Royal Boutique Hotel

The pools and relaxation areas are beautiful, and the hotel is well cared for. Staff are friendly and helpful, and the owner is a lovely person. Great value for a lovely stay. I highly recommend this hotel. Riccione is a pretty resort. Thank you all.

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I’m reluctant to leave a bad review, but maybe this will help the hotel improve. The waiters, night watchman, and the owner’s daughter were lovely and helpful. The food was home-cooked and good, and the hotel looks beautiful outside, with a detailed renovation. The walls, doors, and lighting inside have also been updated. The room itself was decent, and the staff were kind, but the owner was rude to employees in front of guests when they made mistakes and didn’t seem willing to help when we raised problems. Seasonal workers aged 18 or 19 are bound to make mistakes, especially if it’s their first job. If the owner expects flawless service, qualified staff would cost more; if hiring less experienced people to save money, some errors are to be expected. We paid almost €3,000 for nine days and were disappointed by several things. The bathroom looked nothing like the renovated marble-effect room shown in the quote. Its tiles and fixtures looked dated, and the plastic folding shower stall seemed straight out of the '90s. The safe jammed whenever I opened or shut it, with a risk of getting stuck. I sell safes and work on locks, so I recognized the fault, but the owner kept saying it was fine. A window was broken and left open throughout our stay. When we asked about it, we were told there was no maintenance person in August and asked whether we could manage as it was. The restaurant table had a cloth tablecloth and napkins, which were only changed after five days. They brushed away the crumbs and reused the same stained cloth and napkins, even when there were marks from tomato or oil. I understand laundry costs money, but paper linens or wipe-clean placemats would have been inexpensive alternatives. Breakfast was barely adequate. We had booked full board and ate out one evening with friends nearby. We never expected the meal to be deducted from the bill, since a contract is a contract, but at a family-run hotel, a roughly €60 adjustment would have been a kind gesture given the room issues. It wouldn’t have changed anyone’s life. The hotel advertises three terraces, two with jacuzzis, but those pools stayed closed for all nine days. We were upset for the first three days, but with penalties involved, leaving wasn’t an option. I had to choose between arguing over everything and ruining the trip, or letting it go and enjoying the few vacation days we get each year. Families count on that time to relax, and we didn’t feel the hotel respected the trust we put in it. Maybe in a busy tourist area, guests are treated as numbers: one leaves and another arrives. I’m sorry to have had to write this.

The staff made our week especially lovely. The restaurant and breakfast room girls were welcoming, and everyone was kind and courteous. A week ago, my partner and I stayed at the Royal with our Chihuahua, Prince. After the beach, we enjoyed relaxing in the pool, which was comfortable and never crowded. The home-cooked food was good too. Thanks for a wonderful vacation.