Al Saraceno Residence

I booked two nights for myself and four friends through Expedia and paid €350. After booking, I saw a note saying we’d owe another €220 in tourism tax at the hotel. Why not include that in the price upfront? There was also a €200 deposit, and they don’t allow cancellations. They say €100 is for cleaning and city taxes, which is fine, plus €10 per person per day for electricity, gas, and water. How could basic utilities cost €40 a day? Check-in isn’t until 5 pm, either. I’ve worked in tourism for over ten years, and I’ve never seen anything like this. Be careful, they might end up charging you for the hotel’s walls, paint, and construction too. They treat customers like people to rip off. Never again!

Don’t book here if you don’t want to feel scammed. They charge huge extra amounts for gas, electricity, and water. How can basic utilities cost €40 a day, especially when I shouldn’t have to pay for what I won’t use? Cleaning is another €100. Altogether, it comes to almost half the Expedia price. They leave these charges out when you pay, then ask for an extra €220 at the hotel under the name “tourism tax.” Check-in is at 5 pm, too. They’re total scammers and completely unprofessional. It feels like they use little, disgusting tricks to squeeze easy extra money out of customers.

The price was cheap, and Gianni was the best guy ever. He was so kind, always smiling and cracking jokes. Those are the reasons for my three stars. We stayed in the middle to late part of May, and there were no blankets, only sheets. It seemed they didn’t have any yet. We got the room warm with the air conditioning, but sleeping like that wasn’t nice. You could feel the mattress springs. The kitchen had only the most basic cutlery, a tiny wooden chopping board, and no decent knife. For an Airbnb, I expect basics like salt, pepper, and at least some oil. Guests shouldn’t have to buy all that and make do with so few cooking utensils. The bathroom was okay, but the toilet wouldn’t stop flushing by itself. We had to hit it three or four more times to stop the water, and sometimes only noticed the problem once we were in bed, because the pipe was so loud. We’d book again if the kitchen were improved, blankets were provided, and the mattress were replaced. I’d give it four stars if it were a three-star place, but it’s advertised as a four-star hotel. All the best!

Dear staff, I’m writing on Durak’s behalf because I can’t reply here. Yes, we haven’t stayed at the hotel, and I never said anything about an experience after staying there. As soon as we booked and saw the extra €220 to be paid at the hotel, we decided we didn’t want to stay. I called first thing in the morning to cancel and explain. Instead of helping me directly, you told me to contact the booking agency. I did, and the woman there said I had to call Expedia. You made me go through third parties. When Expedia got back to me, they said you wouldn’t accept the cancellation and I had to pay the full amount. Also, yes, there are three comments and we booked for four people, so one more person still has a complaint. As you said, it often happens that a low booking price, €350 in this case, is used to attract people, while the “minor” details, €220, are hidden much further down the page. If I wanted to spend almost €600 on a hotel, I could find much better places in the same area. I understand why you’d hide those “details” and advertise a low price. You also say these numbers aren’t true. I tried to upload a screenshot showing the details and prices, but Google doesn’t allow pictures with text in them. Everything in your reply is nonsense. You were no help at all, focused instead on the small amounts you can rip off from us. I’m a travel writer who has worked with hotels for 14 years. I travel all over the world, try hotels, and write about them for 200,000 people. I know a scammer when I see one. You tried to fool me and made me stay at your hotel after I tried to cancel, so I’ll make sure everyone hears about this and you can’t fool anyone again. Best, Durak