Hotel Riz

Having meals included was convenient for us with small children, and the location was fine. But the food and coffee should be better in Italy. The juice was watered down, and in 30-degree heat they served tortelli in broth and pasta with cream. Our room was so small we had to take turns getting through it. The bathroom was too cramped to sit comfortably on the toilet. Cleanliness was okay, nothing more.

We've been coming back every year for nine years, and the Gabellini family always gives us a wonderful welcome. The rooms are clean, the meals and cuisine are excellent, and the hotel is close to both the sea and the city center. Hotel Rizt means friends to us, and it's a name we trust.

The only thing in this hotel's favor was how kind and helpful the owners were. Everything else was so bad that I thought I was being pranked. In all my years, this was the most disappointing hotel I've stayed in, and the price was outrageous for what we got. The rooms were cleaned only if you asked, as the sign said, but nobody told us. My daughter asked for a beach towel and they handed her a tablecloth, asking if that would do. You couldn't set the air conditioning below 24 degrees, and it switched off once it reached that temperature. I woke up sweaty in the middle of the night in a boiling hot room. The food was by far the worst part. There were seven of us, and appetizers meant one slice of cured meat each, or one cherry tomato each, or one piece of zucchini each. Then came a tiny first course and a meager main course, with three or four baked potatoes, supposedly a lot, or another vegetable. Dessert was a small piece of fruit or one option with no choice. We ended up getting piadina after dinner from one of the many lovely shops every night. Breakfast was the same old desserts, sliced into tiny pieces by the waitress. The products were mediocre, including off-brand Nutella, and there were only knives and a teaspoon, no forks, as the photo shows. During our six days the sticky tablecloth was never changed, and I think it's still there. The tablecloths at the other tables weren't changed either. One evening the child with us asked for a cutlet, and they said they couldn't make one. I ordered baked scorpion fish with puree one day, but it came cold. When I asked for it to be reheated, they said they serve it cold. The final night was surreal: we'd ordered pork, but they said the meat smelled and brought melon and ham instead, in ridiculous portions, one slice of ham per person. Whoever had ordered fish got it almost raw, and everyone else at our table sent theirs back. They said they had peaches for fruit, then said they'd run out and could only bring a slice of watermelon. The neighboring table, who had ordered peaches, complained theirs were half-rotten.

The room was very nice and clean, and the housekeeping was excellent. Mrs. Ivana was a great cook, and the staff were friendly and helpful. We had a wonderful time on our first visit, and the hotel sits in a convenient spot, 50 meters from the sea and halfway along the main street in the center. We'll definitely return. Highly recommended. Rossella.