Name: Royal Hotel Carlton
Address: Via Montebello, 8, Historic Center, Bologna, Italy, Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, IT
Price range: US$153–US$863 per night
Rating: 8.75

What guests think

At Royal Hotel Carlton, reviewers consistently praise the convenient location between Bologna Centrale and the historic center, generous breakfast, and generally friendly service, while noting classic decor; recurring drawbacks include warm rooms from weak air‑conditioning, dated touches, and patchy Wi‑Fi.

Guests appreciate the on‑site bar and restaurant, convenient paid parking, and a decent gym and spa, though the spa typically requires a fee and has limited hours. Rooms and common areas are usually very clean, but some report dated fittings, minor maintenance issues, and that the immediate surroundings feel less appealing after dark. Expect a classic, comfortable base close to trains and sights.

Facilities

Cleanliness

Rooms

Service

Location

Dining

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AI-generated summary based on recent guest reviews

Facilities

Guests praise the on‑site bar and restaurant, pleasant terrace/garden, and convenient underground parking, though parking is paid. The gym is useful but can run warm, and the spa is available with a paid entry and limited hours.

Related guest reviews

10

Paul

11 Sept 2025

·

Stayed 2 nights

The hotel was excellent with great facilities including a great gym for a hotel The only issues was the gym temperature was too high for heavy training and was fixed at 26c

10

Michael

16 Sept 2025

·

Stayed 1 night

The rooms were very spacious, nice restaurant and bar, very good selection on the breakfast buffet,and the parking garage was convenient

10

CRISTINA

20 Jun 2024

·

Stayed 2 nights

The hotel is older, in the grand hotels style, the grounds are park-like, it has a nice terrace it's quiet, has good parking and a great bartender. There's a restaurant but we didn't eat there, we just had coffee and drinks. It was a great experience.

10

Alvaro

12 Oct 2025

·

Stayed 1 night

Good restaurant

10

Deborah

26 May 2025

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Stayed 3 nights

Beautiful hotel with alfresco bar, great location and a fantastic spa worth visiting while you’re there.

10

Lewis

6 Oct 2024

·

Stayed 2 nights

Comfortable hotel with secure parking

8

Anita

22 May 2025

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Stayed 1 night

Great location, super close to the train station and I was able to leave my luggage at the hotel even after checking out as I was leaving later that day. Nice, clean room, good customer service. Some marks on furnishings and walls/floors that show a bit of wear and tear all around, but not too bad or noticeable. The hotel was also really close to some of the main areas of interest as well as some great restaurants and cafes. Would love to have a bit more spa facilities, for example, pool access

10

Joe

6 Oct 2025

·

Stayed 3 nights

Large and comfortable room with all the required amenities. Hotel bar was very nice too

10

Patricia

2 Nov 2025

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Stayed 1 night

The room was beautiful, clean, well appointed. The staff was wonderful, helpful and friendly. The spa was really lovely. Parking was easy and the location was great.

8

Cristian

30 Apr 2023

·

Stayed 2 nights

Pretty hotel in good location. Highlights: very good gym - Disappointing: car park was extremely expensive! You would expect a 4 stars hotel not to charge you 24 euros per day just to park your car outside.

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Cleanliness

Frequently described as very clean across rooms and common areas. A minority report lapses such as dust, stained carpets/curtains, minor mold, or bathroom maintenance issues.

Related guest reviews

10

Young

29 Dec 2025

·

Stayed 2 nights

Clean

10

Christoph

30 Oct 2025

·

Stayed 2 nights

Sauberes und großes Zimmer. Hotel im alten Design, aber mit Klasse. Wir würden immer wieder kommen.

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6

Davide

7 Oct 2025

·

Stayed 1 night

Das Zimmer benötigt mehr Unterhalt. Die Sauberkeit lässt auch zu wünschen übrig.

