Grand Hotel Excelsior in Chianciano Terme

Breakfast was very poor.

Dinner was awful, never have it at the hotel!
Breakfast is decent.

We visited Montepulciano for the wine and then looked for somewhere to stay. This place seemed to fit the bill, about 15 minutes away with lots of 4* hotels at low prices. How lucky we were. The town is the strangest place. This town has has about 50 hotels but only 10 open, the rest boarded-up, unloved or simply abandoned with weeds growing out of roofs, carparks etc. It's an industrial archaeolgists paradise and gives a foretaste of how nature reclaims civilisation. It turns out that, about 20 years ago, 2000 visitors per day flocked to the Thermal Spas for 'wellness' and health trips. Those hoards of trippers have dropped to a dribble. It is the place that time forgot. Taking pot luck, we chose the Excelsior, which looked like the most imposing hotel on the Main Drag. The hotel is faded glory. Simple rooms with high ceilings. Nice views from large windows. The bed was very firm. The bathroom was clean. Describing the rooftop pool and sun-terrace as 'fabulous' would be going way too far. A simple buffet breakfast was included. The hotel is 2-3 stars. It was plain & comfortable - and the management deserve a Gold Star for keeping it going as the town dies around them. Being about 25 miles from the Tuscany hot-spot of Sienna helps them I suppose. If it wasn't for a coach party from Devon, we'd have been just about the only people there in the last week of July. No wonder the chambermaid couldn't wait to get into our room from 0800. Grrrr. We stayed on a Friday night, about 200 metres from the open air 'Club Forti'. Eventually the music stopped at 2am. Which spoiled it a bit. Ideal for an overnight stop - ten minutes off the main A1 Autostrada. And you can tell your friends that you've seen what Harrogate could be like in 20 years if Bettys Tea Shop closes.