Sometimes it happens...you walk into a hotel and immediately feel at home. The secret here? Gianpaulo, the 82 year old owner who is running the place for over 30 years. Result is that all rooms still have a styleful brown white interior like in the movies from that period.
Being part of a big group visit for a wedding, we ended up in hotel Bridge after our original booking at hotel Corona didn't come through. Gianpaulo looked at our sweaty faces and immediately insisted in driving us to hotel Regina, where other guests were staying and a pool was waiting for us. The following days we helped translating to other non-Italian speaking guests and the affection grew mutual. On our last day he drove us to the railway station and with an Italian hug we said goodbye.

We drove into Bagni di Lucca not really knowing what to expect. We found the Hotel Bridge beside the river and arranged a room (very nice). The lady there did not speak English but with some of my pidgin Italian and many hand gestures we managed a conversation! The breakfast was nice, the room quiet and restful. there are some good restaurants nearby so overall a very nice experience.

We were registered in a B&B that just wasn't what we thought - we canceled when we arrived but it was VERY late at night, pouring rain and there were 6 of us. We were told we might find rooms at The Bridge Hotel. We had our Italian guardian angel watching because we did get rooms at The Bridge. It was our most memorable experience! The owner was so gracious and took us in - even though we looked like a bunch of bedraggled pups. The rooms were retro 50s which we all found very charming. It was like a step back in time. Breakfast was just amazing with local butter and breads - all so fresh. The views of the town were just beautiful. The bar next door - I believe it was called The American Bar - had GREAT food and even better service - especially because we came in at after 10 pm! We all agreed we would love to go back!