Hotel Cristallo

Visited Giulianova, my families hometown, to bring my Papa’s remains back for a celebration of life ceremony and internment in the family mausoleum. Stayed at Hotel Cristallo on the recommendation of friends from the area. Stayed in an older room with balcony overlooking the Lido and ocean. Gorgeous views morning and night! Having the metal exterior hurricane shades to draw down in the evening made the room extra dark to sleep and provided additional soundproofing from the boulevard noise and the hotels street front outdoor patio bar, which had entertainment until around 10-11 every evening. It was lovely music and we didn’t mind sitting on the balcony listening. The room is very dated. I understand they are renovating and hope they complete it soon. Currently has a very retro 1970’s feel to it. The room was ample in size with a large closet, small drawers, and in room fridge. The bed was queen size, very comfortable with end tables. No usb charging or electric plugs on the stands. Floors are tile nice and cool. AC was sufficient, typical Italian AC, not so cool but enough to keep you comfortable. It was connected to the slider for the balcony- when you open the slider, it turned off until you closed the slider. The balcony had a convenient drying rack for bathing suits and towels. The bathroom was large, except for the shower which was very narrow for the size of the bath. The water pressure was decent. The bathroom had a bidet and plenty of drying racks for wet items. It did not have a hairdryer, but had a magnifying mirror. The rooms lights were controlled by your key, place your key card in the wall Trey near the door to activate the light switches. Take it out and the light switches do not work. This also activates a light system on the outside alerting housekeeping to the occupancy of the room. The elevator system was very easy to use, we never had to wait for such a small unit. There are also stairs which we used to work off the wonderful food we indulged in at breakfast! Breakfast was a semi American, with the addition of hard boiled eggs, bacon, toast, oatmeal, yogurt, granola to the traditional Italian breakfast of pastries, meat, cheese and coffee. Waitstaff bring you coffee per your order and the remainder is a buffet. The breakfast room is lovely, full glass walls overlooking the side street and small park. Aperitivo hour was lovely sitting on the street side patio! Waitstaff were attentive with little bites to eat with our cocktails. We sat for hours talking and enjoying the ocean breeze and people watching on the lido. The reception and staff were pleasant and welcoming. Registration and checkout were easy and went quickly. Parking was difficult. We parked once and walked everywhere we could when we could. We did not use the hotel beach, but used a friends private beach club about 1/2 mile north of the hotel. I LOVE the Adriatic ocean!! Everyone speaks of the Amalfi coast but in my opinion this ocean has i