Csa Holiday House Bibbona

We were there for four nights at the beginning of June 2025, just the two of us. The beach was nice and had its own lifeguard, and the area was peaceful. Walking through the pine trees on the way there made for a lovely setting. The room was clean and had good air conditioning, a fridge, a TV with only Italian channels, and a tea station. There was also a handy clothes rack outside each room for wet beach things. But the room itself felt very dated. One bed made a lot of noise, and ours was extremely dark, though the lighting was good. Breakfast barely changed from day to day and got boring after two days, with lots of sweet items. The coffee machines were terrible, which is a shame in Italy when much better machines exist. It was also hard to enjoy a quiet breakfast: staff talked loudly and rolled around a noisy trolley collecting dishes. They didn’t always notice when things needed topping up either. Glasses sat empty for 15-20 minutes until we pointed it out. The staff’s English was either nonexistent or very poor. Since most guests seemed to be Italian, I can understand why they’d adapted that way, but it still made things difficult and less welcoming for visitors who don’t speak Italian. On our last night, we noticed the water boiler was on even though we hadn’t used it. It clicked, so we checked and found it very hot, with a plastic smell. We switched it off straight away. Fortunately, nothing happened. It looked fairly new. We don’t know if it had been on the whole time. We’d heard occasional clicks before, but thought they were from the fridge. A boiler running without water could be extremely dangerous if left unnoticed and could start a fire. We felt unsafe and told the staff at checkout so they’d know about it, but their English was so poor that we’re not sure they understood. They didn’t seem concerned. There’s a lot of potential around the hotel, especially among the pine trees, but during our stay there was nothing going on. Perhaps it’s used more when there are summer crowds. Some areas also looked neglected, with old wood left lying around. The beach sunbeds were tidy and clean, but nobody checked whether we were hotel guests or asked us to prove it. Anyone could easily use one. You can pay for a sunbed by choosing it during booking, but it seems unfair to make guests pay for this. The hotel should have enough beds for its own guests and a better way to manage who uses them. A couple of things about Marina di Bibbona itself: the train station is about a 30-minute walk away, but there are no bus connections to Marina. You’re left calling a taxi, walking through fields with little traffic, or taking roads where pavements only cover part of the route. Sometimes you have to walk on the road and try not to panic when a larger vehicle comes by. Marina could be much more attractive with better roads and public transport. It’s no problem if you have a car. In high season the restaurants get overwhelmed by the crowds, and there are only a few good places. Spontaneously finding somewhere to eat can be quite tricky.