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8

Hetal

9 Dec 2025

·

Stayed 2 nights

Clean spacious rooms with comfortable beds. The bathroom was big too - a tiny bit of mould in the shower but one can overlook that.

8

Jordan

23 Dec 2024

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Stayed 1 night

It’s a beautiful old world style hotel. It’s comfy and has great service, also very old fashioned in a good way. Just how you expect a luxury hotel to be. Only problem is its aging and the cleanliness isn’t quite up to par, stuff like some grungy spots in the bathroom, doors that have water damage, etc. I absolutely enjoyed my stay thoroughly though. If they invest a little in renovations and sprucing it up it will be incredible. Id stay there again.

8

David

15 Jun 2025

·

Stayed 1 night

Overnight stay before visiting other Emilia Romagna cities. Our flight was delayed so we arrived late. We had booked a table in the hotel restaurant (Spoon) and they kindly kept it open for us. We were the only diners but the staff were really nice and helpful and our meal was good. The hotel is very grand despite being off a a side street, looks Costa del Sol circa 1980's. The common areas are huge, plenty of marble and chandeliers plus a sweeping staircase, a bit dated, would have been considered luxurious maybe 40 years ago. We spied a pleasant outdoor terrace and large bar area. Check-in was fine. Our room was large and again luxurious circa 1980's, so a bit dated. It was in good condition. The beds were okay if a little firm (common in Italy), bed linens good. Bathroom was large, loads of marble and colourful tiles. We had large towels and good toiletries. Only downside, looked like the room had not been dusted in weeks. Furniture had glass tops and you could write your name on every surface! Breakfast buffet was lavish, in a very impressive room, all mirrors, marble and chandeliers. Plenty of different pastries, cakes, pies, flans, buns and biscuits - a sweet tooth dream! Service was prompt and friendly. It was a fairly easy walk back to the railway station for our onward travels.

10

Michael

15 Oct 2025

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Stayed 1 night

View from balcony was nice. Floor in room could have been cleaner.

10

Michael

20 Oct 2025

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Stayed 1 night

Excellent hotel only a few minutes walk from the train station, shopping and restaurants. About 15 minutes walk to the main piazza. Professional staff and clean well appointed rooms. Breakfast included a good variety of fruit, meat and cheese along with typical north american fare.

10

Julio

12 Feb 2026

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Stayed 2 nights

El hotel muy elegante, clásico. Las habitaciones, aunque clásicas, tienen detalles modernos. Muy luminosas. La limpieza es evidente tanto en la habitación como en el baño. Productos de primera calidad en ropa de cama y toallas. La única queja sería el hecho de usar los botes miniatura de gel/shampoo; poco prácticos y poco ecológicos. Por lo demás, tiene todos los servicios necesarios para una estancia agradable y tiene muy buen tamaño con una cama king y mucho lugar para trabajar.

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10

Marnie

19 Jun 2025

·

Stayed 1 night

La propiedad está muy bien ubicada, las habitaciones son muy amplias y súper limpias. El desayuno es muy bueno y completo. Totalmente recomendado el hotel

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Rooms

Rooms are spacious and comfortable with a classic style, though many note they feel dated. Recurring issues include weak or centrally limited air conditioning and inconsistent Wi‑Fi, plus some hard beds/pillows and older tub‑shower setups.

Related guest reviews

6

Jacqueline

1 Nov 2025

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Stayed 1 night

Hotel is dated. I was in a room with a king bed and a sofa bed. The sofa bed was made up as a bed rather than a sofa. Not sure why. How can I sit on a sofa if it is a bed? Didn’t make sense to me.

6

Maher

1 Jun 2025

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Stayed 1 night

Interior decor of hotel outdated, our room was very humid being on the sixth floor and the AC could not be lowered below 24 C which really should be more clearly posted given the hotel lists AC as one of its amenities. Hotel claims this is due to local laws but did not run into this issue with other hotels I stayed at while in Italy. Beds are hard and not comfortable, and the shower door leaked water onto the floor. Would not stay here again.

