The day started early, as the flight was in the morning, though thankfully not at dawn. When my alarm went off I could hear rain. Typical, as I often have rain on the day of my flight back to Hungary. As if the weather itself knew how much I like living there and tried to discourage me from going back. I quickly packed together my things, checked the drawers for any leftovers, and went down for breakfast. So far, the room had always been quite full when I went down, and therefore I hadn’t had the chance to make the breakfast video. Now I was determined and as there were only few people, I did finally succeed.
We didn’t get to leave the hotel at the time when we were supposed to, as the receptionist had a problem making out the bill! She had to call someone. She was probably very new, and very green. I’m not sure why we couldn’t do it the night before, but the receptionist then said she could only do it in the morning. When I was a receptionist I could, so either they don’t have a very good software, or just don’t know how to.
The rain was still pouring, but we quickly got to the airport in Bergamo. The Italian obsession with signs came in handy as it was very clear all the way how to get to where we needed to leave the car.
Checking in the luggage went smoothly. Also, security went very fast. There were lots of people, so I was afraid that it would take long, but they kept us moving. There was a stag and hen party as well, with the groom in blindfolds. He probably was going to be surprised as to where he went.
I got some water and a quick espresso, which I ordered in Italian. The woman said the amount I had to pay in English, which was welcomed as I’m still not doing well with numbers in Italian. I’ve been trying to practise, but for some reason I have this problem with every language. Sometimes even in Hungarian. I’m fine if I see it written down, but spoken…
By the time I had my coffee it was time to get in line for boarding. I looked out, and the plane was nowhere to be seen. It’s quite common on these budget airlines like Ryanair, that they start the boarding process before the plane arrives, and everyone stands in line for at least half an hour, occasionally two hours, without any place to go to. Since you also have to go to these planes on foot, you often stand outside for a long time, even in the rain. So always come prepared for outside weather, and clear your bladder before standing in the line to board. We did 30 minutes in the staircase to go outside this time.
I had an aisle seat, so that wasn’t so bad. The guy next to me had to have both his elbows on the armrest, so I kept nudging him. He only realised halfway to Budapest that his elbow was in my arm. I saw that he was looking at some guidebooks to Budapest, so I asked him if he spoke English, and if I can give him some local information. We ended up talking about Italy and Hungary for the rest of the trip.
In Budapest, of course, it was freezing and raining. As per usual.
Once home, I wrote my reviews for the hotel and restaurant, and also did the video.
Reviews:
Hotel ibis Styles Milano Agrate Brianza
This hotel is located in an office district, technically between Agrate Brianza and Monza. It’s mostly for business people, who come for meetings. It’s also not far from Milan, so if you rent a car, this can be a convenient hotel for you, if that’s where you want to see things.
The hotel is very modern, like all Ibis hotels. Inside the rooms though you can see some of the ware and tare, so it has obviously been around a bit. The lobby is nice, you have the tea / coffee there and a small bar. The receptionists were for the most part okay, but Francesca was great. She was often in the afternoon shift and spoke English really well. Travellers should note that if you need an invoice, it has to be done in the morning of check-out. I’m not sure why, because the program I used could do an invoice at any time.
The room that I had in the hotel was accessible. Reserved this, because it’s a bit cheaper than the normal kind. This had a few good and bad sides. Good, because it’s a bit bigger, with more room to move around, also bigger bathroom. I do also like a higher toilet and the railings, as I have some problems with my knees. The shower was okay, though the water did spray out a lot. The drawback was that the room was right next to the elevators, and all hours of the day I could hear them going up and down.
In general, the room had some storage, though not too much, but that was fine. The desk only had one plug. There was also a plug on either side of the bed. The bed was very comfortable, though only two pillows. The TV was fixed to the wall, not smart, but the language could be adjusted to the programming, and also had such information as weather. The wifi was not strong in the room. In other places in the hotel it was a lot stronger, so I don’t know if it’s due to the location of the room, or the 5th floor. The bathroom had lots of towels, a hairdryer, but soap fixed to the wall in both the shower and the basin. Don’t even dream about a magnifying mirror, but there was some extra lighting. There was very little storage space around the basin. Not sure if it’s because of the accessible room, or that’s normal for the hotel. What was weird was that there was no soap by the bidet. The most annoying thing about the room was a constant mechanical sound. I’m thinking it’s the vents, but I’m very sensitive to constant sounds, and the low lever humming was really disturbing.
Breakfast was nice. It’s an Ibis Styles hotel, so there was more on offer than the regular Ibis. It was pretty good, and I had no complaints. Maybe the only thing that I missed was that there were no vegetables most of the time, other than fried tomatoes. It could be an Italian thing. Anyway, you can see more about it in my video.
There’s also a small gym. Most of the time it was empty, so that was pretty good. The problem that I saw there was that there were no dumbbells under 4 kg. That’s very male centred. I did switch over to the big machine, but I had to take some time to figure it out.
The hotel also has a restaurant, but that wasn’t open on a Friday night. I guess most of their guests come on weekdays, but I wish that would have been more obvious. The hotel is in the middle of nowhere practically. There was a nice little pizzeria on the opposite side of the road in the building with a few shops, so at least we didn’t have to drive into town. My review of the hotel’s restaurant is separate.
Overall, a comfortable hotel, but I wish that the vents didn’t hum in the background. It does need some cosmetic refurb in the rooms, because I did see some rust here and there. Not a bad choice though in the area.
La Quolina
This restaurant is part of the Ibis Styles hotel in Agrate Brianza. It’s mostly aimed at the surrounding offices. The prices are moderate and they also offer a lunch and dinner menu. For me, the portions were a bit large, but that was fine.
The inside of the restaurant is modern, and relaxed. The service is efficient. I saw some reviews complain about English, and it was limited, but the menu does have everything in English as well. If you don’t speak Italian, use Google translate or just point. There is strong wifi.
The food was great. I ate there four nights, so I got to taste a few things. Spaghetti was very nice. The fish in salt was worth the wait. It was delicate. Though frankly, maybe a bit too simple for me, I generally eat more spicy foods. I loved the steak, though the eggplant was a bit weird with it, but I rolled with it. The veal liver was fabulous! It was on the dinner menu, and I loved it so much. Could eat it every week. Wouldn’t mind the recipe. 😉 They also had a nice Italian beer on tap, and the house wine was good as well.
Overall, very nice little restaurant. Not overly complicated. It’s the kind of place where you go and be comfortable with your friends, or even go alone and eat with your laptop. However, it wasn’t open on Friday, probably because it’s mainly for the office crowds. I was sad I couldn’t eat there on my last night.
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