Aminess Vival Grand Azur Hotel

"We arrived at Aminess Grand Azur Hotel having booked through Loveholidays, with our confirmation clearly stating All Inclusive for both rooms. booking-confirmation.pdf On arrival, however, we were told that the hotel operates an All Inclusive Light arrangement. In practice, this means breakfast, lunch and dinner, with drinks restricted to meal periods and no included snacks or general drinks throughout the day. This was a major disappointment for us because that is not what we reasonably expected from an All Inclusive holiday. We were also surprised to find that beach sun loungers are chargeable. To be fair to the hotel, it appears that the hotel itself does describe its package as All Inclusive Light. Our main concern is therefore the mismatch between what we were sold by Loveholidays and what the hotel actually provides. However, from a guest’s point of view, I think future visitors need to be very clear about what is and is not included before booking. If you are expecting a traditional All Inclusive package with drinks available from bars during the day and snacks between meals, this is not that type of arrangement. This has had a real impact on our holiday because two members of our party are pensioners who budgeted on the basis of an All Inclusive stay, and one member of our party is diabetic and needs to eat regularly. We raised the issue immediately after arrival and are trying to resolve it with Loveholidays. The hotel may suit people who are happy with a lighter board arrangement, but I would strongly recommend checking the exact food and drink inclusions before booking so you know exactly what you are getting."

"The location of this hotel is absolutely beautiful; unfortunately, that is where the positives ended for us. The room was okay to an extent. It was clean and the bed was comfortable, but there were a significant number of issues. The shower water pressure was barely more than a dribble, and whenever someone nearby flushed their toilet, it would loudly gurgle through ours. The hairdryer would switch off after around 30 seconds. We initially thought it was broken, but after speaking to other guests, we were told that staff had apparently explained this was a "safety setting", which seems completely impractical when trying to dry your hair. The wardrobe also doesn't have a bottom runner, meaning the doors swing around rather than opening and closing properly. The air conditioning dripped some sort of substance onto the carpet, turning what was originally yellow into a rather disturbing grey. The lamp next to the bed repeatedly flickered unless you physically held the plug in place. Now onto the food. This was possibly one of the worst selections of hotel food I have experienced. A lot of the food was tasteless and soggy, with the pasta and risotto being about the only consistently enjoyable options. Breakfast was particularly shocking, with chicken nuggets and leftover lasagna being among the options. The one exception was the olive oil, which was absolutely delicious! There was also one waiter whose behaviour made us particularly uncomfortable. We were two women travelling together, and he would specifically come over to talk to us while we were getting food from the buffet, and then repeatedly interrupt our dinner to speak to us without being invited. We noticed that we were the only table he behaved this way towards, and it was particularly uncomfortable as we were two young women without male company. Eventually, we chose to sit as far away from him as possible to avoid crossing paths with him. The pool looks lovely, but once the sun hits it, there is an incredibly strong smell of drains, which really put us off swimming. Most of the pool also loses the sun by around 4pm. We also tried the aqua aerobics, which was particularly dull and consisted mainly of walking around in the pool. The beach itself is absolutely beautiful, but despite being advertised as a private beach, it isn't really private as there is a public footpath running through it. On top of this, the hotel charges €20 per day to use the sun loungers. I have never experienced having to pay extra for sun loungers at a hotel I have already paid to stay at, and considering the limited space available to put your own towel down, it felt particularly unreasonable. Unless you want to sit directly on a pile of pine needles, there aren't many alternatives. In fact, we ended up catching the ferry over to Korčula several times during our stay simply to enjoy a nicer beach and have some good food. The location and surrounding scenery are genuinely beautiful, but unfortunately, we found too many issues with the hotel itself to make this a stay we would recommend. Based on our experience, we would not return."

"Stayed here for ten nights in September. It is a long transfer from airport, two hours. Welcomed at reception at 2300 and were asked if we were hungry as they had some food plated for us in the restaurant. A great touch. Hotel is kept spotlessly clean by very friendly cleaning staff. Sometimes a rush for sunbeds but we always managed to get one. Pool area good and well looked after by a friendly attendant. Lovely having a swim in the nearby sea as well. Only fault we thought was the very expensive prices at the pool bar, it would be used more if lower prices. We had a superior deluxe balcony room which was very good, lots of space. Air conditioning a little noisy. Food in dining room was decent but a little repetitive. Sometimes it was a little chaotic so we normally waited till 2000hrs for evening meals and always got a table out on the terrace where it is a little quieter. Getting drinks in the dining room is very awkward as the drinks stations are situated with the glasses in the same place as the food. I would suggest moving the drinks to the back wall at the entrance, it would save a lot of congestion. Staff worked very hard in the restaurant! Marija was exceptional and always smiling and happy. A lovely walk into nearby Orebic, and ferry to Korcula very easy. We enjoyed the hotel apart from the issues in dining room and I would hope that the hotel management can see this is a problem as well and start addressing the issues. May return in the future."