Hotel Caravelle

Such a lovely place.

The location is excellent, and the staff are courteous and work hard for the guests. But the hotel no longer feels like a four-star place. Maybe it once did, though now it seems closer to a basic three-star. There are too few staff, and lunch and dinner are crammed into one hour, with long queues. Some guests take far more than they need, so late arrivals can find nothing left. The facility needs more attention. Entertainment was effectively absent, with the girls seeming to be there on holiday at the hotel's expense.

The only bright spot was our friendly waiter. Everything else felt disorganized: the staff seemed confused, the pool was dirty and had no lifeguard, and the entertainment was awful. Our room wasn't clean, and the bathroom still had hair from earlier guests. There wasn't enough food, and what was served was poor quality. We booked full board, yet were charged for coffee after lunch and dinner. They also said the garage and beach were included, but once we arrived I was told both would cost extra. A disgrace.

We did enjoy the hotel's two yoga classes, and our room and balcony were spotless, with fresh towels every day. The rest of the week took a lot of patience. The dining room itself was spotless, but the floors were sticky and the glassware dirty. Some glasses still had lipstick on them, and dishes had food left on them. We didn't get the Romagna cooking we'd expected, just a chef reworking recipes and recycling leftovers. Our room was tiny. The 190 cm double bed left only about 30 cm at the foot, and the little desk could only be reached by sitting on the bed. One wardrobe door was blocked by the bed, so the drawers couldn't be opened. The only outlets were behind the bedside tables and used for the lamps, so charging phones meant going without bedside light. We couldn't contact reception from the room. The TV worked on and off, the minibar didn't work, Wi-Fi was extremely slow, and the air conditioning was noisy. The second French window was blocked by the wardrobe too. On arrival, we had to climb two flights of stairs to reception and carry our bags ourselves, with no offer of help. There were some very dirty but comfortable white sofas, probably left over from the start of the season. At checkout I had to insist on getting a receipt for my payment. Credit to the small staff, who work incredibly hard to keep a run-down place going.