Turin & the Alps - Italy - page 429

Weekend Hotel Bargains
Turin is such a business-oriented city that rooms are actually cheaper on
the weekends, when hotels have to scramble to fill beds. Some 32 Turin
hotels (all in the three- to five-star category) offer a “Week-end à Torino”
promotion; 24 of these hotels charge between € 82 and € 100 per person
for a room for 2 nights (Fri-Sat), breakfast, a 48-hour Torino Card (a € 15
value), and a little extra that varies from hotel to hotel—could be free
parking, a box of chocolates, or a CD of classical music.
Of the hotels recommended in this topic, those participating include
the Hotel Amadeus ( € 90 per person; a free guided tour of the city
and “typical Torinese gift”), the Artuà ( € 99 per person; free tour and
parking), and the Hotel des Artistes ( € 99; breakfast in bed and a bottle
of local wine). The city tourism office (www.turismotorino.org) has a full
list of participating hotels.

family-run joint; the owner's kids leave toys scattered and hang around the break-
fast room/lounge to watch cartoons or videos on the communal large-screen TV.
The rooms are simple—creamy wood floors, beat-up white lacquer modular fur-
nishings, and small, but nice, new bathrooms—but the place is full of thoughtful
extras, like high-speed Internet access for € 3 a day, and a sauna/hydromassage unit
in Solferino. You can even save a few bucks by opting for a

€ €

90 “standard”
room (smaller or noisier, with sloping roofs and older furnishings, and no break-
fast) instead of a

75-to-

€ €

100-to- 130 “comfort” double.

€€ - €€€

The best value for your money in the center— € 105 for a double,

5

(Via
Corte d'Appello, 4, at Via Milano; % 011-4366752; www.hoteldoganavecchia.
com) installed in the old 18th-century Customs house, just a few blocks west of
Piazza Castello (and a few blocks east of the wine bars and trattorie around Piazza
Em. Filiberto). The hotel's an odd marriage of fading old-fashioned style and
bland modernity, the bright and friendly reception giving way to dimly lit corri-
dors with frilly moldings decorating the vaulted high ceilings. Try to snag one of
the “Antiche” rooms, which have been left with a splash of style (stucco decora-
tions, crystal chandeliers, herringbone wood floors, Art Nouveau bed frames and
wardrobes), instead of a “standard” room with lower ceilings, modern terrazzo
flooring, and insipid functional units. Want to save even more? They don't adver-
tise this fact, but the hotel retains a few older rooms without private bathroom,
which sell for around

€

85 Friday to Sunday nights—is the Hotel Dogana Vecchia falling to

€

40, breakfast not included.
Hotels near Piazza Vittorio Veneto
€€ - €€€ A pair of good-value hotels sits on one of Torino's arcaded boulevards
leading from the city center east toward Piazza Vittorio Veneto and the river.
Hotel Amadeus (Via Principe Amadeo, 41 bis; % 011-8174951; www.turin

hotelcompany.com) has the slight edge of affordability—

5

€

85 per double on the