Castel Vergio

The tent was great, especially the larger one with beds, two chairs, and charging points. The rest was disappointing. Dinner was awful for the price: dry chicken, chewy beef, and an unremarkable salad. The chef was rude when I couldn't understand him. I'm not English, but English was the only language I could use to communicate, and he seemed very upset about that. If English-speaking tourists aren't welcome, they should say so. The other staff were nice and helpful.

The service was reasonably friendly, but dinner was a set menu with just one choice. For the extra cost of a hotel room over a tent, I expected more. The room had broken items, needed basic maintenance, and lacked simple things like a place to hang a towel. It was cold, with no way to adjust the temperature. We didn't see bedbugs, but because of earlier problems, all bags had to stay in a locker at the entrance, with only a shopping bag of belongings allowed in the room. There was nowhere to dry our gear for the GR20.

Staff were friendly, though clearly stretched, and it wasn't a cheap option. The food was self-service mass catering, with just two choices, chicken or beef slices. The room had only basic amenities and didn't really meet hikers' needs. We had to move everything into a large shopping bag and leave boots, bags, and rucksack in lockers. The notices said this was to keep bedbugs away. To be fair, we didn't have a bedbug problem.

At first glance the room seemed fine, but we found bedbugs and decided to leave. The refund came through quickly, so that part was no problem. The staff were friendly, though they reacted as if this was something they were used to. It could be a nice hotel if they get the bedbug problem under control. If you stay, take a close look and watch out for bedbugs.