"The resort is nice enough overall and quite difficult to get around, it is built on a very hilly site. The rooms are more 3-star than 4-star in my opinion. Our bedroom had a damp smell on arrival, and there was mould on the curtains, dirt in corners, manky yellow stickers on the bath.
As many other reviewers have mentioned, if you arrive at the pool after around 9:00 a.m. (queues start from 8:30 a.m. or earlier), you are very unlikely to get a sunbed. People are territorial around their beds , i was hounded from mine on our first day as people had staked a claim! The hotel's response is that there are multiple pools, the layout of the resort means they're spread across different areas and, because of the steep hills, it's not practical to move between them or easily return to your room.
Because of this, and as it was my daughter's birthday, we hired a Balinese bed for the day. We paid €80 instead of €50 to include the lunch package. Unfortunately, despite paying premium prices for a premium experience, there were workmen, a mini digger and a crane operating in the immediate area. Even though we had the furthest bed from the works, it was still noisy and disruptive. We were never informed about the maintenance work when making the booking through Guest Services.
When I spoke to Guest Services,to ask if the work was expected all day I was told yes and initially that there was nothing they could do. I asked whether, as a gesture of goodwill, they could either provide lunch complimentary by offering a partial refund. After several phone calls with the Reception Manager, I was offered either a different Balinese bed on another day or what I believed was the partial refund I had requested.
What wasn't explained was that the refund would actually cancel our booking entirely, i was told the refund was processed which thinking it was a partial refund i was satisfied with. By this point, more than an hour had passed trying to resolve the issue. Guest Services had only one member of staff on duty, Samuel, who at one stage was managing three separate guest enquiries at once. He was excellent—professional, calm and doing everything he could—but he clearly needed additional support. The lack of staffing made an already frustrating situation much more stressful.
We returned to the pool and were told that our booking was cancelled and we owed the hotel for lunch, back again to Guest Services - who advised no , we were given the option to refund or book for another day - a complete breakdown of communication that would not have happened if guest Services was adequately resourced.By now it was around 1:30 p.m. and, unsurprisingly, there were no sunbeds available anywhere in the resort. As it was our last full day ( and my daughters birthday treat) , we reluctantly paid another €80 to book the Balinese bed again. I asked whether the hotel could offer any gesture of goodwill given the circumstances, but this was declined. I travel frequently for work and stay in many hotels, and I was disappointed by what felt like a "tough luck" attitude rather than a genuine attempt to recover a poor guest experience. The current situation is that we have been charged twice for the Balinese bed and no refund pending. I now have to waste more of my time raising a complaint through the proper channels.
The restaurants are also expensive for the overall standard of the resort. Expect to pay around €150 for three people for two courses and two glasses of house wine each. I'd recommend skipping the Safari restaurant and choosing the Italian instead.
Watch out for the wild boars too ! Some of the gates are not lockable and we saw them early on a couple of evenings and also when walking back at night - they dig up the grounds and seem not to take much notice of you but it was a shock the first time walking back in the dark!
Where the resort truly excels is its staff. Everyone we interacted with was friendly, professional and hardworking. The team at the Mediterrano pool bar were fantastic throughout our stay, and the pool assistant/manager at the San Diego Suites pool was equally welcoming and helpful. They were a real credit to the hotel.
Unfortunately, despite the excellent staff, I wouldn't return or recommend the resort. The daily scramble for sunbeds, high food and drink prices, and a management team that seemed unwilling to show flexibility or empathy when dealing with guest issues left a disappointing impression. For me, it felt like a property aspiring to be a luxury resort without consistently delivering the level of service or experience from management that justifies its prices."
