Don’t get the score of 4/5 wrong. I only give 5/5 for impeccable experiences. This is a great hotel with generally friendly and well-trained staff, although opinions and tastes probably vary on the pastel-colored deco with some eclectic choices of furniture....felt very 1980s despite newly renovated areas. This may reflect the typical clientele which are to a large extent return customers of older caliber or families.
A few honorary mentions for a start:
Both Roberto (Concierge) and Roberto (service at dining) were excellent at what they do. Attentive, curious, professional and efficient. Tanya the physiotherapist at Spa/massage was also very skilled. In general staff was attentive, polite and friendly.
Room service breakfast was a massive disappointment. A total of three items were forgotten (that were confirmed in the written order) and portions were smaller than what I am used to in five star establishments. Had to call and chase down the order and by the time it arrived my spouse was already done with her breakfast. Cappuccino cups were not covered (with eg card board or cellophane) and hence delivered cold. One would think that a hotel at this level would have a quality control/double check physical slip filled by customer before releasing ? Also, housekeeping forgot to provide extra (firm) pillows despite confirming the request in writing prior to arrival. Upon later requesting the pillows at reception (specifically asking for firm pillows) we received small soft ones.
The room (a comfort suite with lake view) was spacious and recently renovated with a large and very comfortable bathroom, shower etc. The air conditioning seems to be only an “air circulator” as it doesn’t cool the room below
23C which in a hot climate beach hotel is surprising. Maybe our cooling wasn’t working properly ? It’s also worth noticing that upon arrival in the room we received a complimentary bottle of Champagne (Roederer, not a Prosecco....) and had our Nespresso capsules frequently refilled.
The main bar has a great selection of drinks (although beer selection could be better at a warm destination beach hotel) and the drinks are well prepared.
The lawn, grounds and facilities are in impeccable condition. However the food in the main (half-board) restaurant was a partial disappointment. Some meals were simply tasteless (even vegan meals can use spices and herbs to provide flavor...). The “orientally inspired salmon” is better at IKEA. In fact, we believe the mustard-dill sauce may be sourced from there ? On the positive side, the restaurant allows meals to be mixed and matched from the menu and multiple desserts to be enjoyed ! A very fun and generous feature.
The mezze plate at the Marina restaurant was uninspiring and the hummus plain awful while the Thai Beef Salad was addictively good & healthy/light. Unfortunately the restaurants La Casetta and La Brezza were closed during our stay. I have heard they are good (La Brezza in particular).
One of the reasons for picking this hotel was the large spa (with sauna and hammam) with its treatments for him and her. However, after booking the room (granted, on relatively short notice) we were essentially told that everything was sold out until the morning of our departure. This is extremely disappointing since it was a key feature for choosing hotel (off-season, during a pandemic where there is very little else to do) and the cancellation policy didn’t allow for cancellation. In such cases, I feel that the hotel should proactively offer to customer (particularly if booked directly with hotel online) a discount/voucher or an option to cancel the stay. At least the hotel agreed to a late checkout at 13.30 to allow us to return to our rooms after treatments & sauna and before check out.