Turin Holiday Inn Via Gaidaro

Holiday Inn Express
Via Paolo Gaidano, 12110137 Turin (Piemonte), Italy
+39-011-311-3322
www.hiexpress.com

One of the best hotels I’ve ever stayed at in terms of value for money, the Holiday Inn Express in the southern suburbs of Turin offers very high quality rooms and amenities at an extremely competitive price.

We stayed two nights, 29 December 2007 and 4 January 2008, en route to and returning from La Rosiere, a ski resort in the southeastern French Alps, and this hotel was extremely convenient. It is only 2 km from the tangenziale, Turin’s ring road, on the south-western side of the city, and offers secure underground parking.

On each stay, we booked two adjoining non-smoking rooms, for a total of EUR 75 per night. That’s right, 2 rooms for EUR 75 per night, everything included: tax, breakfast, parking. Admittedly, it was low season, but the hotel was quite full due to families like ours, traveling to and from the ski resorts.

The rooms are very well outfitted. We stayed in rooms 203-204 in December, and 304-305 in January. Our room had a very large double bed, with high quality sheets, pillows and a comforter. The adjoining room had two single beds. Each room has a Philips flat screen TV which also provides internet access, a large desk and comfortable chair, and multiple plugs (220 V electricity using a standard European double socket as well as Italian triple sockets) and data points. (Note: UK travelers will need an adapter; US travelers need an adapter and transformers).

Each room has an in-room water heater, with complementary coffee and tea packs provided. The bathrooms include shower stalls with sliding screens, hair driers, and electric plugs. There was abundant hot water, clean towels.

The internal architecture comprises clean lines, free of clutter, using woods and fabrics with clean lines and a warm contemporary feel. It was a real relief to be in the rooms after our road trip from Venice (going) and La Rosiere (coming back).

Breakfast is amazing. The hotel has a copious buffet, serving bacon, sausage and scrambled eggs; Italian cold cuts and cheese; fresh fruits; yoghurts; lots and lots of bread, pastries and confectioneries, and excellent coffee and tea. A real highlight is the real hot chocolate and real orange juice, which is unlimited. Make sure you get there between 08:30 – 09:00 at the latest: the earlier the better (breakfast ends at 10:30, but the staff stops replenishing many of the dishes at about 09:45).

The staff is extremely helpful, both at reception in the evening and morning, as well as in the restaurant at breakfast. There are three staff serving breakfast, and they are often a bit overwhelmed, but if you can get their attention, they’ll serve you fresh cappuchino, tea, espresso and set the table. Our biggest problem both mornings was getting a table, but we came down late at 09:45.

There is WiFi access in the lobby, and a PC for internet access and limited printing in the basement, near the internal parking entrance. Underground parking is free and in the room price when we stayed (there may be an extra charge in the summer, when it’s high season).

There is a medium-sized supermarket right next to the hotel, handy for buying some groceries and drinks for the road, which is cheaper and more convenient than the gasoline stations on the highway.

There are three disadvantages of the hotel:

1. It is in an industrial neighbourhood in the south of Turin. Don’t expect fancy architecture or lots of restaurants around the hotel. Getting to the centre is relatively easy by car or taxi, but you need a good map if you drive your own car.

2. There is no in-house restaurant, apart from breakfast (at least in the winter, when we stayed). On the other hand, the hotel has an arrangement with an external restaurant, and we were able to order good pizza at a very good price (between EUR 6.50 – 8.00 per pizza, better prices than most hotel room service I’ve tried).

3. Like all Holiday Inns I’ve stayed in, it provides Lux hand soap and hair shampoo in squeeze bottles: I advise guests to bring their own toiletries (which I do in nearly every hotel I go to anyway).

These disadvantages are easily outweighed by the fact that the hotel offers excellent value for money (2 high quality rooms at EUR 75 per night total); a top-of-the-line breakfast, parking and easy access to the highway. It’s secure, convenient and ideal for visitors traveling by car who choose Turin as a stopover point.

Bookings
We booked our first night on www.venere.com, an excellent Italian hotel booking engine. The second night, we booked directly with the hotel, and were offered the same rate.