Milan Hotel Review - Hotel Serena

I stayed in Hotel Serena for 10 nights with a group of 9 people. When we got there they were doing construction in the courtyard. 2 of the groups rooms were right next to the courtyard. When I visited the rooms the noise was overwhelming and prevented conversation. I went to the front desk to have the rooms changed, they were resistant but eventually changed the rooms. That started a 10 days of an uncomfortable relationship with the management. We also needed internet as part of the work we were doing there. We misunderstood the availability of internet service. It was much more expensive than we expected. When I tried to work out a deal, the manager began to shout about me in Italian to the woman at the front desk who was trying to help me. I got angry and said something he didn't like so he began to shout at me. He said things that no business person should ever say to a client. If I had the power to move the group I would have at that moment. We were traveling with a number of gay men and young women. Both groups reported acts of homophobia and sexual harassment from the same manager. One woman reported him snapping her bra strap repeatedly even after she told him not to. A big negative was the intermittent air conditioning. The management shutdown the air conditioning system for large chunks of the day and night making the rooms unbearable at times. No maps. I have never been to a hotel (I've been to many hotels of all price ranges) that could not provide you with a simple map. I had to go ask the Best Western for maps and they very graciously gave me 10. I found most of the staff to be unfriendly except for one very nice young woman who was sometimes at the front desk and a great guy who was always hanging around. He seemed to be the handyman/porter/general johnny-on-the-spot. He always greeted you with a big smile. I was the point-person for the group but for 10 days the manager never tried to repair his relationship with me. Since that first encounter when he yelled at me, I uncomfortably passed him in the lobby multiple times a day. He was often smoking a cigar that made the lobby stink and watching television far too loudly. The hotel is in a good location but there are so many others in the same area you'd be better off shopping for another one.

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