"This is a beautiful hotel, and the rooms are spacious, stylish and well presented. Unfortunately, our stay was overshadowed by a series of issues from the moment we arrived.
We booked the Eros Suite with a heated private pool and jacuzzi. On arrival, I was shocked to be presented with an invoice and told that we had not paid and would not be given access to our room until the bill had been settled. The holiday had been booked through TUI and paid for in full many months earlier.
Reception showed me payment records with credit card details I did not recognise and asked me to produce my booking confirmation. Even that wasn’t initially accepted. Eventually, a member of staff checked with the reservations office and confirmed that payment had in fact been received, adding that “this happens a lot.” This conversation took place in the middle of the open reception area in front of other guests, which was both embarrassing and stressful. Although the mistake was eventually corrected, it left me unable to fully relax for the rest of the holiday because I was worried the issue might be raised again.
I made a formal complaint to TUI, as I was genuinely concerned there were problems with the hotel’s payment system. I was therefore extremely surprised when TUI informed me that the hotel had claimed they had offered us complimentary drinks and compensation for the mistake. This was simply untrue. We received only the standard welcome drinks given to all guests and nothing further. I was also told the hotel manager had been looking for us to apologise, despite knowing exactly which room we were staying in.
Another major disappointment was the private pool. We specifically booked this suite because it advertised a heated pool, yet the water was freezing and completely unusable. We asked reception on two separate occasions if the heating could be turned up, but each time we were told, “I’ll check with maintenance,” and nothing changed. One of the main reasons we chose this hotel was for the luxury of having a heated private pool, so not being able to use it was extremely disappointing.
Breakfast was ok, the poached eggs and avocado from the à la carte menu was lovely. However, service was consistently slow. Most mornings I had to find my own cutlery and borrow salt and pepper from neighbouring tables because most tables hadn’t been properly set. We also regularly waited over 30 minutes before anyone took our order or brought drinks.
The most disappointing aspect of our stay was the lack of any meaningful attempt to resolve issues once they had been raised. Whether it was the payment error, the unusable heated pool or simple service requests, we were repeatedly told someone would look into it, yet nothing changed and there was no follow-up. Having since looked through other guest reviews, I also noticed the hotel appears not to respond to negative feedback, which unfortunately reinforces the impression that guest concerns are not a priority.
When you’re paying more than £5,000 for a week’s stay, you rightly expect a high standard of service. Being wrongly accused of non-payment, finding that the advertised heated pool was not actually heated, and repeatedly having reasonable concerns ignored meant our experience fell well below what we expected from a luxury hotel. Although the hotel itself is beautiful, good facilities alone cannot make up for poor customer service, and unfortunately we left feeling disappointed rather than relaxed."
