We recently completed a trip through Europe by train staying in each country in four star hotels. The one hotel that stands out the most from all the rest was the Poet Hotel, La Spezia, Italy, unfortunately not for all the right reasons ! Although out of the seven hotels we stayed , the Poet was the most basic of all, in fact we'd be generous giving it a three star. The room we stayed in was very cramped, no cupboards, no draws, or wardrobe to unpack clothes etc. Just a bed, an open clothes rail, a mirror and tiny small shelf-desk. Although we found it clean this fell far below the standards in all the other hotels we stayed. We went through all the channels on the T.V and the BBC, CNN were not available. For a language commonly used widely around the world, you would have thought there would have been at least one channel in English available. When asking the receptionist which way to the bar, she smiled and said ”the reception desk is the hotel bar ” and that they would get us drinks and we could drink them in the breakfast area, goes to say, we didn't bother. The Hotel's web site clearly shows a bar but we didn't see one and to sit in the breakfast area, no thanks. There is a sign in the hotel saying ”Enjoy the Fun” I'm afraid no fun to be had here. We did contact our travel company and they were very quick to get straight back with a message saying that they had contacted the hotel management and that they were aware of the issues. No one contacted us from the management rest of the three nights we stayed but we decided to not spoil the holiday and tough it out. This hotel was more like an up-market student hostel and clearly if you like living out of your case off the floor this is the place for you. Alan Carlisle