Parma has few hotels near the center, and if you will be visiting Parma to enjoy the heart of the city, the Button is your obvious hotel choice. It's not a bad place at all - clean and modern and kept up if not exactly updated or posh. But you'd choose it entirely because of its location, not its charm.

The Button seems to survive on its reputation; it is recommended in travel books, and it does not partner with any online reservation system or website - why would they need to, because where else would you want to stay? To book it, you have to call or email them. (They didn't require a credit card to hold a room.) They now have a website but only in Italian (you can probably figure it out); an "English Language" website version does not work - use Google to translate if you must.

The Button has wireless internet throughout the hotel, but while I stayed, the access point near my room was not reliable. I could not use the wireless in my room when I arrived in the afternoon so had to go to the lobby where it worked fine. I told the front desk guy; maybe he fixed it, because later in the day the wireless worked in my room, until the next morning, when it would not connect again. But it always worked in the lobby.

The rooms have individual air conditionters, but mine did not work. I complained about this and was lectured about how to use the thermostat...but it was set right, and never worked, and by the last time I complained about it, I was told...and anyway, it was almost October, so why would I want air conditioning? True, it wasn't hot outside, but it did get warmish in the room, and you don't want the windows open while you're trying to sleep because you can hear noise from the scooters and such...and it can get loud outside from all the socializing (big party in the streets til midnight when I was there). I slept with windows shut - they do a great job of keeping out the noise though - but without any blankets or sheets on me. Not a huge problem, but point is - I found the front desk attitude a bit irritating.

The hotel is extremely easy to reach from the train station by bus: just take the #8 bus (buy tickets at the Tabacchi shop or pay extra on the bus) toward Piazza Garibaldi and walk just a few meters to the hotel; there are two signs pointing to the hotel (see the attached pictures) just as you get off the bus.

Parma is a wonderful town, not much to see but a great place to visit, eat well, stroll around, and escape the parade of tourists you find elsewhere in Italy.