Hotel All'Arco

This is a brilliant little hotel (11 rooms) in a fantastic location. It's also relatively cheap. But there's more:

The hotel is new (or, newly refurbished) in the last year or so, and it shows. The room we had (a Standard Double) was spacious and well-equipped (admittedly two single beds pushed together but at least with a single mattress) with A/C, TV, toiletries/vanity items, hair-dryer, etc. The shower was small, but with good temperature/pressure. (Also, possibly the least 'fresh' and possibly hadn't been redone to the same standard as other fittings.)

I'd wager the room we had, number 10 on the top floor (there is a lift, though it's very small so be ready to be cosy with your companion!), is the best in the hotel. One (of two) windows in the main room and one (of two) windows in the bathroom directly overlooks the famous Arco di Riccardo and the fantastic Piazza di Barbacan. With the windows open you may be bothered by the late-night revellers in one of several bars on the square but here's a tip: join them! You'll have the most fantastic night and then stumble up a few metres to bed! You're more likely to be bothered by the church bells from the Chiesa di Santa Maria Maggiore (6ft or so from the other bathroom window) which starts at 8am every morning (though, another tip: then head down to one of the bars on the Barbacan square for an excellent coffee and croissant!).

Coffee in the room would have been a bonus, but I guess you can't have everything! Oh - and there's free WiFi, plenty of sockets (including a twin-USB by the bed if you need to charge your device but forgot an adapter!).

Despite it being hot, we switched the A/C off and had windows open. The one noisy seagull, late night / early morning revellers and church bells aside, the only problem with that was mosquitoes, but I hardly think we can blame the hotel for that!

The rooms are serviced daily (and you therefore have to be out by 11.30) but towels/linen only changed on demand (and payment of €10). Reception closes between 11.30 and 14.00, and you can check in when it reopens; there is a luggage store where you can leave your bags off you arrive early before you can check in.

Reception staff are extremely friendly and helpful and speak English should your Italian falter. Remember to pay the €1.60pppn City Tax upon checkout (or, as we did due to an extremely early departure, the day before).

For €7 per person you can have a light continental breakfast (order the night before) but we preferred one of the nearby cafés. Talking about nearby: everything is! You are a stone's throw from Piazza Unità (down some stairs) and the Teatro Romano (down the same steps), a few more stones thrown upwards on the cobbles to the castle (Castello di San Giusto) and cathedral (Cattedrale di San Giusto Martire), all'Arco you don't even need a stone for (just reach out) (neither for the aforementioned Chiesa di Santa Maria Maggiore or Basilica Di San Silvestro) and roll a stone down one of the alleys to the sights of the Old Town and Piazza del Cavana. Stones aside, you can't reach the hotel by car because of its excellent location no doubt.

All in all an absolutely excellent hotel and I'd be keen to stay again on our next visit to Trieste... but perhaps only if I can have room 10!

I really can't say enough good things about Hotel all'Arco! We learned about this hotel in an online forum and the recommendation was spot-on! Booking our room online was easy and we received an e-mail confirmation from the staff; indeed, there was good communication throughout our experience via e-mail and Whatsapp that included directions on how to arrive at the hotel. The rooms are generously-sized and ours even had a balcony with a beautiful view overlooking the arch for which the hotel is named! The breakfast (which cost extra, but was inexpensive) was very good with coffee and a selection of continental items, cereals, and yogurt. The location is great with many sites, shops, and restaurants nearby. Transportation is easily-accessible, too, with the Centrale train station and cruise terminal within walking distance, but if you want to go farther afield, then taxis can drive right up to the front door. The best thing about this property, though, is the lovely staff! Walter, Giulia, and Roberta (All of whom speak English.) are all SO kind, SO lovely, and SO helpful! They had good suggestions for places to eat and shop and made phone calls on our behalf to check on hours, table availability, etc. If I had to come up with one criticism to balance this sincerely glowing review, it would be that some noise from the street and other rooms came through, so my ear-plugs came in handy. If and when I return to Trieste, I will stay at Hotel all'Arco again!

The location is great - very central and a short walk from anywhere in the centre. The rooms have different sizes, but all comfortable for this level of hotel and very clean. They offer daily cleaning though the change of bed sheets and towels is only every 5 days which was fine for us. For extra charges you can request the change of towels and bedsheets if needed. The breakfast was very simple, but this is what they clearly write, and it was a good value for money. They provide a voucher for 15% discount at the underground parking that was big, convenient and very cheap. The parking was a little bit farther than we expected though it was not a problem for us, but to reach the hotel you need to walk through some stairs, near to the hotel the parking is almost impossible.

As the hotel is very central it has some bars around and during the night it may be very noisy during the weekend if you wish to sleep with open windows - closing windows helps a lot though.

Quirky, interesting little hotel in a pedestrian-only area. Rooms with balconies overlooking a Roman arch that gives the hotel its name.

There wasn't someone at reception when I arrived so a phone call was necessary but they responded quickly.

Clean and modern rooms & friendly staff. Charming hotel in the city center (fyi: The hallways, elevator and the reception with the breakfast tables are a little bit small.) Vegan alternatives (besides plain bread and jam) are not available at the breakfast, unfortunately.

Extremely friendly staff, very responsive and helpful with any query. Even though there were difficulties with loud neighbours in the middle of the night, the staff reacted quickly. Perfect central location, rooms are clean and cosy.

This is a very well and intelligently organized, modern, friendly little hotel. Highly recommendable! I wish the Triestine restaurants had the same attitude towards customers as this hotel has.

If you are staying here for a long time with your car. You should know the parking is 10 euro a day and 5 euro a night, but you do get 10% off. Also to get to the hotel from the parking, there is a couple of stairs to get to the hotel. The room and staff were very nice. The streets next to the hotel can get very loud in the evening. But when the windows are closed you hear nothing!