Residence Orizzonte

The room was adequate, and I don’t mind an older place or simple layout. The management and service, though, were unlike anything I’ve experienced. Compared with this, an average campsite feels like 4*. The halls and shared areas were dirty, most of the premises were closed and unused, and there was rubbish all over outside. Breakfast was served in a dirty bar downstairs. After 9 a.m. there was literally nothing left. The only staff member there was trying to do everything alone and could barely keep up, with dirty dishes everywhere. Quite an experience. :)

We stayed one night in June. The spa wasn’t open then, though we were told it would reopen in September. On arrival, the Hotel Concierge greeted us warmly and offered coffee and cake she’d made herself. She was approachable, attentive, and responsive to what we needed. Breakfast was an Italian-style buffet focused on sweet food. If you want eggs or hot dishes, you need to ask the concierge to prepare them. The hotel isn’t very modern, but the friendly hospitality made up for that. We were also glad there was no pressure to check out early.

The room and bathroom were clean, and the spa resident was good. The other staff were all very nice. But at dinner, an older woman in a black top treated me rudely and disrespectfully. When I tried to order, she ignored me and served a man who had arrived after me. She also looked impatient when I tried to put my first and second courses on one plate. Why should I pay to be discriminated against? One person was enough to ruin my vacation mood.

I booked a room with a balcony but was given one without. Our reservation also included access to the wellness area, yet reception first told us it would cost 20 euros per person. At the end of the stay I asked someone else and learned it was included after all. The main problem was the cold. In January, the halls, lounge, and restaurant were chilly, and the room was worse. Reception said the heating was automatic, so it may have come on for an hour in the evening, but it was bitterly cold overnight. The first night the room dropped below 15 degrees, while it was minus 9 outside. The old, damaged windows let a cold draft blow onto our faces, and we couldn’t sleep. We hadn’t brought our own sleeping bags because we never imagined a three-star hotel in the Alps in winter would provide bedding more like summer in southern Italy. After that first night I felt really ill, like I had the flu. I asked to change rooms and was refused. When I asked them to fix it, a front desk staff member sent maintenance, who advised closing both sets of curtains to keep warmth in and block the wind. That didn’t help. After several complaints, we finally got an extra electric heater, which helped us get through the awful stay. We switched it off whenever we left, and even during the day the room stayed below 17 degrees on the automatic central heating alone. Breakfast was the same every day, with scrambled eggs as the only hot dish and stale bread, though the croissants were fresh and delicious. Young restaurant waiter Rosa was lovely and helpful, and the other restaurant staff were friendly too. Dinner was acceptable, mostly pasta, but there weren’t many vegetables. The wellness area is old, and I don’t think it’s worth 20 euros per person for an hour or two when a four-star hotel 300 from this one has a nicer wellness area for 18 euros for five hours. I knew this was a low-standard hotel when I booked, but the room fell below expectations and the temperature was unacceptable. Because I got ill after the first night, I couldn’t enjoy my winter holiday. We spent 16 hours driving from home and ended up sick for the whole week in a cold hotel. I think the hotel should say on Booking that the maximum indoor temperature is 17-18 degrees. That was completely unexpected and strange for us.