Just splendid. A view over Piazza Unita d’Italia was exhilarating but only because the accommodation delivered on the first requirements: the room was quiet (double glazed) and sparkling clean (how sweet to walk on polished parquet instead of germ-infested carpet polluted with the DNA of a thousand feet a in most hotels). Yes, the location is unbeatably great but the staff- they found us good restaurants, assessed local museums and even helped us pin down opera options in another city three weeks off and assisted in the cash transfer for the tickets. They found us a first class tour guide who knew the James Joyce material in detail and showed us the architectural landmarks including Mussolini-era buildings and the Roman amphitheatre. They advised us to see the “paleo Christian” mosaics in Aquileia, the most important site of its kind, which was a wonderful excursion. And I think Trieste is indeed an underrated destination.

Horrible experience with Grand Hotel Duchi D'Aosta! Be very careful with your credit/debit card! When I booked this hotel over the phone with their reservation department they asked me for mine credit card just for the security reasons. Even before we came to the hotel they have deduct the money from mine card, plus we have paid our rooms when we were leaving the hotel (we had two rooms for two nights), twelve days later they still didn't pay the money into my account.
Beside the problem with taking the money without my permission they told me one rate per room per night over the phone and different when they send me an email.
The rooms on 4th floor are absolutely horrible, we were in room 401 and our friends in 402. Be advise that there isn't internet on the entire 4th floor, no warm water, and during the night you will hear the heating system or A/C when ever is someone turning the heating or A/C on and off, such a loud noise above 4th floor that you won't be able to sleep like ourselves.
Having said all of this above, will never ever go back there, shame on their bad business model by tricking the guests. We are contacting the local lawyer office due to problem with the money they have taken without permission and keeping them for two weeks now.

The staff couldn’t be nicer, but this hotel's problems are intractable -- and long-standing

Room 206: I walk in and the heat is stifling. Try to see how to adjust the thermostat. No way. Ducking under the (massive) TV screen and edging round the desk, I reach the window and open it. Road noise. Close the window, and back out carefully, so I do not hit my head on the (enormous) TV screen. Not too surprised: the room is so small, I wonder how it qualifies as a double-room. Check later, with the organization that decides these things that, at 14sm, it doesn’t.

I return to the front desk and tell the clerk on duty. She says she will have someone see to it while I am out, and before my friend checks in. She explains that there are some problems and I ask if we can change rooms. She has a look and says it’s possible – at a cost of €100+ extra per night. (What? I have a problem that you cannot solve, and I have to pay for the privilege?). I say I will get back to her.

On my return several hours later, the heat issue remains unchanged. But there’s another problem. They claim not to have a second key to the room. Turns out a previous guest (note: not the previous guest) took the key with when he/she left.

So how much does it cost to cut a new key? How long does it take? In any event, they had his/her phone number/email/what-have-you. Call and ask them to send it back, no? Or just bill it to them. We make a fuss and the master-key is handed over.

The penny drops. This room is usually rented out as a double for single use!

The impression of the hotel at this early stage is that some things are up-to-standard, and some are well above. The breakfast room is delightful, light-filled and overlooking the piazza. The breakfast itself is abundant, and the staff very helpful.

But other things are anything but. The shower in our bathroom included a futuristic device that promised a massage, as well as steam. Neither worked, and they were just, well, clutter.

More clutter: the over-sized TV. Fine, for the Italian-speaking visitors or those of us who want to watch TV in Italian. There are, admittedly, lots of German stations, but none in English (or French). No-one comes to a hotel to watch TV, but if you are going to provide one, and have it dominate the room, why not make it useful to your international guests?

Excessive heat continued to be a problem, but we persevered, but it all came to a head on the second of our three-night stay at the Gran Duchi di Aosta hotel in Trieste. At about three in the morning, the heating control-unit started to flash, a horrible pulsating red that woke us both. We tried to stop it, and ended up winding a pair of black leggings around the unit to try and staunch the light.

In the morning, I complained at the desk, and we were given our free upgrade to room 403, for the last night. Which was a lovely, spacious room, with a huge TV too, but it was in proportion to the rest of the space.

As for the rest, we cannot ever forget that this hotel was originally built as a home and the conversion to it current 4-star status was always going to be a compromise of certain features, one example being that all the 55 rooms are different sizes, and all have required their own approach when it comes to problem-solving. When it works, it’s magnificent. When it doesn’t, well …

You see, when I got home, I checked the Tripadvisor reviews for the Grand Hotel Duchi d’Aosta in Trieste.

Let’s just say I wish I had seen what Bennetim had written in March 2019, about his stay in Room 206, where he described himself as being "profondamente deluso" (deeply disappointed).

That was more than six months before we booked. More than enough time to fix the problem, assuming it was fixable, of course. Talk about déjà vu!