Hôtel Ara Maris

"The hotel had fantastic reviews and photos — we always use Trustpilot or TripAdvisor before booking. This hotel was rated 5* (with prices to match), and we were so excited to arrive for an amazing stay. Sadly, that wasn’t the case. (1) The room was very, very small, the bathroom had only one sink, and the shower leaked all across and onto the tiled floor, making it slippery and unsafe. We didn’t have enough towels and had to request more each day to mop up the water. (2) The room did not feel clean. Which for such a small room felt simple but important. We found a few dead beetles (which were never removed and remained throughout the stay), marks on the bed sheets and walls, stains in the toilet, and mould or limescale in the bathroom. The shower tiles were tired and uneven (catching toes!). There was also noticeable dust throughout. (3) Upon arrival we were offered a “welcome drink”, which turned out to be water or juice — alcoholic drinks had to be paid for separately (at quite high prices). (4) The rooftop bar, which we were particularly excited to visit, was closed for the entire duration of our stay for no clear reason. (5) The water provided in the room appeared to be refilled tap water — it smelled musty and was not drinkable. When we raised this and explained that we had used the ‘mini bar’ water instead (it was gone midnight), we were charged for it. The refillable ‘fill them yourself’ bottles we were given also seemed to have been used previously, as they were damp and didn’t smell fresh. (6) The sea view was acceptable but not as shown in the key promotional photos. (7) The air-conditioning did not work and was never fixed, despite multiple requests. We weren’t offered an alternative room. Sleeping was uncomfortable and we woke up feeling tired and hot. (8) The room was bright and noisy through the night — no blackout curtains and the heavy traffic was continuous outside. We couldn’t open the windows due to the noise, and without working air-con, it became hot and stuffy. We were woken early most mornings by traffic, trucks emptying bottles and people shouting. When we were shown the room, the attendant said the doors were soundproofed, which we had checked in advance, but that wasn’t our experience. (9) Replacement towels and toilet rolls were given one at a time upon request. Toiletries came in small single bottles, with no refills provided during our stay. Our bins were not emptied on a daily basis, the bathroom scales didn’t work etc. Disappointing and having to repeatedly ask for basics each day became frustrating. (10) The complimentary dressing gown had makeup marks on it and appeared used. Again, not the end of the world, but not what we’d expect from a five-star hotel. (11) breakfast was fine, the selection average. But again not what we have come to expect from a five star establishment. We asked for salt/pepper, glasses, culterly and ‘wobbly’ table fixes every morning of our stay. Overall, the experience was closer to what I’d expect from a 2-3 star establishment. I travel regularly for both work and leisure and stay in many really wonderful 5-star hotels — this one, unfortunately, didn’t meet that standard. At c. £800 per night, it didn’t reflect the quality or service we expected. The most disappointing part was the lack of response from management and service staff. We raised issues daily, but nothing was done to resolve them. The manager was aware of our concern but didn’t address them during our stay and hasn’t contacted us since. On one occasion, I waited outside the managers office for quite some time while staff tried to find him. When we finally spoke, he seemed to focus more on explaining that other guests hadn’t raised concerns rather than helping to resolve ours. He did send a bottle of sparkling wine to our room on the last night as a gesture, but it didn’t feel proportionate to the issues we had faced and we declined. On our final day, the manager assured me he’d review the situation overnight and resolve it before our departure. However, the next morning I was told he wasn’t available. I have not heard back since returning home over two weeks ago. During our stay, I noticed that a list containing guest names was left visible, which made me uncomfortable from a privacy perspective. It appeared that personal information was not properly secured — something I would expect a hotel of this standard to handle more carefully Overall, this was a very disappointing experience in what is otherwise a beautiful destination. We still haven’t heard back from the manager. The upside however is that Sorrento is well worth the visit - a beautiful location and so many wonderful places to visit and amazing experiences! Sadly we won’t be staying here again."

"Everything about the Ara Maris Hotel was exceptional. The room, the comfy bed, the view from our balcony, the food and, especially, the very kind staff."

"Pros- location, clean, modern Cons-not worth what we paid for,didn’t get room we paid for, food and drink double price, staff would rather talk to staff then guests, only one staff member Valentino gave the care and attention that should be at hotel of this cost. Pool deck slippery and when my husband slipped, next day a yellow caution sign was put there. Breakfast was a disappointment for a hotel like this. I splurged on this hotel as it was the last one of our holdings and it was the most disappointing, all toners previous were 3-4 star and were better than this."