Hotel Smeraldo

The full-board meals came with rather small portions, and they were especially stingy with the fruit. This family-run place is a fairly typical three-star hotel that's been around for more than 40 years and has recently been expanded and renovated. Unfortunately, the same owners are still there. The owner is often nervous and rude.

We paid €80 per person per day for full board, but the food was poor from breakfast through dinner. Breakfast had stale cold cuts and no croissants for everyone, and the sandwiches seemed like they might have been from the day before. The lunch and dinner menu offered a choice of meat or fish, but the portions were so small that on a couple of evenings we had to eat at another restaurant. The vegetable buffet was the same five vegetables, prepared the same way at every lunch and dinner throughout our stay. The hotel itself was clean and well kept, with spacious rooms close to the beach. We stayed three nights with our small dog, and the owners were accommodating, though dogs rightly aren't allowed in the dining room. I'd recommend it for a place to sleep, but not for the meals.

We were charged €50 more than the price agreed over the phone, and they also tried to bill us for a garage spot we never used. When I challenged this, the reply was, “Prove I gave you that price. I applied the rate for this period!” I suspect they deliberately never sent the confirmation email. The booking call had gone differently: the owner kindly quoted the same rate as the booking site, with breakfast included. I asked about a garage and was told one was available for an extra fee. I checked whether the booking was confirmed or if I should wait for an email, and was told, “all confirmed.” I didn't ask for anything in writing out of politeness. On arrival, they greeted us rudely and told us to leave the car on the street for a daily fee because the garage was full. It was a quiet stay in a very modest hotel, but breakfast was scant and really poor quality, a nightmare. Next time I'll take the reviews seriously. There was plenty there to warn me.

The staff were friendly, but the owner's rudeness left me feeling disrespected, and I won't come back unless the customer service improves. He was extremely unfriendly and wouldn't talk things through. His line was, “Because I said so.” His son was pleasant, but that didn't make up for how I was treated. We were on a tour group visit, and although the hotel says it's open all year, the reception and lounge were dark, with nowhere to sit. The dining room was closed 50 minutes after dinner and breakfast started. Breakfast was just two kinds of sausage, jam, and butter, rationed for 23 people.