La Terrazza Sul Porto

The room was horrible, with a moldy smell and just one tiny window. We left straight away, but luckily found somewhere else even though it was already 9:30 pm. I'd paid for two nights and asked the owner to refund me, but he didn't even reply to my email. He'd already got the money, and that says a lot about how seriously he takes things.

The only real plus was being just a few minutes from the port. For the poor quality, though, the price was high, and I absolutely wouldn't recommend this place. Breakfast was awful: the cappuccino wasn't really cappuccino, just pre-made coffee and milk warmed up with something pretending to be foam. The tables weren't very clean, and breakfast was served on a patio right beside the rooms. Our bathroom window faced that area, so we could hear everything. We were charged as soon as we arrived, but the POS wasn't working and it took a while to get payment through. The welcome was poor too. The owner greeted us in a tank top and had pretty rough manners; the lady who handled the rooms and breakfast seemed kind. The room itself wasn't bad, but neither the TV nor the Wi-Fi worked. When we mentioned it, we were told technicians would come on Monday. There was only one roll of toilet paper, and when we asked the lady for more, she said we could take it from a cupboard ourselves. The room was generally clean, except one day we came back and it hadn't been done. When we complained, the lady seemed kind but a bit annoyed, and said she hadn't gone in because she'd heard noises and thought we were still there, even though we'd left that morning.

The owner and the person who welcomed us were very kind, and gave us lots of useful suggestions about the island and places to eat. The room wasn't bad, and the location by the port was handy for exploring Ponza and unloading luggage after getting off the boat. For €150 a night, though, I expected more. The service felt worth no more than €100 to me, and breakfast was another letdown, just packaged food with nothing homemade. I was hoping for sweets from a nearby cafe. It's worth considering only if you're comfortable paying quite a lot for what you get.

Getting to the lobby meant climbing a fairly long staircase, which was awkward with luggage. The "port terrace" is there, but has no amenities, and breakfast is served in a cramped spot between walls with no view. I paid extra for a room advertised with a port view, but the port was only a tiny sliver in the distance. The place doesn't live up to its promises, and I definitely won't return.