Hotel Barone di Mare

Breakfast was already mostly gone when we arrived at 8:30, and the room was messy, with dirty plates and uncleared tables everywhere. There weren't any beach or pool towels either. The pool had dead bees and insects in it, even though we were the first ones there that morning. During my daughter's bath, water started running from the tap. We asked several times to have it fixed, but nothing was done, so we had to go out without bathing. By the next day, there were lots of ants in the room. For such a large resort, there was no housekeeping service and no intercom.

We paid for six days but left halfway through. The renovated rooms were OK, but there were ants all over, and the pool was crowded. There were only 17 beach umbrellas for all the guests. A quieter pool was a few meters away, but it cost an absurd 35 euros per person per day. The food and coffee were terrible. If you booked B&B, you couldn't even buy a sandwich at lunchtime; you had to book lunch for 40 euros per person. Wi-Fi was limited to the reception area. Cars had to stay in the parking lot, so on arrival and departure we had to walk 2 km with all our luggage. The place claims four stars, but it gets none from me. It's really an all-inclusive resort with optional B&B. You have to wear a bracelet all the time, and the park police or staff will tell you to put it on if you don't. The staff spoke only Italian and were not customer friendly. They seemed more interested in taking your money than giving you value for it. I wonder how long they'll stay in business this way.

The sea was the highlight: amazingly clear, clean, and pleasant, and I don't think I've ever stayed in the water so long. Our room was very large and clean, with a double shower and good air conditioning. There's no Wi-Fi, if that matters to you. The free light lager was enjoyable in the southern heat, too. The way the beach is reached was a real problem. It's not far on foot, but the walk means stepping along the statale with no sidewalk, which felt dangerous. The shuttle train came only every half hour for a drive of about two or three minutes, and stopped at 7 pm, just when the beach was especially beautiful. We came as a married couple in our 50s, without children, and chose a quieter Covid-19 period after vaccination, expecting better safety measures and organization at Valtur. We aren't the ideal holiday village customers, and when asked if we'd return, our answer is no. The food was a letdown. It was always lukewarm and ordinary, with almost nothing local apart from one night with burrata and cime di rapa. Fruit was poor quality and cheap, despite the region being known for its crops. Perhaps they were serving too many people. Restaurant management was embarrassing. I raised an issue with the maître, who told me to take it up with the cooks. At each meal we had to hunt for a free table, and often wait for it to be set up. Eating later made things harder. They could have assigned tables by room number or used two meal shifts, as many places did during Covid. Customers weren't allowed to touch plates, but could serve themselves at the drinks dispenser with their fingers, handle the salt, pepper, mayo, and biscotti packets, or spoon olive oil from a bowl. There were no clear signs for the route between appetizers and desserts, and you actually entered from the dessert side. We often had to remind people to keep their distance or not cut the queue. The dessert section had something good now and then. The lunch box, when requested instead of a meal, was even more embarrassing. The beach workers, mostly immigrant men called "extra-comunitari" here, were always kind, smiling, and helpful. Their fussy, nitpicking boss was different. Even with the beach half empty and at least 25 umbrellas available, he questioned us two or three times for not using the chairs assigned to our umbrella. We were only trying to get some shade and make things easier for them without moving chairs around too much. The beach bar played music all day at rave-party volume. I'm a music lover, so I'll leave the genre aside, but I guess you could hear it from Albania. Forget an after-lunch nap, a relaxing moment, or reading a book.

The beach is reached by train, but it was extremely busy. The rooms were nice and large, though there was no Wi-Fi or toiletries. Food was average, and the restaurant involved very long waits. Restaurant staff were rude and unprofessional, and staff in general seemed very young. We spent a week here and paid a lot for very average service. It was a very bad experience, and I wouldn't recommend it. I'm amazed it has four stars.