Hotel Gallo Nero

We booked Hotel Gallo Nero based on a glowing Guardian article & rave reviews. We were so looking forward to it so had booked the whole 3 nights we were on Elba. The hotel itself seemed nice… until we were shown our room ‘Number 2’. It was on a lower level, accessed via patio doors. The doors opened and it was the odd smell that first hit us… we were greeted with a small, windowless room, with a fairly low ceiling - full of mosquitoes & tiny flies. Granted, these were in lots of places but we wound up killing so many, I’m convinced they were breeding in there. They were so bad in the luggage cupboard, that if I needed something I opened the curtain as little as possible, grabbed whatever I could quickly, and then pulled the curtain across again to contain them. The bed was hard, the pillows flat. It was also located next to (or underneath?) the kitchen so this was also loud. I can honestly say it was the worst, most depressing hotel room I’ve ever stayed in, even worse than budget rooms in India. We called it ‘the dungeon’ and vowed not to stay one more night (we only stayed one night as had arrived in the evening after driving for many hours and couldn’t face finding & moving to another hotel that night). We braced ourselves for an uncomfortable discussion the next am as knew we’d have to pay ‘early checkout fees’. They did agree to only paying 50% of the penalty fee (plus the one night’s stay) which we accepted. We moved to a far better small boutique B&B for the next 2 nights, which was a godsend after our experience at Gallo Nero. I’m sure it’s an ok hotel as other people seem happy with it, and the staff were nice enough, and breakfast was good. But it was clear that ‘room 2’ (and room 1 - which was the one we were supposed to be booked into, but according to them, it’s ‘the same’) are their ‘budget rooms’ and in our opinion, not fit for purpose.

Arrived to Hotel Gallo Nero in June 2022 during my very first time in Italy. Found this hotel via a The Guardian article that suggested places to stay on Elba Island and after virtually digging through dozens of online blogs and online reviews of other hotels. In short: AMAZING. I actually created this Tripadvisor account JUST so I could leave this review because my partner and I were so positively impacted by our stay at Hotel Gallo Nero. First of, we arrived by bus because neither of us drives (not ideal in Italy). It was relatively easy to reach and the location is very ideal: close to some small packed but gorgeous beaches and well-connected to hiking trails that lead one to other more secluded places. My partner being allergic to gluten and a German had a surprise in store when the restaurant brought for us a daily box of gluten-free goodies, and greeted us in German. Gabriel was the waiter who's name we caught and he and absolutely each and every one working there was welcoming and warm and hospitable in ways even some 5-star hotels could learn from! I could go on about all the highlights of this wonderful hotel: cleanliness, ambience, aesthetic, eye to detail and even decor theme (each hotel guest door where we stayed in the main building has a different herb or plant plaque hanging on the door). Through and through: I recommend this hotel! And fearfully do so in part because I selfishly want it to remain a hidden gem. If you, like us, go on German holidays in June, don't be surprised (like we were!) that everyone of the hotel guests there will be German :) I am still searching for the 2 stars missing on the Hotel's 3-star rating because I simply cannot believe it is only a 3-star hotel.