Hotel Titano, the San Marino...
by James63
Hotel Titano, the San Marino Grand Hotel and the Hotel Cesare are the best bets in the city of San Marino. (I stayed at the Hotel Titano.) There are other smaller and less expensive hotels in the city, and in the other towns of the Republic, but these three come closest to providing the kind of accommodations to which Americans are accustomed.
The Hotel Titano is about 80 euros a night offseason, with the San Marino Grand Hotel being about the same price and the newly refurbished Hotel Cesare being slightly higher. All three are the most expensive hotels in the Republic.
The Hotel Titano offers a great location in terms of access to the rest of the city, some splendid views from the hotel terrace restaurant, and the staff are as friendly and helpful as one could hope. However, San Marino's topography limits building size, and as a result, the hotel rooms are VERY small, with old style showers (a slightly elevated platform with a drain and wrap around shower curtain), no tubs, and very limited views of the outside from all but the best rooms. The hallways are uncarpeted, as are the rooms, which can be a little chilly to step out onto first thing in the morning. Overall, given the room prices, which are high, the Hotel Titano is probably not the place most Americans would be inclined to stay at for two or three nights. That is unfortunate, for with its location on one of San Marino's narrow winding streets, its small size, its old fashioned room keys and its friendly atmosphere, the experience of staying at the Hotel Titano gives the tourist the feel that he is a traveller back in the 1800s. While that might not be to every American's taste, the experience is surprisingly fun and the inconveniences less than you might expect. For those who are addicted to television, the Hotel Titano is probably not the best idea, however, as the only English language station is CNN Europe. All the other channels are either Sammarinese or Italian, and thus in the Italian language.
