Horse Country Resort Congress & Spa

The grounds are beautiful and well kept, the location is lovely, and the horses are amazing. The pool is large and great for kids. Most staff were friendly and helpful, and they kindly froze a cooler bottle so we could travel with our medication. Still, we agree with the other reviews: this is definitely not a 4-star hotel, and even 3 stars feels like a stretch. We couldn't get a peaceful night's sleep. Sound carried easily from the corridors and other rooms, and one night there was loud music outside our room until 3am. We complained several times and asked to move, but were ignored. The only receptionist available didn't speak English and acted as if he couldn't understand, even when I showed an Italian translation on my phone. He just nodded and said "music," then kept telling us "10 minutes" for well over an hour while it continued. I emailed management several times and still haven't had a reply or acknowledgement. The next day, reception offered no apology or understanding. They said another guest had a birthday party and it wouldn't happen again. But the following Saturday, music went past midnight again. I called just after midnight and was told "just a few minutes." That answer came several times, and the music didn't stop until 12.45am. This isn't somewhere to go for a peaceful, relaxing holiday. The food was a big letdown. We'd been to Sardinia before, where meals at our hotel were a highlight, but here the buffet was small and had very few choices. We didn't go hungry, and some dishes were good, but the quality was far from our previous experience. I can't see how it earned four stars. The cakes were disappointing and there wasn't much variety. We tried the pizzeria one evening and regretted it right away. It was the worst pizza I've ever had, soggy and tasting as if it had been drenched in butter. Breakfast was similarly disappointing. The only hot choices were poor-quality scrambled eggs, boiled eggs, and bacon. No sausages, tomatoes, potatoes, fried bread, fried eggs, omelettes, baked beans, or pancakes. The continental selection and pastries were the same each day and felt like the bare minimum. Getting drinks at the restaurant was confusing. You had to pay immediately, there were very few servers around, and after the first day we gave up. We had to pour the water into a bottle ourselves. A lot of small things you'd expect at a regular 4-star hotel were missing. There were no door hangers to show housekeeping that we didn't want to be disturbed. Staff would bang on the door in the morning when we'd only just come back from breakfast, and kept doing it even when we told them we were still getting up. Nobody offered to bring our luggage to the room. We had to leave a 20 euro deposit for two green cards, which we had to show at dinner for no clear reason. Showing our room key wasn't enough. The cards couldn't be used to charge anything to the room, so everything had to be paid upfront. We also had random power cuts in the room, though they didn't last long. We were out most days and still managed a good holiday, but this was far below what we'd expect from a 4-star resort. We definitely wouldn't stay here again.