Tui Blue Tropea – Baia Di Riaci Resort

“The hotel is fine, but its real strong point is its beach”

Let's start with the fact that although the hotel is marketed as TUI BLUE, it is managed locally by Italians. I must immediately praise the kindness of all the staff: exceptional. From the cleaning ladies to the dining room staff, everyone was very welcoming and helpful. Italian is my mother tongue… more

Let's start with the fact that although the hotel is marketed as TUI BLUE, it is managed locally by Italians. I must immediately praise the kindness of all the staff: exceptional. From the cleaning ladies to the dining room staff, everyone was very welcoming and helpful. Italian is my mother tongue, and perhaps that helped. The hotel is laid out like a village. When you enter from the main road, you immediately come to the reception. Then, narrow streets run through the buildings where the rooms are located to reach the swimming pool and the main restaurant. The view of the sea is breathtaking, and the sunsets over the sea are spectacular. I must say that the idea of structuring the hotel in this way is very pleasant and gives you that holiday feeling. Impeccable cleanliness in all common areas and rooms. Moving on to the room, I have to agree with some reviews that say the furniture looks like it's from IKEA :-). The building is fairly new, but the furnishings are not up to scratch. I would say it's more of a three-star than a four-star hotel. We had booked a Junior Suite and I must say the size of the room was very good, and the bathroom was OK, even if not too big. It was nice to have two small terraces on either side of the room. We had a problem with the safe, but it was resolved immediately within five minutes. The staff were always excellent. Now let's move on to an area where there is considerable room for improvement. We know that Italy is not the country know for the breakfast, but here it was not up to standard. Especially in terms of timing. If the full buffet is supposed to be ready at 7 a.m., why did the croissants almost always arrive at around 7.20-7.30 a.m.? The pancakes were inedible and rubbery. In my opinion, there is also room for improvement in the quality of the breakfast products (the juices were worse than those you find at discount stores). The dinner, on the other hand, was much more varied and of good quality, but it would be a good idea to include local products more often (Nduja was only seen one evening in 10 days). The beach is TOP! You can walk down to it or take a very pleasant 7-10 minute stroll. The beach is very clean and sunbeds are always available. The sea is one of the most beautiful in the Mediterranean. Tropea can re reached in 35 minutes of walking, otherwise the hotel offers a shuttle (in my opinion too expensive). Overall, a wonderful holiday, but there is room for improvement to make it a true 4-star hotel especially in the F&B sector.

less

“Stunning location and view but improvements needed”

We had a good time here, but this property has the potential to be so much more. Location is prime and the views are absolutely stunning. The hotel is definitely dated and ready for a renovation. Rooms and bathrooms are showing their age and so are the beds, linen and towels. No amenities in the ba… more

We had a good time here, but this property has the potential to be so much more. Location is prime and the views are absolutely stunning. The hotel is definitely dated and ready for a renovation. Rooms and bathrooms are showing their age and so are the beds, linen and towels. No amenities in the bathroom. Front desk and transportation staff go through the motions and can use refresher customer service training. They seem to be complacent and happy to host tour groups and just do enough to get by. The shuttle to the beach never seemed to be available. The driver had to go downtown, recharge the golf cart, pick up people, or do something else. The few times we asked, the answer was always negative and there was not even any attempt to apologize for the service not being available in a timely fashion. We drove our car down to the beach next door, but never set foot on the hotel beach. The restaurant staff and housekeeping were much nicer and helpful. Food variety was good. Food quality was what you can expect from a hotel buffet. Some good, some bad, none really excellent, but mostly adequate. The view and the hotel grounds made up for the deficiencies, but management and the ownership group can make lots of improvements and upgrade this property to a much higher level that maximizes its prime location. Don't forget to visit the Tropea historic center and the beaches. Tropea was supposed to be a pit stop on our trip and became a highlight. It is a beautiful town with friendly people and lovely beaches.

less

“Hotel in a beautiful place but little upgrade on the consept would be useful”

Hotel is in a really lovely place on top of the hill on the beach. Pool area is very nice with places to relax under the trees or under the sun. The beach is very good with sunbeds just for hotel guests. Beachbar also only for hotel guests and offered snacks and drinks all day. Shuttle to the beach… more

Hotel is in a really lovely place on top of the hill on the beach. Pool area is very nice with places to relax under the trees or under the sun. The beach is very good with sunbeds just for hotel guests. Beachbar also only for hotel guests and offered snacks and drinks all day. Shuttle to the beach was great but if walking is not a problem, there is stairs and a little walk to the beach. Food at the hotel was not the best. Only small amount of local products. Breakfast and dinnerbuffet are included. Lunchbuffet is not. Hotel has no minimarket or pool menu, so if you need something to eat outside the buffet times, beachbar was an option or you need to walk to Santa Domenica (~1,5km) or Tropea (~1,5km) to get to the store. Roads for walking are not maintained. Some parts there is no road for walking. And at siesta, almost nothing is open. When we arrived, staff didnt orientate the hotel area or what hotel offered. It was for us to ask or explore the TuiBlue app about shuttles, pool towels, culinarium etc. Hotelroom was really nice, maybe renovated freshly. In the room, hair dryer and shower gel was included. Spamenu was in the room but it was only in italian and german language. Wish there was an iron also but ironservice was available. Room had a tv but channels were only italian and german. All-in experience was good. Hotel is really nice but the consept is not working in my opinion. Maybe a allday pool menu with local tastes or a minimarket and a smart-tv in the room to watch netflix etc would upgrade the experience.

less

“Mid hotel experience with a 5 star view”

Tl;dr: Overall our stay was great, loved the views and small lizards everywhere. Eat in Tropea, hotel food was disappointing and hotel concept needs a little adjustments to present locality. Some rooms need a renovation. Hotel is in a beautiful location by the sea, but hotel concept itself would h… more

Tl;dr: Overall our stay was great, loved the views and small lizards everywhere. Eat in Tropea, hotel food was disappointing and hotel concept needs a little adjustments to present locality. Some rooms need a renovation. Hotel is in a beautiful location by the sea, but hotel concept itself would have the potential to be much more. Food was bland and only thing that was local cuisine was red onion on a breakfast. We didn't eat lunch at the hotel so can't say anything about that. Some local aesthetics and food would've been nice. I recommend eating dinner in Tropea, its a 30min walk or you can take a hotel shuttle. Pool bar does not sell anything to eat, so if you crave some snacks between a breakfast and dinner, your only option is the beach bar. Minimarket in a resort would've been nice. Pool bar staff was really nice to us, but the restaurant staff didnt serve us at the table after the first day like they served the germans. Some rooms are in bad condition, we were given a "upgraded" room for the first night which was not really an upgrade. Second room was nice.

less