10

Monica

1 Nov 2025

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Stayed 1 night

Overall very good experience. The staff was attentive, and the breakfast was fantastic (with a huge variety of fresh options). I booked a family room, which along with the bed and bathroom, was very spacious. The one area for improvement was the bedding. While the bed was very large, I found the mattress and pillows to be less comfortable than expected.

10

Sandra

11 Oct 2025

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Stayed 2 nights

The hotel was a lovely older hotel, elegant. Rooms very nice. Shower in tub wasnt very good... Breakfast buffet tasty and plenty to choose from. 15 to 17 min walk to main part of town.

8

Bruce

1 Oct 2025

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Stayed 6 nights

The staff were friendly, helpful and polite. The location is very good if, like us, you intend on taking day trips from the nearby train station. Equally it is less than 15 mins walk to the Piazza Maggiore and main tourist attractions. However, the hotel is rather 'tired' in parts and our room was not 4 star. The shower screen seal leaked badly and at least two of the double plug sockets only partly worked!

10

Simon

27 Oct 2025

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Stayed 1 night

A really lovely twin room with comfortable beds and a balcony looking out onto the hotel gardens. Excellent breakfast. The hotel was well priced and central for walking to and from the station and the central district of the city. Would return.

6

Richard

2 May 2024

·

Stayed 3 nights

Despite indicating in the online description that the room was air conditioned, it was not. 2out of 3 days were hot and room faced left. Took hours to cool off after dark. Had to leave door to balcony open all night. Had Wi-Fi but was terrible. Kept losing connection. Not terribly important but room did not have robes or turndown service though online description said it did. Otherwise the stay was fine but I won’t stay there again.

10

Gonzalo

11 Dec 2025

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Stayed 1 night

The hotel was superb. Location is perfect between Bologna train station and the city centre. The room was gorgeous and breakfast was of very high quality. All amenities were in excellent state.

6

Hans

8 Jul 2024

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Stayed 1 night

Air Conditioning doesn’t work

8

Cristian

24 Jan 2026

·

Stayed 1 night

Large bed but a bit dated. Very clean hotel.

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Service

Staff are widely described as friendly, helpful and professional, assisting with upgrades and transport. However, several guests reported indifferent front‑desk interactions, slow responses, or confusion around VIP benefits not being honored.

Related guest reviews

10

Philip

14 May 2025

·

Stayed 3 nights

Clean, welcoming staff and great location. Only a 10 min walk into the central area so ideal location Bedrooms well appointed and had everything youd expect. We ate on the 1st night in the restaurant as we didnt arrive till 9pm. Decent choice, good quality and not badly priced Wed definitely recommend staying here

10

Ryan

17 Sept 2025

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Stayed 1 night

Stunning hotel - a short walk away from the main train station and close to the centre of the city. I can not fault this hotel, absolutely stunning. I will definitely return. Service and the room was amazing

4

Clare

15 Jul 2025

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Stayed 1 night

The overall appearance of the hotel is fine, it is the experience that you have here that is so poor. The staff are at best indifferent, but what really made the stay disappointing is the overall policy of dishonesty that the hotel embodies. I was supposed to be offered a VIP coupon for food/drink and it was never offered and when asked they just said 'sorry' but no follow through. I also overheard other people asking for their VIP upgrades and they were denied by the receptionist. The air-conditioning in my room was not working so in July it was actually hotter inside than out. Again no real response from the reception when I complained. So overall, the room was fine but the experience is not good.

10

Edmund

7 Nov 2025

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Stayed 1 night

Friendly staff, my room was ready earlier than excepted. Smooth check in

10

Joseph

30 Oct 2025

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Stayed 1 night

The hotel is so lovely and the breakfast was great. When we checked in it seemed as though the staff were bothered to attend to us. Later during our stay, they were much more receptive. The room was very spacious and very nice but there was an issue with the bathroom which I shared with the front desk, although it was never addressed. We hope to return in the future.

