"Let me start by saying this was our second stay at Elba Sunset. Our first visit was exactly 7 years ago when we came with our 1-year-old daughter, and my wife was pregnant at the time. Back then we had an amazing stay — the sea view room was spectacular, the food was excellent, and although it wasn’t really a family hotel, we still felt welcomed and had a fantastic experience. That holiday left us with wonderful memories, which is exactly why we decided to return.
This year we came back with our now 6 and 8-year-old children. We already knew there wouldn’t be much for kids to do, but that wasn’t an issue for us because we’re perfectly capable of making our own entertainment. Unfortunately, from the moment we arrived it became obvious this hotel is no longer interested in offering genuine hospitality — especially not to families.
The hotel itself is still visually beautiful and the views remain stunning, but everything else has gone sharply downhill. It feels like the hotel is under completely different management now. The staff came across cold, robotic and largely uninterested in guests. Most interactions felt like you were inconveniencing them simply by asking them to do their jobs.
The pool area, which once had a lovely atmosphere, now feels lifeless. No music, overpriced drinks and an overwhelmingly elderly crowd gave the place the atmosphere of a retirement home rather than a relaxing holiday resort. I was charged €22 for a piña colada that was basically a glass of ice with no flavour, along with two cups of hot milk and sachets of Nesquik powder for the children to mix themselves. All served with the warmth and enthusiasm of a parking attendant issuing a fine.
Breakfast every morning was equally poor. The scrambled eggs (along with bacon, beans etc) were freezing cold daily, with guests queueing for freshly cooked eggs simply to avoid eating them. Rather than accepting perfectly reasonable feedback, the assistant manager chose to argue with me and insist people were only queueing because they preferred omelettes.
One morning I poured two hot chocolates for my children and left them beside the coffee machine while waiting for my own drink. By the time I turned around, a waitress had already put them on her tray to remove them because it had just turned 10:30. She pointed at her watch while taking them away, clearly more concerned about shutting the machine down to the second than allowing guests to finish breakfast comfortably.
On another morning there were no croissants left at 9:45 despite breakfast supposedly running until 10:30. Again, rather than apologising or resolving the issue, management became defensive and argumentative, asking how many days we had already managed to get croissants as if that somehow excused the problem.
Housekeeping was also unacceptable. Our bed wasn’t made for two days so we took it upon ourselves to clean up. One maid actually told us to wash our own cups.
We also had to report the public toilet near reception, which was literally full of human waste and left in a disgusting state.
The hotel also has a strict policy about no swimwear in reception, which would be understandable under normal circumstances. However, after my room key stopped working I had no choice but to go to reception in swimwear because I physically couldn’t get into my room to get changed. Instead of handling the situation with even a small amount of understanding or common sense, I was spoken to like a naughty school child and told off by staff despite explaining the situation clearly. That interaction perfectly summed up the attitude throughout the entire stay.
The final disappointment came on our last day. The weather for most of the holiday had been poor, but we finally had some sunshine and our little boy was excited to use his small inflatable turtle in the pool again. He’s tiny and simply sits quietly floating beside us. He had already used it earlier in the holiday without any issue, but this time there was a different lifeguard who seemed desperate to enforce rules for the sake of it. She immediately ordered him out of the pool because inflatables apparently weren’t allowed, leaving our little boy visibly upset.
At that point we genuinely questioned why this hotel even allows children at all. There’s no entertainment for kids, no children’s menu at dinner, very little patience shown towards families and absolutely no flexibility or warmth from staff. If the hotel wants to cater exclusively to adults and retirees, then they should simply market themselves honestly instead of pretending to welcome families.
To top everything off, the WiFi was dreadful throughout the stay — barely usable most of the time — so make sure you sort your mobile data before arriving because you certainly can’t rely on the hotel internet.
When we finally raised our concerns with management after all of these issues, the grand gesture offered as compensation was a late checkout. After an expensive holiday filled with poor service, defensive management and repeated problems, it honestly felt insulting rather than apologetic.
It’s genuinely sad because we returned hoping to relive some very happy memories from our first stay. Instead, this holiday completely tarnished them. The views may still be beautiful, but the service, atmosphere and overall guest experience no longer come anywhere close to matching the setting."
