bright and early on the adjacent street—barely a metre from my bed. The shouting of the workers made it impossible to sleep. On top of that, the area is very noisy in general. From early morning, chambermaids were constantly rummaging through a cupboard right next to my room, which caused even more disturbance. To make matters worse, the following night I was woken around 1 a.m. by loud and aggressive banging on the door of the neighbouring room. Not exactly relaxing.

While the bathroom had clearly been renovated, the rest of the room—and the hallways—were in dire need of an update.

Breakfast was another disappointment. Despite the wide selection, it was poorly organised, with not nearly enough staff or space. Tables were crammed so tightly together that simply getting up meant bumping into other guests. The bread rolls were stale, and the coffee tasted industrial. Honestly, I would have been better off grabbing breakfast at a local café.
The only redeeming feature? The parking area: safe and spacious.

All in all, I strongly advise against staying at this hotel, especially at the rate I paid. It feels like a cash cow for someone focused solely on maximising profit with minimal investment. Guest experience seems irrelevant—they’re banking on the idea that people won’t return anyway.

Staff was nice and location is very central but aside from that, all was quite wrong.
I should've really read reviews on other sites before booking as there were plenty of examples of what is wrong with this hotel.
I went to Bologna for a conference and a bit of sightseeing. I booked for four nights but had such an uncompfortable stay that, after the first 2 nights, I decided to book another hotel for the final 2 nights.
Althought I stayed at the beginning of March, I found the room was pretty hot when I arrived and the air conditioning unit would not come on. I opened the window for several hours to let the room cool down a bit but it remained pretty warm throughout the night.
The bed was quite rigid and sinking in the middle. Couple that with one of the toughest pillows I ever had to use and I got 2 restless night of (very little) sleep, which meant I attended the conference on day 2 as a bit of a zombie.
Cleanliness was also a major let down: I found plenty of hair in the very small shower and staines on the floor in the bathroom as well as the room floor, the sink was dirty and toilet had some unidentified residue floating in it!
The room could do with a refurbish as the decor is dated and worned out, with plenty of scratches on the walls and chipped, tired furniture!
The shower was also very small and claustrophobic, with several patches of mould. The tap and shower head are mounted in the very middle, making it nearly impossible to have a decent shower without continuously hitting the tap of the shower doors.
Breakfast was really the final straw that broke the proverbial camel's back for me. Limited choice, fairly stale bread and pastries that must've been out for a day or 2, fresh fruit that was not fresh at all, horrible coffee from the machine.

The staff, breakfast, location were good. My room was the opposite. I paid 145 euro for one night for a room with two separate beds. Everything was old, the toilet was broken, in the bathroom some parts were dirty, the doors were also dirty. The bed sheets were old. The room was not so good looking like on the pictures. The price for this old worn out furnished room is too high. Lower the price or renovate the room.