Porto San Mamolo Review: Experiencing ‘Home’ in Bologna

Last Updated on January 12, 2025 by Christine Kaaloa

Porta San Mamolo is a three-story bed & breakfast stay on the edge of historical Bologna. From the outside. Tucked away in a quiet and secluded street tucked away from the main buzz of cars and people, I almost missed it upon first glance. It looked like a suburban apartment or family mansion hotel, than your average hotel.

Disclosure: My stay at Porta San Mamolo was hosted. As always, all thoughts expressed in this article are fully my own.

Hotel Porta San Mamolo Service

Surprisingly though, the Porta San Mamolo hotel has a total of 48 rooms. The lodging is on a quiet street that runs parallel to the main traffic thoroughfare. The Porta San Mamolo Bologna, despite being a hotel, offers the charm of a bed & breakfast. The rooms have the hearth of an Italian homecoming, rather than the coldness of an impersonal chain hotel. This is a place where you just feel like family.

I slept in the Classic room, which has an older vibe and is located on the hotel’s inner side, with access to the other rooms and the garden.

Another blogger was in the Supreme room, which had a more modern vibe to it thanks to the window that let in plenty of light.

Both room types are extremely spacious; in mine, I could virtually perform cartwheels.

Read my Bologna travel guide for ideas of what to do in Bologna

Watch my first impressions of Bologna video

Opulent Room with a Balcony

My spacious room included a large western-style bathroom with a window overlooking the courtyard. I kept the window closed for the most part, but you can open it if you’re drying laundry or need to air out your bathroom.

I don’t know what period of art my room was designed after but it definitely recalls a specific time period and style — I want to say modern Baroque, but I could be very off.  It was lovely and there were aspects where I found the decor a little … err, creepy. Kinda like the gothic cherubs in my Ravenna hotel. Italy has these charming mansion-like hotels with a distinct Italian countryside decor that can be idyllic …or occasionally remind you of a scene from a Hollywood horror film, where something in the walls come to life. I have a wild imagination…

My room had an interesting “secret” closet room. You can make out a little of the door embedded in the striped wall photo below (it’s nearest to the room light).  It was a little freaky due to the fact, there was a peephole window in that room, that allowed you to peer into the dark stairwell. So if someone knocked on my room door, I could see who it is by looking out my peephole window.

Still, getting over my imagination, I enjoyed the spaciousness of my room and the flat screen television playing Italian soap operas.

Check out what to do in Emilia Romagna

Bathroom Facilities

While accommodations in Italy vary, one feature you can count on is a bidet toilet. Italian bidets resemble a toilet bowl that sits to the side of the toilet and has a nozzle spout similar to a conventional wash basin, only you may direct the stream wherever you wish. It takes getting used to—too much pressure can be rather frightening to your girlish nether parts, while too little pressure may not reach your girlish nether parts.

For westerners it is not something that comes easy or natural, but it’s said Italians absolutely love it (and many have confirmed that fact).

A glass partition shielded the rain head shower from the toilet and rest of the room. Toiletries were standard.

Hotel Facilities

As a bed and breakfast in a house, the main facility is the breakfast dining room. Porta San Mamolo does not have a restaurant, forcing you to get out and explore the charms of Bologna. Instead, it has a breakfast buffet and that feels like the most essential way to start the day.

Getting to the breakfast room you must pass a garden quietly tucked into the cove of the building. The buffet is loaded with the Emilia Romagna food fare from cheeses, yogurts, jams and cereals. It reminded me a little of my Ravenna hotel.  Eggs are replaced with cold cut meats like proscuito and salami.

You will certainly have enough to start the day. Everything is prepared fresh daily, there are a few staff to prepare and clear plates and the foods are sure to be enjoyable for all types of tourists.

Check out Ravenna while you’re visiting Bologna

Video: Watch my First Impressions of Bologna

This  video documents my arrival into Bologna, my first day’s highlights and impressions. You can see my experience of this room and hotel at 6:03 minutes!

Porta San Mamolo Review: Best Hotels in Bologna Italy

Porta San Mamolo Bologna is located in the old town, within walking distance of the city center and yet it is accessible to bus stops. To get to Bologna’s Central train station (from Bologna, I went to Florence next), takes an easy 10-15 minutes by bus. From the station you can catch the Aerobus to the airport. In Italy, I eventually began booking my trains at the last minute via Omio as I could use digital tickets.

Piazza Maggiore and the city’s famed Two Towers are a 5-8 minute walk away. It’s also only down the street from a PAM local, a kind of convenience shop where you can stock up on food, water, soft drinks, and toiletries.

It is an ideal location for exploring the city and catching the bus to journey onward.

Information

Book Porta San Mamolo

Location: Hotel Porta San Mamolo, Vicolo del Falcone, 6/8 Bologna Italia

Getting an Italy SIM card

Having a data plan while traveling Italy is helpful for hailing Uber and booking trains, transportation and activities at the last minute. Italian SIM cards are not always sold at the airports in Italy. When I arrived in Italy, I had to wait for operating hours to find a local telecomm shop in Ravenna that sold SIM cards. I brought my passport, waited in a queue with Italians needing help with their data plans and then, I was up and running in 10 minutes. It was a bit of hassle and I didn’t save that much at all. (See my Ravenna travel guide).

I recommend saving time and money by buying an Italy Prepaid SIM cards in advance or eSim to save time hunting down local Sims and plans.  I prefer using Airalo E-Sim because I can activate it before or upon arrival at the airport.  They have a regional plan as well for country hopping travelers.

Watch my Bologna Travel Guide video