Hotel Pisa Tower Plaza

Advertised as five-star, but dirty, poorly maintained, partly under construction, and missing essential services

Advertised as five-star, but dirty, poorly maintained, partly under construction, and missing essential services Smy Pisa Plaza was sold to us as a five-star hotel, but our stay involved brown water from the shower, washbasin, and bidet; a room left entirely uncleaned on one day; the complete unavailability of the laundry service and gym advertised on the hotel’s own website; substantial undisclosed construction across the entire floor above us; missing five-star amenities; a dirty bathrobe; dirty windows; loose, broken, and falling bathroom fittings; and widespread deterioration in the room and common areas. This was not a matter of personal taste or insufficient luxury, but of hygiene, maintenance, safety, unavailable advertised facilities, and services not delivered. The most serious problem was the brown, discoloured water coming from the shower, washbasin, and bidet. Whatever its cause, water of that appearance should not be supplied to guests without immediate investigation and corrective action. It made normal use of the bathroom extremely unpleasant and raised an obvious hygiene concern. Our room was not cleaned or serviced at all on one day, although Tuscan five-star standards require daily room cleaning and an additional afternoon refresh. This would be unacceptable in any hotel, but particularly in one presenting itself as five-star. The entire floor above ours—including the gym—was undergoing substantial construction. Neither the closure of the gym nor the extent of the works was disclosed before booking. The hotel’s official website advertises “Laundry service (charges apply)”, yet hotel representatives confirmed that the property provides no laundry service at all. We therefore had to interrupt our holiday and arrange it ourselves—precisely the kind of inconvenience one reasonably expects to avoid when booking five-star accommodation. Several required room amenities were also missing. No bathrobes were provided on arrival; they were brought only after we requested them, and one of the two was visibly dirty. The desk had no dedicated light, there was no printed or digital hotel information, no information about the local area or events, and no writing materials. These are not merely disappointing omissions: each is listed among the mandatory requirements for five-star hotels in Tuscany. The room showed extensive neglect: * a wall-mounted shower-product bottle and its fitting detached and fell onto the shower floor; * an approximately two-metre plastic strip detached from the shower enclosure and fell across the bathroom; * the conditioner dispenser was visibly dirty around the pump and neck; * the windows were heavily marked and dirty; * the floor beneath the bed was dusty and contained debris and waste; * the washbasin was damaged at its base; * the skirting boards were poorly fitted; * part of the decorative trim beneath the television was missing; * doors, frames, and adjoining wall finishes showed chips, gaps, scuffing, and unfinished repairs; * a wall switch or control plate was loose and pulling away from the wall, creating a potential electrical-safety concern; * the bathroom walls and ceiling showed patching, peeling paint, and apparent moisture damage; * directional signs in the common areas were badly deteriorated and partly illegible; * the magnifying bathroom mirror showed corrosion around its rim; * the door frame outside our room was severely chipped and damaged; and * the entrance plants were visibly tied and bent into an unnatural, poorly maintained shape. The detached bathroom fittings were not merely cosmetic defects. They indicated inadequate inspection and maintenance and created possible injury and tripping risks. Whether the property officially holds five stars or not, the experience delivered was nowhere near the standard advertised. If it does hold that classification, it appears knowingly to operate without several services and amenities required for that category. If it does not, its five-star presentation is false and materially misleading.