My experience staying here with my husband was one of the most bizarre and at times scary experiences I've ever had travelling. And that is saying a lot!
The place itself is lovely. The rooms were spotless, bed super comfy and our double room opened onto the large communal balcony where breakfast is served - so we were happy as punch our first day. Ignazio the owner seemed a bit quiet, but we didn't read too much into it figuring maybe his English was just bad.
Our second morning, we woke up and headed outside for breakfast which is served at 8:30 until 10. The previous morning Ignazio had taken nearly 20 mins to get breakfast ready, so we figured we'd come a bit later. We went outside and the table was all set with plates and glasses and the kitchen doors were open, but no sign of Ignacio or any of the bread, marmalade, cheese, etc from the previous day. We waited about 5 minutes and still no sign of Ignazio, so we tried calling his name and knocking on the kitchen door, but still nothing. We were starting to get a little bored and it was nearly 9:30 (we'd thought) so finally my husband decided to call Ignazio's mobile phone. Ignazio came running to the kitchen and my husband explained that is was only him calling and to our shock Ignazio slammed the kitchen doors and left us standing outside! About 10 mins later, he came back and started putting some coffee out during which time I'd realised that we'd forgotten that the clocks had gone back for daylight saving's time and that in fact we'd been 5 (yes FIVE) minutes early for breakfast. I tried to apologise to Ignazio - who instead slammed a clock down on the table next to me and only answered 'Yep' in a really [-] way when I asked him if the clocks had gone back. Amazing! It was so ridiculously over the top and rude that we were speechless.
After breakfast we borrowed some of his bikes (he made us give him a 40 EUR deposit) and about 20 minutes after we'd left, Ignazio called us on our mobile phone asking if we could come back to the B&B because he'd forgotten to register our passports. When we answered that we were already 5 kms from town, he said, "Well I have your passports". My husband asked me if I'd ever given him our passports - and when I said 'No', he asked Ignazio how he'd gotten hold of our passports, and Ignazio simply said 'I'll see you tonight at 8' and hung up. And when we returned to the B&B later, Ignazio told us that he'd gone through our things and taken our passports! My husband was furious and wanted to call the police and I was absolutely stunned! He'd gone into our room and through my bag and taken our passports without even asking us!
We tried to confront him about it and all he did was demand his bicycle lock back and only then did he give us our passports back and our 40 EUR deposit. He said that he'd forgotten to register us with the local police department within 24 hours (in keeping with local law) and so he'd gone into our room and through our things.
For the rest of our last night staying at the B&B we both felt really creeped out and uncomfortable. Ignazio comes across as a very angry and irrational person who clearly lacks both the personal skills and sense of humanity that I think is needed to work in the hospitality industry. I wouldn't recommend a stay here to anyone - no one deserves to be made to feel so awkward while staying as a paying guest, and certainly NO ONE has the right to into your room and through your belongings!
Ignazio not just a terrible host but his behaviour is completely innappropriate, and I would say, illegal.
If you own or manage Novecento Bed & Breakfast, register now for free tools to enhance your listing, attract new reviews, and respond to reviewers.
- Manage your listing
