Pumpkin_queen2013
Family · August 20254/10
Before I begin, I cannot fault the staff here. They were flawless. Really friendly and attentive. However, the hotel itself is extremely tired and in need of some improvements.
Our family of 5 had t...Before I begin, I cannot fault the staff here. They were flawless. Really friendly and attentive. However, the hotel itself is extremely tired and in need of some improvements.
Our family of 5 had two rooms in August for a week and a half. These "garden views" were obscured by a huge tree which meant they were quite dark rooms and you didn't see much of the hills behind. The garden was a bit of a mess with pipes and other workings of the buildings. The glass was double glazed which was just as well because if you opened the windows all you could hear were the workings of the swimming pool pumps etc. There was also a consistent banging every day (presumably from rooms above) but it sounded like someone bouncing a ball. It was very loud! The rooms were quite small (especially for 3 people) and lack of places to put suitcases and hang clothes, meant that my suitcase was permanently on the floor. The cleaners came every day and seemed to do a pretty good job. The rooms would benefit from somewhere to hang swimwear and used towels as the towel rack provided in the bathroom didn't really work. Be aware that the Alexa in each room has a camera on it - so ensure the cover is over this when you arrive. Bit weird!
The rest of the hotel had similar, old-fashioned and tired decoration. Entertainment-wise, there was meant to be a disco one night that never happened and the live music was a guy sat in the corner with a microphone and keyboard. Not exactly what we were expecting and there was nobody there. In fact, after about 7pm every night there are next to no guests around. We didn't eat in the restaurant as it was extremely expensive and we preferred a more relaxed and simpler menu. There are some bar snacks but these are very average and again, very expensive. I wouldn't recommend the toasties! The days that we didn't want to eat in Sorrento, we just ended up walking down the hill and bringing back take-away pizzas to our room. I think the hotel needs to be a little more relaxed for families eating and offer some affordable bits (even just a side of chips). The beer was also €16 for a pint. So again, we often bought quite a few from the shop and consumed in our room.
The hotel pool was great. My boys loved that it was very deep and warm. It could do with being tidied up a little as it looks like it's been there since the 70's but perfectly useable. The pool attendant was great - always popping over with towels as soon as you arrived. I'm not sure why the pool closes at 7pm however. After a couple of very long days out, it would have been quite nice to get back and jump in the pool but this was not an option. If the pool was open longer, it would also encourage guests to hang around in the evening and not always head in to Sorrento for food and entertainment.
One significantly disadvantage for us, is that the hotel is at the top of a steep hill (yes some nice views), but there is no easy way to get into Sorrento. The hotel offer a free bus service to and from Sorrento. Sounds great but this is only once an hour and quite often is too busy to board. It also does not operate between midday and 3pm so you have to time everything impeccably. The walk is not particularly nice either. Through some streets that smell of urine, covered in rubbish and full of scooters whizzing past you. When you get to the bottom, you're basically walking alongside a very busy, dangerous road. The bus stop in Sorrento is also the other side of where you walk to so you can't just walk past the bus stop, see how many people are there and decide to walk, you have to make that decision way in advance. We only got the shuttle bus 3 times whilst we were there, the rest of the time we walked down and up the hill (the latter quite challenging before the additional 30 degrees heat). The bus needs to be every 30mins and drop you right at the bottom of the hill so that guests can decide on the way back, whether they can fit on or will just walk).
Check out is 10am and on our last day, the boys had a swim and then we went and sat on some outdoor sofas in the shade before our flight. A member of staff then came over and asked us to move because unbeknown to us we were apparently sat in the "afternoon seating area" and were only allowed to sit there after 3pm. We were doing absolutely no harm and not in anyones way so this left a rather bad taste in my mouth. Why have outdoor sofas when you're not allowed to use them. There are no guests around once the bar opens after 3pm so I never saw anyone using these. A little bit of common sense should prevail. Maybe they need to put some unfriendly signs up to let people know where they are allowed to sit and at what times!
Overall the hotel needs some TLC. It feels old fashioned and attempting a luxury 5* feel but failing miserably. Lots of dated bits of furniture, a very average breakfast - (where they don't even trust you to get your own pot of tea), and some good staff keeping it all afloat. New management needed perhaps?
P.s When they say there is parking, you're basically parked on one of two ramps up to the hotel.
Would not recommend.Show More
