My wife and I recently spent 17 days in Italy. 8 of those days were spent in Cremona at the Ibis Hotel even though we had prepaid for 9. We used the hotel as our exploration base of operations. The hotel room, which is modern and had a TV, lacked a refrigerator and ironing board. We left a day earlier than planned to meet friends in Genoa. Because we prepaid they would not credit the unused time or transfer the balance to the Ibis in Milan where we stayed on our final night in Italy. I would recommend not prepaying for more than the first night. Lesson learned.
Cremona, like many ancient Italian cities, is laid out in a circular manner. The Ibis is in a new section outside of the old city. Parking at the hotel was plentiful and free unless you want to park in the below ground area for the night. Parking in the old cities is next to impossible. The signs are confusing and streets laid out in no apparent pattern. Main streets change names frequently. Traveling at night is a nightmare and not recommended! We got lost walking and driving around every single day! Milan was the worst, where street names are twenty feet above the ground on the sides of buildings and not visible at night. . Mid block signage does not exist in any cities we visited. Trying to find Felino, which is not on many maps, was an adventure in itself. Thank goodness for the traffic circles and helpful Italians who eventually got us to where we were going! Arrivedirci