Hotel Cristallo Riccione in Riccione

Can the central location of the hotel be enough to justify all the negatives? In my opinion not. the environments are dated, in the rooms the worst aspects. There are only blackout curtains on the windows so during the day it sends privacy. the mattress is springy and very uncomfortable. The bathroom is old, several damages to the tiles, old taps. Broken wall hair dryer. Noisy air conditioning system, it broke for a whole day. Difficult to adjust because still with old manual thermostat. Kettle and tea corner absent. Breakfast of poor quality, salty species and little variety of fruit. Missing dried and seasonal fruit. Missing bacon, two types of cured meat and one of cheese. There isn't a swimming pool, there is no corner for children or at least one is not available. The staff is polite but not welcoming compared to the famous Romagna hospitality. Ultimately an older hotel of maximum three stars to be generous. Week stay, so had time to observe and evaluate all aspects. I would not go back.

I traveled to Riccione for two days on business, the usual hotel was full, and because of the proximity to the convention center (Pala Riccione) we chose the Cristallo.
We were very well received by the attentive and friendly receptionist, I stayed in suite 101, the room was very small, with a single bed with a hard mattress, only 1 pillow available. The air conditioning system did not work, which provided a sensation of an oven inside the room. Because it was on the 1st floor, there was no balcony (unlike my colleagues who stayed on the 2nd and 3rd floor) and the spotlights from the reflection facade on the bedroom window. So the dilemma: Should I open the windows and face the brightness and noise or sleep with heat, protected by the black-out curtains?

I opted for the second option, after all it would only be two days.

The breakfast offered many options, especially sweet breads (traditionally Italian) but the service was very slow, so I stayed with the basic options (coffee, bread and cheese).