Clapa Group Dislocated Hospitality

The room listing said there was a sea view, but a large building blocked the sea. We also got no help when I asked them to print a paper for me. At reception, they didn’t understand much of what I said in English, which made communication difficult. We were told to pay a €200 deposit or €20 per night, so we chose the nightly charge. On our last day, they said the €80 we’d paid for four nights was for a room upgrade. They lied to us and charged us too much.

We did get our €200 deposit back at checkout, but only after we went down and complained on the first day. We said it was unacceptable to ask for that much when the room was in such poor shape. The sink was broken, and the shower kept switching from hot to cold and back. There were no shutters, so cold air kept coming through the window, and we could hear it. Staff were rude and ignored us when they gave us the wrong room code. We waited outside for a reply on WhatsApp; when I went to reception, they were eating potato chips and said a technician was coming to fix the blocked door code system. It took two hours. The deposit could apparently be refunded right at checkout, but I’d read reviews from other guests who didn’t get theirs back. They know the state of the room and choose not to do anything about it. Not recommended at all, don’t book.

The AC was the last straw for me. The room was around 30 degrees most nights, and after we repeatedly asked them to fix it, they insisted it worked if we set it to 24. They only replied in Italian after we mentioned a refund and a room change, following a couple of hours of conversation in English. Between the heat and the noise outside, we barely slept. We’d booked specifically because AC was advertised. I’ve traveled a lot and could have put up with the other problems, but don’t advertise working AC and then keep telling customers they’re using it wrong until they leave. I hate the term, but it felt like gaslighting. The rooms were battered, with marks all over the walls and mold in the shower grout. Also check the details carefully before booking: the check-in address can be quite far from the hotel, and on sites like Expedia it’s easy to miss that this is in the fine print, while the booking itself shows the check-in address. Be careful with the “security deposit” too. It’s €200, a lot of money, and wasn’t disclosed until we arrived. They said it would be refunded 30 days after checkout because the bank processed it automatically and it couldn’t be done sooner. After more than 30 days, I still hadn’t received it. I contacted them and, to their credit, they refunded it right away. That makes it seem like the refund wasn’t actually automatic through the bank, and I wonder if it would have been forgotten if I hadn’t followed up, as other reviews have mentioned.

We arrived with a confirmed reservation and left without a place to stay when we learned about the €200 “deposit.” It hadn’t been disclosed when booking on Booking, and it felt like a hidden fee they try to get from every customer. The receptionist was aggressive and outrageous, raised his voice, treated people with contempt, and tried to force us to pay instead of explaining anything properly. Other people with confirmed bookings apparently canceled too when they heard about the non-refundable “deposit.” A complete disaster. Avoid this place. They’re pure con artists.