Honeymoon - special but not in a good way
If everything works out as planned, this resort is really worth the trip. The resort itself is really beautiful, very well-kept and the staff is very polite and nice. But there are serious weaknesses regarding organizational behaviour. We had the feeling that we couldn’t rely on anything that was promised because more than once, we got opposite information on different days.
What happened in detail:
When we booked our honeymoon, our agency reserved the Junior Suite Stromboli for 3 days. Within these 3 days we wanted to confirm the booking, but were informed, that suddenly it was no longer available. This may have been a mere communicative misunderstanding between the agency and the hotel. We then booked a deluxe suite for the same price as the Junior Suite.
On arrival, a big surprise awaited us. The junior suite was available after all and we got it! Perfect start into the honeymoon, too good to be true. In fact, it was too good to be true because the next day, when we came back from the beach, we were told that the suite was only free for a few days and we would have to move. And making things worse, we were told that we would get a deluxe suite as an “upgrade and gift from the hotel.” For real? That is what we booked and paid for, but they tried to present it as a gift. Our voucher clearly stated that we had booked and paid for the deluxe room, but they didn’t believe us. The next day the hotel manager apologized for the problems and showed us a deluxe room and a normal bungalow as alternatives. We decided to take the normal bungalow (that was cheaper) and got the price difference as credit to spend at the hotel bar. As compensation for the problems, we were allowed to keep our place in the first row at the beach and we were promised a romantic dinner. That was the start of the next disappointment. We had to chase them 3 times to finally get a date for the dinner. And then we were promised a “special dinner” but ended up just getting the regular dinner instead. Note that a romantic dinner costs 90 € per person (according to price list and app – see screenshot) extra. So it seems that there is a considerable difference between the dinner when you pay the extra price and when the hotel treats you to it to make up for their mistakes. If we had been charged an extra 90 € per person for some candles in a nice spot and the same menu we already had included in our half board booking anyway, we would have been really pissed.
As for the food: all in all, it is good – with a few exceptions (meat to well done, salmon dry, shrimps sour). But the vegan choices had big differences in quality. We asked if there would be a vegan menu before even booking and we there really were several options every evening. Appetizers and pasta dishes were good, but the main courses were always the same convenience products (fried grated potatoes, vegan burger patty, vegan bresaola). Apparently from the freezer more or less directly to the table. The real low was two pattys just lying on a plain white plate. No sides, no sauce, just completely dry. We had to send that back. From there on, we ordered another appetizer as main course each day.
One last small thing to mention: the rooms are cleaned every day (mopped, towels changed, beds made etc.) but spiderwebs are not always noticed.
We do want to give our special praise and thanks to the waiters and waitresses who do a wonderful job with a smile and enthusiasm each day.
To sum up:
+ staff very friendly
+ resort very well-kept and nice
+ rooms very beautiful
+ dinner mostly very good
- organizational problems that were not resolved and spoiled our honeymoon
- vegan main courses unfortunately uninspired convenience products straight from the supermarket
- the feeling that customer satisfaction doesn’t really have a high priority, triggered by the experience that information / arrangements change and you can’t rely on anything you’re promised
So, unfortunately, we will not be booking this hotel again.