10

SETH

16 May 2025

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Stayed 1 night

Arrived very late due to flight delays and the hotel was very accommodating, even offering a late checkout. Thank you!

10

Donna

19 Sept 2024

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Stayed 3 nights

Front desk staff was very friendly and helpful with reservations.

6

Francoise

29 Oct 2025

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Stayed 1 night

I expected much more from a 4-star hotel. Our room's bathroom had a broken toilet paper holder and missing toilet paper when we arrived. The sink and shower would not properly drain. The hotel is conveniently located, about 10-15 minutes to both train station and old part of town but the specific area around the hotel is not that great. Breakfast room was beautiful with a nice buffet but the person at the door was quite "stuffy". If you like European snobs, book this hotel.

8

Chang-Jo

3 Mar 2025

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Stayed 1 night

I think that this was a 5-star hotel but it didn’t keep up that standard and it becomes an old hotel. As a gold member of Expedia, I would get 20 euro credit for “food and drink” but I was told that breakfast is NOT “food” therefore I could not use 20 euro credit towards a breakfast. Beware the hotel may not honour whatever promised.

10

Jennifer

5 Jun 2024

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Stayed 1 night

Staff was very friendly and helpful. They arranged transportation for us prior to our arrival since we needed an early 4am ride to the airport the next morning. They confirmed the transportation at checkin but the driver never showed up so the front desk jumped in to action to get us a taxi at 4am so we didn’t miss our flight.

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Location

Well positioned between the train station and the historic center, making sightseeing and day trips easy on foot. A few guests found the immediate area less appealing or rough after dark.

Related guest reviews

10

Lynn

17 Jun 2025

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Stayed 1 night

The Royal Carlton hotel was conviently located near the train station. Our room was clean and spacious and the restaurant was wonderful

10

David

11 Jun 2025

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Stayed 2 nights

Great location, friendly staff, great breakfast included, easy transportation.

10

Deborah

10 Oct 2025

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Stayed 3 nights

Good location close to train station and walkable to town center

10

Hiroko

30 Oct 2025

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Stayed 4 nights

very comfortable room and great breakfast! Location was fantastic, near the central station, and also easy walk to city center.

10

John

19 Oct 2025

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Stayed 1 night

Great location, near shops , restaurants, bus and train.

10

Gonzalo

11 Dec 2025

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Stayed 1 night

The hotel was superb. Location is perfect between Bologna train station and the city centre. The room was gorgeous and breakfast was of very high quality. All amenities were in excellent state.

10

Cecilia

5 Nov 2025

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Stayed 2 nights

Great location, walkable to train station and downtown area.

10

Michael

20 Oct 2025

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Stayed 1 night

Excellent hotel only a few minutes walk from the train station, shopping and restaurants. About 15 minutes walk to the main piazza. Professional staff and clean well appointed rooms. Breakfast included a good variety of fruit, meat and cheese along with typical north american fare.

10

Ryan

21 Oct 2025

·

Stayed 3 nights

Stayed at the Royal Hotel Carlton in Bologna for three nights and it was a great base for exploring the city. The location couldn’t be better — everything you want to see is within easy walking distance, from the main squares to all the great restaurants and shops. Our room was surprisingly spacious and really comfortable, which made it easy to settle in and actually live out of for a few days. The hotel itself feels classic and well-kept, with friendly staff and a calm atmosphere that’s a nice break from the busy streets outside. Would definitely stay again.

10

Cheryl

27 Sept 2025

·

Stayed 2 nights

Great location.

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Dining

Breakfast is frequently praised for its variety and quality, and the on‑site bar and restaurant receive positive feedback. Some note extra charges for made‑to‑order items and occasional service or coffee quality issues at busy times.

