Hotel Villa Franca

The checkout was a humiliating end to a very disappointing stay. I repeatedly explained that I’d recently received a replacement credit card and that my active card was in my Apple Wallet. Staff kept announcing in front of my girlfriend that the card was declined and implied I had insufficient funds. After almost ten minutes of embarrassment and a call to JPMorgan Chase confirming the situation, they finally tried Apple Pay, which worked immediately. It’s the palladium card, do some research 😉. I also didn’t have time to bring up the other issues before leaving for Naples. There were unexpected charges throughout the stay. We were told laundry would be complimentary, then charged for it. Gratuities appeared on the room charges, and the bellhop made it clear he expected a tip. The final bill also seemed about €1,000-€1,500 more than expected, and I later found online rates lower than what I was paying. When we arrived, they said we’d been upgraded, but it wasn’t clear what the upgrade was. The room was beautiful, though it didn’t seem larger or meaningfully different from what we’d booked. The restaurant experience was just as disappointing. I asked about the dress code and was told closed-toe shoes were the only requirement. We complied, but my girlfriend and I still felt unwelcome, with staff repeatedly staring, pointing, and whispering during dinner. One dish had small rocks or hard debris in it that could easily have damaged a tooth. The dress code wasn’t made clear, and my shorts were very nice. Regardless, I still changed. Decorative or not, those stones are hazardous because you could bite them. The air conditioning barely worked, so every night felt like sleeping in a sauna, and we often needed cold showers to get comfortable. For a hotel of this caliber, that’s unacceptable. We were disappointed by a luxury property that fell well below the standard I expected. The property itself may be beautiful, but the service was severely lacking. I spent a lot of time in Italy and found wonderful hospitality almost everywhere else. This hotel’s staff were by far the rudest and least accommodating people I encountered. I’d appreciate management reviewing these issues and giving a meaningful response.