FERGUS Style Palmanova - Adults Only

The only parts I found reasonably good were breakfast and dinner. The rest of our five-day stay was a letdown. On arrival there were black marks on the dirty floor, and the room door took a lot of force to open because it wouldn't swing all the way. A strange, strong smell came up whenever we used the bathroom sink. We booked time at the spa, but nothing worked when we got there and the water wouldn't heat up. The private pool was extremely cold and dirty. I knew it might be cold, but this felt abnormally freezing. If I've paid for a room with a private pool, I expect it to be at least clean. Room cleaning was also missed two days in a row: I left the sign out when we went walking, leaving around 9 in the morning, but by the time we returned around 5 nothing had been done. At 6, the cleaner knocked when we no longer needed the room cleaned. For a supposed four-star hotel, it was disappointing. I wish I hadn't left home, and I don't think it deserves even one star.

The breakfast buffet had plenty to choose from, and we particularly liked the Balearic corner with its special sausages, olives and sauce. The Christmas lunch at the bar was delicious too. Our room and shower area were roomy and had a modern look. There were about eight parking spaces behind the hotel, and plenty more on the street when we visited in December. The cold was a problem on rainy December days: there was no room heating, and the air conditioning only gave cold or neutral air. On December 26, we had no hot water in the morning. We called reception and happened to find it running about 15 minutes later, but it would've been good if they'd let us know. We were also told three times that the pool in the spa room was heating up. Reception should make clear from the start that it isn't heated.

Breakfast was amazing, and the reception and bar staff were great. Kamal and the other woman on duty in the morning, Lorenzo, gave very good service. The location is beautiful, so I'd visit again, probably in summer when the air con can blow cool air. I didn't enjoy this stay, though. For all three nights the room was too warm and I couldn't sleep. Staff showed me how to adjust the heating, but said it wouldn't give cool air in winter, so the only other choice was to switch it off. With it off, there was no ventilation. They tried to help each night, but made it clear the room would stay warm, and the nights were really disturbing.

The rooms were clean, the service was great, and breakfast was fantastic. Prices were very reasonable too. It's well located by bars and restaurants, though in winter some parts of the place are completely dead. There's a quiz night at archies bar on Tuesday evenings.