Hotel Capo Sud

A quiet sandy beach in a small bay makes for a wonderful location. We booked at the last minute, so our room was in the woods behind the main building, while many of the other rooms face the sea. It was spacious, with air conditioning, free water in the fridge, and a nice table outside for breakfast. The furnishings and fittings look a little old fashioned, probably from the eighties, but they're in decent shape. The WiFi mostly worked, though it stalled at the busiest times. Breakfast was decent and served on a nice terrace near a koi pond.

The location is unbeatable, especially with kids: you can go to the beach or pool without getting in the car. The private beach doesn't get overcrowded, and there's a beautiful koi pond and a great playground overlooking the ocean. The whole setting is relaxing, and the cleaning and covid measures were good. Most of the staff were friendly and accommodating. Breakfast had a good selection, especially for Italy, where breakfast can be small and limited to cracker-like white bread and coffee. I booked because the hotel had 4.6 stars on google, and I was looking for one of Elba's better options, since many places seem dated and get lowish reviews around 4. I wanted a better review than this. The hotel has been around since the 50's, and frequent guests at 3-5 star hotels will notice. It's a large property that needs maintenance and investment, but some simple fixes would help it reach its potential and keep up with the 2000s. Our room 64 was sold as a "garden view," but the view was really the back of the property: bushes, dirt and gravel, and the gardening staff's work area with wheelbarrows, a small trailer, a shed, and tools. A cement retaining wall flanked it, with the employees' resting quarters above. They sat outside talking rather loudly at night until 11 pm. I didn't think that setting was worth 185 Euro per night, and found it quite cheeky to describe it that way. The small covered seating area had a stone and wood picnic bench and a thatched roof. It wasn't angled properly, so rain collected and dripped onto the table for a day afterward. The roof didn't connect to the room, so when it rained, which it did twice quite hard, there was no dry way into the room and the floor got completely wet and muddy. Unacceptable. There were weeds all around the pool, and it looked like the area hadn't been maintained for a long time. For a beachfront hotel, I expected better. The kiosk and eating area by the pool felt like a desolate spot from the 80s, with plastic chairs everywhere and no inviting atmosphere. They offered a few bags of chips, two kinds of beer, standard sodas, packaged ice cream, and one or two refrigerated plastic-wrapped paninis. The hotel could make a lot more money with an updated poolside menu for people who don't want a big sit-down lunch as part of half board or full board. A few healthy snacks, beer on tap, and wine spritzers would help. They have many wait staff, and could send two down to serve drinks by the pool. That would improve the service and make the place feel more modern. Instead, we had lunch at the "Yacht Club" beach bar next door. It's simple, but had a better vibe, music, nice decor, poly-rattan seating instead of old plastic chairs, and a modern menu with beer on tap and fresh squeezed juice. The WiFi was awful, and only worked well at the pool. Everywhere else was miserable. Loungers were included in the price at the beach, but we couldn't choose where to sit because seating was assigned. That didn't feel like vacation to me. We ate dinner once and never went back. It was quite sad for 35 dollars per person, so go explore Elba and its wonderful restaurants. Breakfast had its own problems: the scrambled eggs were almost always cold, service was slow, and they should serve fresh squeezed juice instead of fake red orange juice from a paper box. The hotel has a great location, good staff, and a lot going for it. It just needs to modernize a bit to justify its price.

The place is close to its own sandy beach with stones, which was nice. The equipment is dated and could use renovation. Wi-Fi was weak, and each session lasted only one hour before I had to log in again.

The staff were incredibly friendly, and the place had a lovely, unusual character. We could only get a booking for one night because of availability, unfortunately.