Vinea Resort & SPA

A wonderful stay at a hotel with its own vineyard. The views were beautiful, the wine was excellent, and the atmosphere made it unforgettable.

The night ended with pounding live music from a local singer, loud enough to go on until 0:30. We had to be up at 4am for our flight, so we barely slept. The pool also turned out to be a children’s water play park used as a communal pool, with families paying to come for the day and wearing wristbands. Not what we expected from a five-star resort and spa. We picked this hotel for one last relaxing day before flying home, based on its advertised five-star resort and spa status and outdoor pool. Our €90 Booking.com room supposedly wasn’t available when we arrived. They called it a Booking.com “glitch,” but also said they’d put someone else in our room. They had us cancel through Booking.com, then pushed us to book a supposedly better room for €110. Paying was a mess too. We offered three €50 notes to pay in euros, and they said they had no change. Three people searched around without finding any, so we agreed to use a card. Then our cash had disappeared. Eventually they brought two €20 notes and one €10 note, which was exactly the change needed, and my €50 note was gone. They mentioned there’d be live music, but said it wouldn’t start until late. Before we could get into the new room, we waited an hour for it to be cleaned. It was just as small as the room we’d booked, and the toilet wasn’t clean. The shower tap was coming off the wall, the door was broken and filthy, the complimentary toiletry boxes were empty and incomplete, the tiles were stained and moldy, the wardrobe was dated, and the desk drawer was broken. It was listed as 20m2 but absolutely wasn’t. They’d given us the same room for more money. When we raised the room’s condition, staff just kept saying it was a more expensive standard room than the economy one we’d booked. They weren’t willing to listen or help. The manager rolled their eyes when I asked for a printed receipt, after I realized they’d taken our booking off Booking.com so I couldn’t leave a review there. They pretended not to speak English but clearly understood us. After a lot of waiting and staff running around without purpose, it took an hour to get the receipt. Getting pool towels was another ordeal. I asked up to four times and was sent away with promises someone would bring them. Thirty minutes later, there were still none. Staff either seemed to be ignoring us on purpose or kept lying, with a horrible attitude and eye rolls. I finally made a fuss about paying more to stay at a five-star resort and spa but not even getting towels. They then said there weren’t any, which was obviously untrue. I stood there and told them to get me two. The whole thing felt like a scene out of Fawlty Towers. After an amazing week in Albania, where we’d kept talking about how kind and hospitable people were, this was the worst way to finish the holiday. I’d tell everyone to stay away from this hotel.

The reception girls were wonderful, but the restaurant staff seemed annoyed the whole time. Even allowing for differences in Western service standards, I felt like I was bothering them just by being there. The property is gorgeous and relaxing, and the rooms were nice. They have wine, though it didn’t really feel like a winery, more like a nice resort in wine country.

The pool is lovely, and the view over the vineyards is beautiful. Lunch at the resort was fine too. But it’s mainly an event venue for dinners, parties, birthdays, and the like, so there’s noise outside until after midnight. Locals also come for a day at the pool, and on Saturday there was entertainment for children. It’s a 20-30 minute drive to the coast and most restaurants. We spent two nights in an economy room, and it had a lot of problems: no TV remote, a broken fridge, poor cleaning, no curtains on the windows, and pigeon feathers and droppings falling from the ceiling onto our bed and pillows. The reception girls were very nice but couldn’t do much. When we reported the pigeon mess, they said they knew about it but couldn’t change anything. We complained about the curtains, and they first hung one for four windows, then added a second after we asked again. We had to cover the rest with our own towels. Nothing was done about the remote or fridge. Luckily, we moved to a much better standard room after two nights. When we asked to speak with the manager, who doesn’t speak English, we were offered a refund for one night. The place has real potential, but it needs maintenance and better management. There was too much staff hanging around and chilling. Definitely don’t book an economy room.