Hotel Village Chia Laguna Resort

"We have recently returned from a very enjoyable family holiday at Hotel Village. We must admit that reading some of the reviews before we travelled we were sceptical about our choice of destination. We did not need to be concerned as we did not experience many of the negative comments made by some other visitors. From the moment we arrived right to the end of our stay we noted the polite and friendly manner of all the staff. The facilities here are excellent including the main pool, the kids club and pool area and the train service to the wonderful beach where we had no problem finding sunbeds and umbrellas for the 4 of us with adequate space between. We really enjoyed the evening performances by the Chia Laguna artistic team particularly the dancing. During our 11 night stay there were 8 different performances plus the rock music show. Other visitors have commented on the high price for drinks. Of course these prices are inflated but from our experience it is the same in all hotel based holidays unless you go all inclusive. Then if you don't drink all day long you are subsidising other people who do! One other refreshing change was the good behaviour of the other residents. There was no bad behaviour or loud music to endure. Regarding the food we felt that the standard at Domus was generally very good. The only comment we would make is that very occasionally the food was not hot enough due to the fact that it was not kept covered unlike in the Mezze restaurant where the food was covered with lids and was kept warm. As for reception we had no bad experience - the only slight negative being that we had been led to believe that if we ate at the other Village restaurants there would be a supplement to pay but that each of us would receive a 20 Euro reduction on our meal as we had not eaten at the buffet. We therefore booked the Pizzeria only to be told on presentation of the bill that the rebate did not apply to that restaurant. All in all a wonderful stay. Thank you Hotel Village. We hope to see you again one day."

"I feel really sad writing this review. The website says that you can use all the swimming pools, but I was told that I didn’t have permission to use the lane swimming pool as we were part of the ‘village’. They also claim that you can use all restaurants in the complex - again, this is not true. We could not get a reservation at the Terrace at the Conrad, despite being there for 9 days and saying we would be flexible on booking times and nights available. The people working on Reception were not at all helpful, you had to chase and chase for an answer for a reservation. The most crazy experience we had was asking a waiter for some water and a glass of wine; he said he could only provide the water and a bottle of wine, if we wanted a glass of wine we had to ask the waiter who was taking the food orders! One evening at dinner, we got up to get our pasta course and returned to an empty table! It had been cleared of our dishes and drinks which we had not finished, so the staff had to replace all the drinks! Our taxi to the airport was booked to arrive three days earlier than we needed (they actually admitted to this mistake). We felt like second class citizens after arriving on a Sunday as the staff at Reception were so unhelpful telling us we could not swim in the lane pool or book alternative restaurants (despite this being on the website). It felt like false advertising. There were dogs everywhere, including the pool and beach, despite the website saying they should stay in the room only. The beach was spoilt by everyone being crammed in together, such little space. We did escape the village for a day for a road trip and we all laughed that we felt like we were leaving prison. You are very much ‘stuck’ on site - there are no restaurants to walk to other than those on site - and you aren’t allowed to use those! We ate at Mezze, although one night we got swapped to Domus, but it’s just the same. We have travelled throughout mainland Italy and always felt welcomed - not here. The things that saved the holiday were the food at Mezze which was excellent, the pool, and the spa at the Conrad where I had two massages, but we were not allowed to eat there. Our kids ages 10 and 14 were bored by the end of the stay. This is aimed at young kids. The staff in the restaurants and bars work extremely hard with exceptionally long hours. The majority were very pleasant, it was just Reception who had the cold manner and refused to help. The customer was always wrong and they really need to sort out their welcome. My two visits to the spa were an oasis of calm and professionalism. The village is really 3 star, not 4 star - apart from the food and pool. We have been to resorts in Portugal which are much better organised, efficient and welcoming. I would not advise coming here as you can’t trust what is on their website. It felt like we had been promised a lot, but the resort didn’t deliver on restaurants and use of pools."

"I really enjoyed my stay here , Sami and Irene from the Adventure club were amazing in organising fun activities for all the kids 13-17."