Il Pozzo di Santa Zita

I loved my blue room at the top of this beautiful old house. It was an ideal base for my night in Lucca, right in the heart of the old city and Rebecka gave me a warm welcome. It's not a full service hotel and it doesn't claim to be but it is a cosy place with beautiful rooms. The stairs are steep in this old building so ask for a ground floor room if mobility is limited

the host sent me a message on a day of my arrival that check in should be before 7 pm as they close at that time. I was very surprised, and sent a screenshot of my booking to a host where it says that after 7 pm there will be a self check in. In response the host said that she will allow it only if I pay city tax 3 euro per person with my credit card before I arrive, or i will not be allowed to enter the property. This was so unfriendly and ridiculous. I have stayed in hundreds of guest houses and have never heard anything like that. When we arrived, it was very hot in the unit since a heater was on. I texted the host asking where a remote control for AC is but she never responded. The worst part was driving to the house which is located in old town and requires permission to enter which the host requsted from the city. She sent me the instructions how to enter and exit through the same gates to avoid a penalty but those instructions were poorly written and impossible to follow. As a result, i had to exit via a different gate. When I asked the host to call the city and explain what happend so i can avoid getting a penalty, she refused. The room was nice and clean though.

I first came across this place on Google Maps, where it is described (as of June 8th 2024) as a "3 Star Hotel". Apple Maps lists it as a "Bed & Breakfast". Tripadvisor puts it in the “Guest House” category, with an adjacent button labelled “Visit Hotel Website” and rating it as “#42 of 198 B&Bs / Inns in Lucca”. Only after we had made an unrefundable booking did we discover that it was in fact 5 individual ensuite rooms to rent in a restored historic house. Il Pozzo’s own website says it is a “Room Rental”. This is not what we were looking for and the proprietor should take responsibility for the confusion caused by the various listings. It has to be said that anybody seeking AirB&B style accommodation would likely be quite pleased with it. Location is great, rooms are recently restored and very well appointed with interesting quirky furniture. Our ground floor room, though dark, was spacious and had a wonderful bed and good bathroom facilities. The website advertises that it has “Multilingual qualified staff“. The only “staff” we encountered (briefly) was the proprietor when she checked us in, who may well speak 9 languages, but I suspect warmth isn’t one of them. She insisted that we check out by 10:30 (though she wasn’t around at that time to check) and could only suggest some shop down the road where we might pay to have our luggage minded for one and a half hours until our train. I do not like to give anywhere a 1 star rating, especially a place like this which is fundamentally good, but the confusion around the listing of this establishment is misleading and inexcusable.

What a wonderful find this was! It was one of the most beautiful B&Bs we have ever stayed it - the furniture, decor, smell and ambience was so lovely it was difficult to leave in order to explore the beautiful small city of Lucca! We stayed in the purple room but whichever room you will stay in you can be assured of a warm welcome, a touch of luxury, and the perfect location. We'll be back!