Houm Villa Son Rigo

We chose the hotel because it advertised itself as pet-friendly and planned our stay around that. As usual, we told them in advance we’d be bringing a pet, then later learned only a limited number of rooms allow pets and the room assigned to us did not. We ended up leaving our pet behind. Yet pet amenities had been prepared in the room, which was confusing, since no one had properly told us pets weren’t allowed in our assigned room. The room was outdated, with damaged flooring and a worn bathroom that smelled unpleasant. Housekeeping was inconsistent, and when towels were replaced, I couldn’t always tell if they were clean. The hairdryer was extremely weak, barely more than a light breeze, and not suitable for someone with longer hair. This didn’t feel like a four-star hotel. After I posted my review on Booking.com, the hotel replied with claims that weren’t true. I hadn’t mentioned the pet issue in my review, but they said it had influenced my opinion and claimed I’d been given a newly renovated room. If ours, with damaged flooring, unpleasant smells, and a worn, mouldy bathroom, was renovated, I can only imagine the unrenovated rooms. The stay was disappointing and fell short of what I expected from the rating and advertised amenities.

We had to pay an extra 50 euros per night to move to a room with elevator access. The hotel knew we were traveling with a small baby, but put us on the first floor without an elevator. The receptionist said there wasn’t a ground-floor room available, which seemed suspicious for a weekday in April, and that I’d need to carry the stroller every time I went out. I didn’t want to spend the vacation doing that, so we upgraded. The crib also had a loose waterproof sheet larger than the mattress. It seemed like a suffocation risk for babies under one year old. I asked for a high chair for our room, but had to remind them, and it arrived almost a day later when we no longer needed it. There were cheap plastic plants in the room, a bad smell from the toilet, silverfish, and damaged curtains. It definitely didn’t feel like a four-star hotel.

The room was cozy and clean, even if it wasn’t especially modern or fresh. Staff were helpful and the stay was really comfortable. I was a bit disappointed by extra charges for things like towels, though that could be improved.

We had a week at Samil Villa over Christmas, and the weather was really poor. With small children, that was challenging, but the house was great and spacious enough for everyone to play indoors. Every bedroom had its own bathroom, which was great. The team were really friendly. The only thing I’d improve is the cooking equipment, as there wasn’t quite enough.