Abaton Island Resort & Spa

Breakfast was fabulous, with a great selection. We didn’t eat other meals at the hotel. The rooms were spotless, though it would have been better to get tea, coffee, and fresh towels topped up more regularly instead of the little treats left for us. The bath by the bed and open washbasin felt a bit strange, and filling the tub would take ages. There’s a lovely main pool and excellent sea views. Room choices include a garden and jacuzzi, a plunge pool, or a shared infinity pool. Around the pool, ordering through the app was unreliable, so sometimes you had to catch a server’s eye. The music got a little annoying, and towels weren’t always available early in the day. Still, a great hotel.

We picked WOW restaurant for a special occasion because of what we saw on the website. It looked suitable, but the food and service fell well short of that expectation. The setting is nice in the evening, yet for the price we were disappointed. It seems to rely on people not seeing past the pretension. You can easily spend over £$€100 per person and still leave hungry. As the owner said in their response, the restaurant is advertised online as expensive, and we knew that. The bill wasn’t a surprise, and the website wasn’t dishonest. The service was the shock. The response still doesn’t seem to understand that the problem was the food and service, not the price being disclosed, so I wouldn’t expect our experience to improve.

It’s a pity to see a project that seems to have had heart and soul put into it let down by poor training and little understanding of hospitality. This was definitely a once and never again stay. I’d spend my money somewhere else. The hotel presents itself as a five-star resort and has the potential, but the owner needs to replace 95% of the staff with people who know hospitality. We had dusty room fans, bed sheets that cleaning staff forgot to change, and beach staff who told us to fetch towels ourselves because none were available nearby. The minibar was half empty from a previous stay, then cleaning staff forgot to restock it; we found the resulting extra charge on our bill for items restocked the day before checkout. Five minutes before breakfast ended, I saw staff checking their watch to decide whether they’d make me a coffee. There was more I could list.

We felt right at home here. Everyone was so kind and committed, the food was top quality, and the whole stay was amazing. It’s the most luxurious hotel we’ve ever stayed in, and we’ve already booked to come back next year.