Hotel Residence Sciabache

“Decent family friendly hotel with great outdoors. Rooms and food to be improved!”

We spent 10 days in Sciabache in mid August and I want to start with the overall impression which was rather positive. The resort is located accross the beautiful beach of Zambrone which makes it perfect for swimming. By being placed somewhere between Tropea (10 min drive) and Pizzo (30 min drive) … more

We spent 10 days in Sciabache in mid August and I want to start with the overall impression which was rather positive. The resort is located accross the beautiful beach of Zambrone which makes it perfect for swimming. By being placed somewhere between Tropea (10 min drive) and Pizzo (30 min drive) it makes a good base for exploring the area. The resort has a very efficient and flexible shuttle service to both Tropea (5 euros return pp) and Pizzo (30 euros return for 2-4 people) which we used extensively throughout our stay, in peak season you simple need to book the previous day in order to get the time you want. In such a way there is no need for the car, except if you want to go from beach to beach, which we didn't, having in mind that we travelled with a 2,5 year old and we preferred the more convenient hotel beach. The whole resort is safe and suitable for children of all ages, the green areas are spotlessly maintained, there is a mini zoo and a pony riding, playground for the little ones, three swimming pools, plenty of space for foodball and other ball related activities, tennis court, foodball court etc. There is a nice shaded path that leads to the beach so no exposure to sun at peak hours whatsoever. The whole team of people was very polite and attentive, from reception (Francesca), restaurant, pool bar, cleaning, animation, driver (Ciccio). Now the cons. The studios look really old and need urgent refurbishment, they are of a decent size and kept clean though and have a nice patio to laize in dead hours (noon sleep for example). The towels looked worn out and are normally not changed often but could be changed upon request, I suggest to take your own at least for the kids. For the food I have mixed feelings, normally we had breakfast and lunch. Breakfast was quite ok for italian standards, big selection of croissants, ham, cheese, eggs, cakes, pancakes baked on the spot, marmelades etc. we havent tried the instant coffee but opted for cappuccino every morning which was made at the bar and was excellent. The lunch was so and so, the choice of main course was rather limited to one meat and one fish, most days it was of a good quality but some days it was not. Once we ordered a kids menu hoping that it would be better but it was 10 times worse that the ordinary food offered for lunch, both pasta and meat were hard and inedible. There was fruit for lunch every day but only one type per day and no sweets whatsoever.The presentation of the food was very bad all the time and this is really something to work on. Anyhow, we thought that the food was not as bed as discribed in most of the comments below especially if you remember that this is a 3 and not a 4 or 5 star hotel, which makes hell of a difference! Our impression was that people (including some guests that we had the opportunity to talk to during our stay) simply exagerate or they have irrealistic expectations. We have travelled extensively and stayed in much more luxurious hotels around the world and still consider this resort a very decent one and would hapilly go back if in Calabria. It should be noted that there is no shop nearby so you need to walk uphill for about 20 minutes if you have no car. There are couple of restaurants in proximity and we especially recommend La Giara with excellent wooden oven pizza. The internet is a joke so better forget about it, but from what we heard it is the case in the whole calabrian coast.

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“Nice place, older hotel”

The overall impression was fine. Smaller resort, clean and green everywhere, nice atmosphere. Hotel services, facilities and food rather weaker ***, not ****. Animation only in Italian and very improvised. Beach pebble with steeper entrance (water shoes were handy), pool ok, separate pool for adult… more

The overall impression was fine. Smaller resort, clean and green everywhere, nice atmosphere. Hotel services, facilities and food rather weaker ***, not ****. Animation only in Italian and very improvised. Beach pebble with steeper entrance (water shoes were handy), pool ok, separate pool for adults, kids (110cm) and even smaller kids (hat required). 20min walk to ice cream, shop, pharmacy, train station (train 10min to Tropea).

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“Rasism”

For using swiming pool, you need to wear head cap. I went to get one and a guy who looks after the pools told me that they are free of charge. And yes, I have seen italian kids getting them without paying for them from a guy working in a pool bar. So for sure they are FREE. BUT, when I asked for on… more

For using swiming pool, you need to wear head cap. I went to get one and a guy who looks after the pools told me that they are free of charge. And yes, I have seen italian kids getting them without paying for them from a guy working in a pool bar. So for sure they are FREE. BUT, when I asked for one, bar guy told pool guy that they are only free for italians. Well, first, I instead if bying something from a pool bar go to next by beach bar to spend my money. And what I have experienced is in my country called Rasism. FREE for locals, not FREE for others. Still I paid few thousands of euros for this holiday. But rasism killed it.

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“family holiday”

Decent hotel with great outdoors, small park for kids, clean swimming pools and good beach. Whole resort is like "back in 80`", but not bad. Apartments need to refurbish and add kitchen equipment. We had just two small glasses and cups, no plates. In room is big fridge with small TV and no Wifi in … more

Decent hotel with great outdoors, small park for kids, clean swimming pools and good beach. Whole resort is like "back in 80`", but not bad. Apartments need to refurbish and add kitchen equipment. We had just two small glasses and cups, no plates. In room is big fridge with small TV and no Wifi in whole resort for few weeks. Restaurant, food and service need to be improved! We went with a full board package to this place for one week and it was enough. The dining service is awful. The range of food is poor with about 2 meat options first is pasta and for the evening meal one of which is thin fish platter. They stop lunch at 14:00 and start the evening meal at 19:00 Worth knowing if you have young kids with you. No drinking water in resort, only one machine for water open on breakfast. Juice and coffe are made from automat machine, coffe is just brown water. If you want to go to a supermarket one is a 30 minute walk uphill and another closest is in another resort Village Le Muse. The kids club is for Italian speaks kids only. The table tennis is free but you can never get the bats and ball from reception. Their evening entertainment starts late so again if you have young kids nothing starts until around 10pm. Whole personal did not speak English, only manager of reception. We won't be back ... Calabria is nice place, but next time we will use another resort.

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