Starhotels Du Parc

This hotel's rate moved more than most between the two dates we checked. On October 14 the public superior double was €192 non-refundable and €202 flexible, room only. Booking.com also showed a third-party partner offer at €152, with €23 of taxes and charges instead of the usual €8. On November 11 the public rate fell to €106 non-refundable and €125 flexible.

A large hotel with 10 meeting rooms prices to its conference calendar. Check your dates against the Fiere di Parma trade fairs; our Cibus page lists the next ones. Booking.com's signed-in Genius members were shown €173 on October 14.

Starhotels serves a full American buffet breakfast in the Aiglon room. At €17 per person it is the most expensive add-on breakfast among the hotels we checked. On November 11, the breakfast-included double was €140 against €106 room only, which is €34 for two. On that date you save nothing by adding it, so decide on the day. The hotel also has the Canova restaurant and bar.

For dinner, walk into the Oltretorrente or across to the old town. Trattoria dei Corrieri near the Pilotta is on the old-town side of the river.

Starhotels lists paid parking at €15 a day in a private garage. Viale Piacenza is not in any ZTL in the city's 2024 ordinance, so you can drive in from the ring road without a permit. The camera gates nearest to you are on Viale Mariotti and Viale Toscanini, the riverside boulevards, which are active 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. every day. Do not follow a satnav down them to reach the centre.

That garage price, plus no ZTL risk, is the real argument for the Du Parc if you are doing Torrechiara or the Labirinto della Masone by car. Read our ZTL guide before you set off.

Times below are from OpenStreetMap walking routes.

The walk to the centre crosses the Parma torrent, so the Oltretorrente's trattorie are closer to you than the Duomo is.

Drivers who want a full-service four-star with a garage and no permit paperwork. Families who will use the Parco Ducale as a playground and picnic spot, 6 minutes from the lobby. Groups attending a conference in the hotel's meeting rooms.

It suits less well if you are on foot for two nights and want to step out into the old town. At €192 room only, you could have had Hotel Stendhal opposite the Pilotta for €151, or Hotel Torino by the Teatro Regio for €146, on the same October night. On a November weeknight at €106, the Du Parc is the better deal of the three for anyone with a car.