I have read descriptions of Naples being the dirty ring around the beautiful bay of Naples and while this is perhaps a little harsh it is certainly not unfounded. I would describe it as Barcelona unloved.
We had booked ourselves a room at the Hotel Garibaldi which is straight across the central station square from the main train station. Brilliant we thought, we could land, get a train to town, drop off our bags and head off exploring. Not so, because in a typically Italian approach to integrated transport there isn't actually a train station at the airport. So we had to get a bus to the town center and trek back across to the hotel.
When you first arrive in Naples, and in particular this area of Naples, at 11.30pm it is very intimidating, with dark narrow alleys, heaving street bars and traffic hell bent on killing you, everybody else and itself. Luckily we had a bus driver who could speak EXCELLENT English and he was alble to drop us off reasonably close to the hotel, although he couldn't prevent us nearly getting run over by scooter riders who regarded the buses bottom step as just an extra lane in which to weave.
From the outside the hotel was a little beacon of tidy and welcoming in a streetscape of chaos and rubbish, and stepping in through the door was like stepping into a sound proof box. We were quickly greeted and given the key to our room....on the second floor....with no lift and heavy bags. Still, once up there it was a nice enough room. A little on the small side but cosy. Imogen did comment that we had mistakenly booked bathroom with an en-suite bedroom but we got our heads down for a very good first nights sleep.
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