Italy needs to review its hotel ratings. This hotel may have been a 4 star many years ago, but not now. The lighting is dim, the furnishings drab and worn, little or no decoration in the rooms, rock hard beds with foam pillows to match, and very dated bathrooms. If you drop the soap in the tiny shower, you'll have fun getting it. The air conditioning was barely noticeable, almost like an old window unit, but it helps drown outside noise. The restaurant was not a highlight, and we had the only bad wine of our trip there. Italians have told us before not to eat in the hotels. We should have listened. Il Danda, two blocks away, was a delightful family restaurant. The staff was friendly and tried hard, but there's not much to work with.

I consider myself a savvy traveler, visiting Italy 4 to 6 weeks each year. I also lived in Italy for 4 years and am fluent in Italian. I research each trip carefully and extensively. All the more reason for my great dismay at my arrival at Locanda del Lupo.

Firstly, don't believe their website. The hotel photos show this place without its ugly and real flaws - as it could be, as it should be, but as it IS NOT. You will not see the old, tired, neglected hotel it really is. The public rooms and bedrooms seem grand, elegant and laden with antiques online...but BEWARE. The hype on their website is mostly lies.

I made a reservation 3 months in advance requesting the "largest and best room available for a 6 night stay". What we received was a tiny, squalid, dimly lit room with no air conditioning. Soragna is in the Po River Valley and is well known, even in early June, for its uncomfortable hot and humid weather. I would never have knowingly chosen a hotel without air conditioning. Instead of antiques, our room appeared to be furnished by the "decorator" of a 1960's Budget Motel.The smell of sewage wafted form the bathroom from time to time.

My Italian began to improve as the reality of our very tacky accommodations became clearer. All of a sudden I was remembering words I had not used since living in Italy years before! My husband and I went down to the front desk, website room photos in hand. "This is the room we expected to get," I said, showing the photos to the owner. The very disinterested hotel owner, a woman in her late 70's, offered no apology or solution. After relentless insistence on my part, her more alert and empathetic assistant informed us that in 2 days, after the American bicycle tour group checked out, we could move to the room in the photo, which we did. This room was larger and was furnished with some lovely antique pieces but...

Had we been familiar with the surrounding countryside and not been exhausted, we would have (and should have) changed hotels. The air conditioning never worked. It was "under maintenance" for the 6 days we were there. Our (screenless) windows were open day and night which meant we shared our room with the local mosquitoes. And since we faced an inner courtyard, there was an endless cacophony of noise to endure. There was no room or hotel safe. The best they could offer was a metal box that would be locked in a room behind the office with our belongings. I kept passports and tickets locked in my suitcase. And there was an endless stream of American bicyclists, hardly a European tourist in sight. Even the highly touted (on their website) restaurant was dreary and unimaginative.

It was a very long and uncomfortable 6 days we endured at Locanda del Lupo.

the village was charming and the hotel COULD be charming but it is a little tired. The rooms are very clean but the bathrooms could definitely use a redo. There is nothing at all exceptional about the hotel but one could easily see the potential. The scale, setting, room size, etc but it all needs to be brought at least into the 1990's. For the price it was a little disappointing. I'd rather see it spruced up and pay 20 euros more a night. The restaurant: we only ate breakfast there and it seemed depressing. We went to Stella d'Oro which was wonderful all around but quite pricey.

My wife and I just returned from a wonderful month in Italy to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary.
The Locanda Del Lupo was the last hotel on our trip and we can honestly say that it was about 25 euros per night more expensive than some other lovely hotels we stayed at, such as in Cortona and in San Gimignano.
We found the staff at Del Lupo to be very warm, friendly, helpful and outgoing. We had dinner the first night in the hotel dining room and we were pleased with the five-course meal it offered.
Our room and bathroom (with modern amenities)were quite large and comfortable and overlooked the inner courtyard. However, my wife felt it lacked "warmth", insofar as needing some wallpaper, paintings, whatever. We disagree on this point. It's not a biggie.
The town of Soragna itself does not seem to offer much to keep us there, but we spent an afternoon in the lovely spa town of Salsomaggiore, some 15 miles down the road. We also visited the Ferrari museum in Maranello, which is about an hour's drive from Soragna, and a true highlight for any car buff.
All in all, our stay was pleasant, but we would not return to that region. Too far from everything for day-trips. If you need to stay in this region, Salsomaggiore is a better choice.

Robin and Fran
Montreal, Canada