Apollo Terme Hotel

I’ve stayed in other Montegrotto hotels many times, and this is easily among the best for service and value. The restaurant team is fantastic, with plenty of healthy, tasty meals, and the staff are always willing to help. Everything was exceptionally clean, including the rooms, hotel and pool areas. It’s in a quiet spot near cycling and walking paths, close to the centre and about a 10-minute walk from the railway station. I’ll definitely book again.

There’s no fridge in the room, which I’d normally expect at this price for a three-star hotel. Housekeeping also kept buzzing until I opened the door, ignoring my do not disturb sign. I’d put it out because I was tired and needed sleep. At checkout I was charged €29 for the pools, not the sauna, even though nobody had mentioned the fee before I booked and prepaid the rest of my stay. It didn’t matter whether I’d used them. Nobody checked my identity when I entered the pool area either. It left a sour taste and really hurt my impression of the hotel.

The staff are friendly, the pools are clean and pleasant, and the breakfast buffet has a nice range of food. There’s parking on site. It’s a large hotel with a spa and treatment facilities, though a little removed from the city centre. The walk to the centre and train station takes 20 minutes, and the train ride to Venice St Lucia is 40 minutes. Some bathrooms can feel tight depending on the room. Cleaning starts early, so sleeping past 7.30am is difficult.

The pools are large, with set times for bubbles and water massage, and there’s free parking on site. For fango massage and other cures, though, you need a medical assessment costing 28€. This feels like a three-star place trying to cope with big groups. They don’t encourage water saving or towel reuse, and for two guests staying two nights they left just one tiny soap. It’s a big complex in a park just outside Montegrotto, though you can walk to shops selling mostly clothes and shoes. Our room and bathroom were a good size, but the TV was tiny and the WiFi kept disconnecting, which made professional work difficult. We had half board and ate dinner in a very noisy dining room with more than 250 other guests eating at the same time. The serving team worked hard, moving quickly between tables with their trolleys. The food wasn’t bad, but not gastronomic, and vegetarian options were very limited. Breakfast had a large selection, almost American-style. Guests could help themselves to the food, but weren’t wearing plastic gloves. Face masks were required throughout the hotel.