Breathtaking Ambiance - Great Breakfast!
You know when you pass a Lotus in the parking lot that your stay is going to be above-average! My husband and I ran into train strikes on our honeymoon and unexpectedly needed to stay the night in Pisa on our way to Assisi. His father found us this ex-monastery Hotel Santa Croce in Fossabanda online and reserved our rooms a matter of hours before we arrived.
If you have ever dreamed of visting a picture-perfect monastery with beautiful courtyard cloisters and frescos, this is it! You are literally staying in the midst of this. The advantage to being within the cloister walls is that it is very quiet inside, very peaceful.
The complimentary breakfast was the best I have EVER had in Italy, spanning all of my trips over the years. Usually Italian breakfasts are disappointing, but this was perfect: attendants making sure food was hot/cold and plentiful, lots of choices for juice, fruit, cereal, pastries, yogurt, etc. The ambiance of breakfast was my favorite part of our whole trip in Pisa. I could have sat looking out at the cloister courtyard for the rest of my life. If you want an old, historic Italy sensory experience, choose this hotel!
The rooms were adequate. It seemed no matter how hard we tried in Italy we just could not get one large bed....we always had two single beds. The rooms were very clean with an adorable view.
To put a cherry on top, there is an active church still on the grounds of the hotel! Right next door to the entrance, you'll find a beautiful, elaborate church with statues and the Blessed Sacrament reserved. If you are a religious person, this would make the hotel the "complete package" - you can get up in the morning and pray or go to Mass in the beautiful, peaceful church!
I would recommend this hotel to ANYONE visiting Pisa. I would LOVE to stay again!!
Unique Quality: This hotel is a former Dominican monastery (meaning nuns used to live here :) It still has historic frescos in this and that corner or wall.
I was very impressed by the complimentary breakfast. Usually in Italy, "breakfast" is coffee and a pre-packaged pastry... prosciutto and toast if you are lucky. This hotel provides their guests with a wide array of breakfast foods, fruits, drinks, yogurt, cereal, etc. I was very pleased! And the coffee was great too. The BEST part about breakfast is the ambiance. You can sit inside or out in the cloister courtyard's hallway. I cannot describe this experience adequately: tranquil, historic, like paradise!
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