Learn Italian: L'albergo è vicino alla piazza. - The hotel is near the square.

In Italian, the concept of near is expressed with the phrase vicino a (literally close to). You cannot just put vicino directly next to the noun like we do in English. Because piazza is feminine and takes the article la (the), you must combine a and la to form the single word alla.

What if I wanted to say the hotel is far from the square?

You would use the phrase lontano da (far from). Just like with alla, you have to combine the preposition da with the article la to make dalla. The sentence would be: L'albergo è lontano dalla piazza.

Would vicino change its ending if the subject of the sentence were feminine or plural?

No. When used to show location like this in the phrase vicino a, the word vicino acts as an adverb. Adverbs are invariable, meaning they never change their endings to match the subject. It will always stay vicino.

Just a quick refresher: why is it L'albergo instead of Il albergo?