"We're currently midway through our stay at Molum. There's a lot to like here, but also a number of issues that, for a five-star hotel, we didn't expect. This is an honest account written while everything is fresh.
THE GOOD
The hotel looks fantastic. It's new, well designed, spotlessly presented and the aesthetic is consistent throughout. Housekeeping are excellent too: fast, discreet, and our room is always cleaned and ready by the time we're back from breakfast. The dinner food is also genuinely good, with flavourful, chef-prepared dishes.
Now to the issues, starting with the most serious.
BREAKFAST HYGIENE (OUR BIGGEST CONCERN)
The breakfast buffet has a real food hygiene problem, with three issues happening at once. First, flies land constantly on the uncovered food throughout service; a few spinning fly-deterrent devices are in place but they don't work. Second, there are no hot plates or warmers, so food regularly sits out and goes cold, and it's clear some of it has been there a while. Third, and most concerning, my partner watched staff add fresh scrambled egg directly on top of an old tray that had been sitting out, rather than replacing it. That's a basic food safety failure.
This matters more than usual because my partner is 26 weeks pregnant. Bacteria like Salmonella, Listeria and Campylobacter thrive in food left at unsafe temperatures and exposed to flies, and in pregnancy they carry serious risks including miscarriage, premature birth, stillbirth and severe illness in the newborn. This hotel is full of young families and likely other pregnant guests, so it's not a niche concern. We'd urge management to overhaul the breakfast service, and we'd advise pregnant guests and families with young children to be cautious at the buffet.
DINNER AND HALF BOARD
The food quality at dinner is good, but the half board itself is poor value. The menu does change each night, but the food is so samey across the week that it doesn't really feel like it. You get only a few options each for starter and main, and just one dessert. One of the regular starter options is soup, which is a strange choice in the summer heat; we're not sure who's reaching for hot soup when it's this warm out.
The bigger problem is what's missing. Water and soft drinks aren't included with dinner, and being charged for water with your meal on a half board package at a five-star hotel feels wrong. Honestly, the whole setup gives the impression the hotel doesn't really want to offer half board properly. I wish I'd known this before booking. I'd happily have paid less for breakfast only and kept the freedom to choose where we ate dinner each night, rather than feeling tied to a limited and repetitive offering that still nickel-and-dimes you for a glass of water.
THE ROOM
The room is attractive but has a few practical problems. Water was provided once on arrival, then never again. Hotel water is €6.50 a bottle, while the same bottle is about €1 at the supermarket nearby, so we ended up walking out to buy drinks most days. Complimentary water should be a given.
The pillows are another issue. The ones we were given are very firm, and using both stacks them too high and strains your neck. To be fair, we haven't asked whether softer pillows are available, so this is only a comment on what was provided.
Storage is frustrating too. The large wardrobe is shelves only, with no rail. The smaller wardrobe has a rail but sits above the safe and mini fridge, so long dresses don't fit. The only other hanging space is an exposed rail by the door, really meant for coats. There's also a shortage of drawers for things like underwear, which adds up over a week.
SERVICE CONSISTENCY
Standards vary noticeably day to day. We weren't offered the à la carte breakfast menu at all on our first morning, and only found out about it later. Our flat whites came beautifully presented in proper glasses with latte art early in the week, then later arrived in tall iced-coffee glasses. And there's no decaf coffee anywhere in the restaurant or bar, which my partner was disappointed by as she's limiting caffeine during pregnancy. Individually these are minor, but together they suggest the team isn't working to a consistent standard.
EXCURSIONS
We booked an excursion through the hotel, which arranges these with a local tour company. The trip itself was fine, but transport to the meeting point wasn't part of the package. The marina is only a ten-minute drive away, and while the hotel did drop us off, we paid €15 for a journey that would have cost around €6 in an Uber. We'd have happily taken the Uber, but it was taking too long to find a driver and isn't reliable here, so the hotel option was effectively our only choice. I've booked excursions at other five-star hotels around the world and not once have I had to arrange my own transport to the meeting point. It would be far nicer to see transport included as part of the excursion here, with drop-off and pick-up times arranged between the hotel and the tour company. That's the sort of seamless service you expect at this level.
IN SUMMARY
Molum is a beautiful, well-run hotel in many respects, with great housekeeping and good dinners. But the breakfast hygiene issues are serious enough to warrant urgent attention on their own, and alongside the repetitive half board, inconsistent service, missing in-room water and awkward room storage, it doesn't currently live up to its five-star billing. The potential is clearly there. The execution just needs to catch up."
