Stayed here overnight while driving between Staples Corner in London and Naples, Italy. Perhaps not the most direct route, but that was part of the fun…

We paid a total of €86 (about £60) for the night for a twin room. Checking in was frantic but, with a convoy of around 150 cars arriving in Aprica at around the same time, that was to be expected. Whilst basic, the reception area was clean and spacious, and the staff helpful. The bar area was dated but useable, with a large open fire in the middle, while the restaurant was closer to a mess hall than fine dining. Aprica’s got a wide enough selection of restaurants, so you’re probably better to dine out, and it’s only a short walk to the first diners along the main street.

Once in the room it was like being transported back to some 1970's school trip. Two extraordinarily small single beds sat in the middle, with some old wooden furniture alongside. The windows were somewhat unique, with an inner window of single pane glass barely fitting the frame, necessitating a hefty (and slightly scary) thump to open or close, with a gap of around a foot before an outer window, again single pane glass. This system was replicated for the door to the balcony, leading to some concerned looks as the glass flexed in the frame before the second door smacked against the first.

Checking out was a new experience. As is seemingly common in Italy, our passports were taken when we checked in, but as we headed to reception to leave it became obvious that the passports had simply been left at the front of the hotel, with the front door unlocked all night. Added to the fact that there was nobody at reception (nor in any of the back rooms we wandered in to find someone), we weren’t confident something hadn’t gone awry. After waiting for a while, and with another 500 mile drive to face, we went behind reception to find our own passports, and sure enough, they weren’t where they were meant to be.

As an overnight stop, the hotel is just about acceptable. As a destination, I’d look elsewhere.