Hotel San Valentino

The garden was lovely and well kept, with another large garden and bar area in front of the hotel for evenings. The pool bar was great too, thanks to the very friendly woman serving drinks, coffee and food. The breakfast buffet was good, with plenty of Italian sweet bakery items. The room was plain but very clean, and I believe some rooms have been modernized. The hotel looks beautiful from outside and seems to mainly host older Italian spa guests. Staff were friendly, but at check-in I was addressed only in Italian and given a briefing with other guests in Italian. I managed, but saw other foreign guests struggle because staff weren't actively using other languages. Pool towels cost €5, which I found unusual, and bathing caps were required in both the thermal and outdoor pools. The pool doesn't open until 9am, so there's no swim before breakfast. The air conditioning couldn't be adjusted and kept blowing at a certain noise level, so the room stayed very warm at night. A neighbor smoked on the balcony and the smoke came into my room. Despite being unimpressed by the air conditioning and staff's language skills, I enjoyed my stay.

The pool and spa are great, and the hotel is a handy distance from the port, castle and many shops. Breakfast was really good and filling. Staff seemed a bit unsure when we asked for a vegetarian meal, but the chef came through later. The gala dinner was fun, though the truly awful table wine wasn't complimentary: it cost 18 euros for a 'vintage' less than a year old. Charges for water with dinner and the daily tourist tax also appeared on the bill. Staff were good, but could seem indifferent when answering questions, sometimes turning away subconsciously. They also weren't used to saying hello each time you went out in the morning. Still, it's a great place to stay. Definitely going back.

From the start, this stay was one problem after another. They wouldn't answer emails, and hardly any staff spoke enough English to communicate well. That surprised us, since every restaurant and business we visited, even a small electronics shop, had people who spoke very good English and were welcoming and kind. When we got a parking ticket, the lobby sent us to the local police station. That was wrong: we needed to contact the rental car company, and we lost hours of our few days trying to figure it out. The room seemed only half ready. The walls were poorly painted, like primer without paint, and felt like sandpaper if you brushed against them. The beds were old, run-down, falling apart at the end and far too short. I'm 184cm and barely fit, and couldn't fit if I moved down the bed. The pillows were awful and hurt my neck every night. There were only two outlets in the whole room, or four if you unplugged the TV and bedside light. Halfway through the stay, the bedroom light switch stopped working. Wi-Fi failed about 50% of the time. The mini fridge switched itself off randomly and had a broken handle. The shower handle kept falling off and nearly crushed my toe once. The so-called "shower gel" was cheap hand soap in a squeeze bottle, and the toilet didn't flush properly. But the air conditioning was the worst part. It blew lukewarm air, made a horrible noise and did nothing to cool the room. After spending the day in unbearable heat, I could have forgiven the other issues if we'd had a cold room. They did give us a fairly powerful standing fan after we asked, and it saved us; without it, we would have had to leave. I assume other hotels on the island have this central air conditioning problem, but that doesn't make it okay. For over 100 euros a night on an island that often reaches 30+ degrees, every room needs its own AC unit. There were positives: a good location on the island, okay staff, a spacious and calm lobby with a beautiful baby grand piano, good breakfast, generally clean surroundings, and parking for scooters and cars onsite for €8 a day. The cleaning staff were excellent and very sweet. Still, those things weren't nearly enough to make it a 4 star hotel in 2023. We had an amazing time on the island, but the stay here wasn't peaceful. Nothing just worked. Save yourself the hassle. After I left an honest review, I finally got a response, but was told I was lying and only wanted a refund. That's absurd. I couldn't care less about a refund, although it would have been nice since we didn't stay our last night. I've never dealt with a business like this. A few parts of the stay were good, as I said, but overall it was unacceptable, and their rude reply to my honest account was unbelievable. I know running a hotel is challenging, but I hope they take these problems seriously for future customers. I almost broke my toe in the shower because of that handle, for god's sake!

The shared areas and pool setup were lovely, with a bar and staff bringing drinks to your pool chair if you wanted. The room, though, felt old-fashioned, and I’d have preferred something more modern and practical. There were two taps at both the shower and basin, the single bed was tiny, and the AC took hours to cool the room. Breakfast was just okay, mostly different breads and a small choice of cold cuts. They did make the coffee how I wanted, and brought two cans, one coffee and one warm milk, which made about four cups.