"We were so excited for this holiday as it was the first family holiday we’d all had in a long time. Unfortunately, we were left feeling disappointed almost immediately after arriving.
Check-in was chaotic. After waiting around 40 minutes to be checked in, we were then told to join another queue and wait a further 55 minutes just to pay the tourist tax. Why couldn’t this have all been done at the same time? We then received a letter shoved under the door on our final day to say we had to pay our tourism tax what did we wait in line for?
Once our bags had been taken to our room, a member of staff wearing pink trousers and a flower-print top stopped me outside the room and asked if I had any cigarettes. Is it really normal for staff to ask guests for cigarettes before they’ve even entered their room, or at all?
The hotel regularly replies to reviews saying, “Our priority is to offer a warm welcome and quality service to all our guests, regardless of their nationality.” Unfortunately, this was not our experience. There was a very noticeable difference in how Italian guests were treated compared to everyone else, and judging by the number of reviews mentioning the same issue, we were not the only ones to notice it.
We booked the pizzeria for dinner. Only one person in our group actually enjoyed their pizza. As this is advertised as an “all-inclusive” hotel, we then went into the main restaurant to get dessert. As soon as we picked up a plate, a male manager grabbed a member of our party and shouted, “You’ve just had dinner in the pizzeria. You aren’t allowed in here.”
Firstly, why was he grabbing guests? Secondly, if this is an all-inclusive resort, why are guests being prevented from having dessert elsewhere? I explained that we were only getting dessert, but he continued shouting, saying dessert was available in the pizzeria. Nobody had explained this to us beforehand, so how were we supposed to know? Had he approached us calmly and simply explained the situation, we would have apologised and gone back to the pizzeria without any issue. Instead, we were shouted at and humiliated in front of an entire restaurant full of guests.
Sadly, this wasn’t an isolated incident. This same manager seemed to spend breakfast, lunch and dinner arguing with guests over what he considered acceptable for them to eat.
I work in a hotel myself, and this is simply not hospitality. The way we were spoken to was unacceptable. It happened in front of young children, who couldn’t understand what we had supposedly done wrong and were then frightened to go back for dinner in case they were shouted at too. After paying for an all-inclusive holiday, we ended up spending money elsewhere because we no longer felt comfortable eating in the hotel. How is that acceptable for a four-star resort?
Another manager later came over, apologised sincerely for the incident and offered to let us book into the pizzeria again. He handled the situation professionally, and I appreciate his efforts. However, after what had happened, we felt too uncomfortable to return.
The food throughout the hotel was extremely poor. If you have food allergies or dietary requirements, I would strongly advise looking elsewhere. For three days I ate cold, undercooked chips because the food labels frequently didn’t match the dishes being served. Much of the food appeared to be leftovers from lunch covered in a different sauce.
The bars themselves were fine, but we witnessed a heated argument between members of staff involving shouting, slamming and banging, which made us feel so uncomfortable that we left and returned to our room.
The beach bar also requires a reservation. After walking there in 42°C heat, we were seated, given menus and had our order taken, only to be told that they didn’t have any of the meals we wanted to order. This should have been communicated before we made the journey.
Sadly, this wasn’t the first confrontation we witnessed. During our stay we saw management arguing with multiple guests, calling them “stupid”, shooing them away and shouting in their faces.
Around the main pool, one of the pool lights had exposed electrical wires hanging out. We reported this to reception, where we were laughed at and told it was “fine”, before being instructed to find “someone in blue”. Since when is it the guest’s responsibility to locate maintenance staff? We never found anyone, and the wires remained exposed throughout our stay. We saw several other guests report the same issue, and even the lifeguard shook his head and commented, “Not good.” Guest safety clearly did not appear to be a priority.
On Friday 24th, while we were sunbathing, another guest reported to the lifeguard that there was human faeces in the swimming pool. Instead of immediately clearing the pool and dealing with what is clearly a serious health and safety issue, he spoke to the entertainment staff and they all laughed while people continued swimming. It took around 30 minutes before they finally asked everyone to leave the pool. We had a pool-view room and watched the entire incident unfold. It was disgusting.
On Saturday we had a boat trip planned. During check-in we had been told that reception could exchange money 24 hours a day. However, when we asked at 8:22am, despite reception being empty and three members of staff standing behind the desk chatting, we were simply told, “Not right now.”
We then used the ATM in reception, which swallowed our bank card before displaying “Out of Service”. Reception told us they would contact the bank and took our room number but couldn’t give us any indication of when we would get the card back.
At 11am we were told to return after lunch. After lunch we were told to come back the following morning. The next morning we were then informed that nobody would retrieve the card because it was the weekend and we should “come back tomorrow”. Our airport transfer was leaving at 7am on Monday morning, making this completely impossible.
We questioned why we had repeatedly been told to return later when they already knew nothing could be done over the weekend. As a result, we were left with no access to money. Since we weren’t enjoying the hotel food, we had planned to eat elsewhere, but without our bank card we couldn’t. We were left with very limited food options. This was incredibly stressful and not what anyone expects from a four-star resort. We never received the card back or communication from the hotel to say they had got it out the machine or to even ask if we needed the card returning! Professional!
The regular power cuts were manageable, and we understand these are not necessarily the hotel’s fault. However, nobody mentioned them during check-in. We only discovered why our electricity kept cutting out after asking one of the cleaners.
There was black mould in the bathroom, and dead cockroaches lay in the corridors surrounded by ants for days at a time.
Entertainment continued until 1am or 2am, depending on whether the electricity stayed on. If your room is towards the back of the hotel, don’t expect much sleep. Bright lights from the entertainment area shone straight through the balcony doors. To make matters worse, our ground-floor balcony door would not lock, leaving us feeling unsafe about both ourselves and our belongings.
I understand that this resort primarily caters to Italian, French and Arabic guests. However, when you partner with companies such as easyJet and actively welcome British guests, everyone should feel equally included. Almost all entertainment was conducted in Italian, with only the occasional “Are you ready?” asked in English—without any explanation of what was actually happening. It genuinely felt as though everything was designed exclusively for Italian guests despite the hotel’s repeated claims that everyone is treated equally.
Some may suggest asking staff for information, but we tried. Between language barriers and certain members of staff making it feel like helping guests was an inconvenience, it simply wasn’t worth the stress.
Overall, we rarely leave negative reviews because we understand that no hotel is perfect. However, this experience genuinely affected our holiday. Poor food, poor communication, unacceptable behaviour from some members of management, repeated safety concerns and feeling unwelcome meant this was nowhere near the four-star, all-inclusive experience that was advertised.
If you’re looking for a relaxing holiday where you can enjoy good food, feel welcome and get a decent night’s sleep, unfortunately, I cannot recommend this hotel."