Related guest reviews

8

Robert

25 Jul 2023

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Stayed 2 nights

Location perfect for seeing around the town with close access to the main rail and bus stations.Very old style hotel and stuck in a time warp but very spacious. Because of its central location it is a very busy hotel but copes well. Mixture of corporate and holiday makers. Main complaint would be the huge breakfast room, long corridor style, very congested and extremely busy with too many people around the breakfast area. Like a school cafeteria. Disappointingly, the meats and cheeses etc were not covered , very unusual, especially after covid and all these people millng around . The Nescafe coffee machines delivered the worst coffee ever. Just powdered coffee, not even hot. Dinner in the restaurant at night was well cooked, hot, well served but very expensive for what you got. Also, no atmosphere as very few people seemed to use the restaurant

10

Paul

11 Jun 2024

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Stayed 2 nights

We really enjoyed our stay here. It was very close to the train station, and easy (mostly undercover walk). Property is aging, however did not matter as has been kept in very good condition. Breakfast was a highlight.

10

Thomas

12 Oct 2025

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Stayed 1 night

Pleasant stay! Great breakfast, gym facility.

10

GERSON

7 Jan 2026

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Stayed 2 nights

Hotel excelente, com serviço muito bom, quartos amplos e bem aconchegante. Muito bem decorado. Roupas de cama e banho de excelente qualidade. A equipe do hotel é muito atenciosa. Tem bar excelente com otima pizza e restaurante. O café da manhã é muito farto com grande variedades de pães, frutas, frios, queijos, geleias, etc. Um hotel qua faz jus a 4 estrelas e próximo de 5 estrelas.. Voltaria sempre que puder a Bolonha e ficaria hospedado nele. Ótima oção

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10

Steve

19 Mar 2025

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Stayed 1 night

Great location near the train station. Beautiful hotel and great rooms. The restaurant was fabulous. A must stay hotel!

10

thomas

6 Nov 2025

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Stayed 2 nights

efficient good breakfast

10

Alvaro

12 Oct 2025

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Stayed 1 night

Good restaurant

10

Gonzalo

11 Dec 2025

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Stayed 1 night

The hotel was superb. Location is perfect between Bologna train station and the city centre. The room was gorgeous and breakfast was of very high quality. All amenities were in excellent state.

8

Troels

3 Feb 2026

·

Stayed 2 nights

God service, flot og rent. Irriterende at man skal betale ekstra for omelet om morgenen

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10

Gregory

1 Jul 2025

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Stayed 1 night

Five star property just a bit outdated but in excellent shape with full service, comfortable lobby and bar and excellent restaurant. Large well equipped room with comfortable bed. Extensive breakfast buffet. 15 minute walk to the square. Easy underground parking.

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Month	Average price
January	US$162
February	US$172
March	US$230
April	US$279
May	US$231
June	US$222
July	US$150
August	US$123
September	US$262
October	US$241
November	US$203
December	US$156

Su	Mo	Tu	We	Th	Fr	Sa
		1	2	3	4	5
6	7	8	9	10	11	12
13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20 $352	21 $863	22 $670	23 $670	24 $295	25 $202	26 $184
27 $154	28 $316	29 $223	30 $225

Su	Mo	Tu	We	Th	Fr	Sa
				1 $211	2	3
4 $177	5 $359	6 $186	7 $202	8 $363	9	10 $225
11 $173	12 $299	13 $214	14	15 $175	16 $218	17 $234
18 $172	19 $188	20	21 $186	22 $230	23	24 $193
25 $177	26 $225	27 $186	28 $171	29 $225	30 $153	31 $163

Royal Hotel Carlton

Prices for Royal Hotel Carlton

Monthly average prices

About this property

Location

Room options

Superior Twin Room

Junior Suite

Classic Room

Superior Double Room

Deluxe Twin Room, 2 Twin Beds

Family Triple Room

Suite

Deluxe Double Room, 1 King Bed

Guest reviews of Royal Hotel Carlton

Who stays here?

What guests think

Property policies

Check-in instructions

Good to know

Optional extras

FAQs about Royal Hotel Carlton

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