Hotel San Francesco

“Outstanding”

Cleanliness the cleanest I have ever experienced. Food gorgeous and plentiful. So fresh so delicious. Restaurant and Bar staff nicest you could encounter. Young girl on reception best receptionist ever! Maintenance men quick pleasant and so efficient. Pool perfect temperature and big enough for th… more

Cleanliness the cleanest I have ever experienced. Food gorgeous and plentiful. So fresh so delicious. Restaurant and Bar staff nicest you could encounter. Young girl on reception best receptionist ever! Maintenance men quick pleasant and so efficient. Pool perfect temperature and big enough for those who made a dip. Thermal pool great acoustics for singing. Cosmopolitan guests so great to speak to others about silly Brexit. Room small but clean and comfortable. Supermarket has everything you could wish for also very good customer service. Forio gritty, not sophisticated. But plenty of shops restaurants and the obligatory market place. Good music in the streets at night. Cars all beaten up dented, scratched and parts hanging off. Would never buy a new car for life on the island. Beach loungers and parasols expensive although we never used them. Locals tend to be restricted to rocks! TV in bar was great as it showed the Lionesses win the Euros. Bar staff were gracious in the defeat of Italy and even gave my partner and I free proseccos to celebrate. Overall a wonderful place to holiday.

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“Fantastic Staff, Lovely Hotel.”

We weren't sure what to expect from the hotel, based on some of the reviews that we had read, however we were pleasantly surprised. TUI transfer from Naples - Lack of information regarding this made us nervous, but it all went very smoothly. First you are met in arrivals by a TUI rep who takes yo… more

We weren't sure what to expect from the hotel, based on some of the reviews that we had read, however we were pleasantly surprised. TUI transfer from Naples - Lack of information regarding this made us nervous, but it all went very smoothly. First you are met in arrivals by a TUI rep who takes you to a minibus waiting outside (she did jump back off the bus once we had left the airport, leaving us a bit confused!) You are driven to the port (approx 25 minutes) where you are met by another rep who takes you (at pace) to a small square with a couple of bar/cafes to wait for the ferry (we waited about 35 minutes). The rep then comes back with your ferry tickets (1 for you, 1 for luggage) and takes you right to the ferry, so no concerns about getting the wrong one. The ferry is around an hour. When you arrive at the ferry port you collect your own luggage, and are met by yet another rep. A quick 5 minute walk along Ischia Port and you are put into a taxi which takes you right to the hotel entrance. Same in reverse for going home. Our flight home was around 13.30 and we got picked up at 9am. Long travel day, but definitely worth it! The hotel itself was perfect for us. Our room (we upgraded to the main building) was basic, but clean. It had a lovely big balcony, fridge, small walk in shower, and air conditioning (ours wasn't working when we arrived, but got fixed almost immediately). It had a decent sized wardrobe, but not much more storage space for clothing. The dining area was pleasant and you are allocated a table for the duration of your stay. There is a buffet laid out for breakfast, and to supplement your dinner. We were given the dinner menu at breakfast and placed our order for the evening. The breakfast was basic hot food, and had lovely breads and pastries, some fruit and cheese, and coffee and fruit juice. The staff ask if you want freshly cooked eggs once you are seated. As a particularly fussy eater I found the dinner menu quite limited, my husband not so fussy enjoyed the selection. The food itself, however was well cooked and tasty. Due to my limited choices we did eat out a couple of nights, but not as many as we had expected to. Also a few nights the menu would have maybe a seafood pasta and I asked for just the tomato pasta with out the seafood for example, and they were happy to oblige. The dining room staff were fantastic, friendly and very keen to help. There is a small, well stocked bar serving local draft beer (very nice) and a variety of spirits, cocktails, freshly squeezed juice and coffee. There is also a lunch menu here. The seating area outside is very relaxing, a nice area to sit either through the day, or the evening. It could however, benefit from some background music in the evenings. The bar staff were exceptional! Some of the friendliest, most welcoming people we met during our stay. The pool area is nicely laid out. No issues getting a sunbed at various times of the day. 2 small niggles about the pool area are that the pool could have been a bit cooler to be more refreshing, and that people are able to take glass to the pool area. At least 3 times while we were at the pool there was glass broken in the area. This was cleaned up promptly, but still a concern. It is a lovely area to chill out and relax. Only used the indoor pool a couple of times, but again it was too warm to be refreshing. The hotel was in a great location for us. It was situated in a quiet(ish) street. To the right is a quiet, 25 minute walk into Forio, passing along the beach and beachfront restaurants. To the left is the main road with the bus stops going either direction. Passing the tobacconist (where you get your bus tickets), the pharmacy, scooter hire and the friendliest wee bar on the island run by Maria and Michel (very handy for a wee stop on the way to or from the bus stop). if you turn left at the end of the road there is a small local shop where you can get reasonably priced beer, water and other essentials. Turning right takes you to the larger supermarket. Just passed the supermarket is a lovely wee Pizzeria. It was really tasty, quite quiet and well priced. You can also take away from here. We bought a weekly bus ticket for 14.5 euros which allowed us to explore the island, jumping on and off the bus as often as we wanted. You buy your ticket before boarding the bus ( the tobacconist) and on your first trip ensure that you stamp the ticket in the machine on the bus. This validates your ticket and shows an inspector when it was started. On our first trip the machine wasn't working, but the driver said, just write the date on the ticket and good to go. (We did have one ticket inspection, and he was happy with the written date). The bus stop near the hotel is right at the end of the street, on the busy road. A bit daunting at first but you get used to it quickly! The busses can quite busy, but everyone just squeezes on! Forio itself is a nice wee town filled with cafes, bars, restaurants, local shops and a beautiful sunset.. You can sit in the cafes watching the world go by, without feeling rushed. In the evenings the restaurants can get quite busy but this gives the town a nice buzz. We particularly enjoyed our meals in La Tinaia and Bella Napoli, along with the cocktails in Numa. As for the rest of Ischia we visited Sant' Angelo which was beautiful but expensive, definitely worth a visit for the photographs alone! Castello Aragonese, although we didn't go into the castle, but had a nice walk around and some delicious lunch at Ischia Salumi and drinks before getting back on the bus. We also had a wee wander round Ischia Port where I had a delicious affogato beside the water. Our favourite place to visit was Negombo Thermal Baths. Here there are lots of pools of varying temperature in absolutely beautiful surroundings. The hotel can organise transport and reduced priced tickets to here making it an easy trip. To sum it up THE STAFF WERE ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC!! They made our holiday very special and gave us some fabulous memories. The hotel in general was great, and we look forward to returning soon.

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“Amazing hotel on a beautiful island”

Me and my Fiancée spent 11 days on Ischia recently at Hotel San Francesco, and our stay was nothing short of exceptional. The hotel was lovely and clean, the AC kept the outside heat at bay perfectly, the Swimming Pools/Turkish spa and services were all amazing. The food served here was on anot… more

Me and my Fiancée spent 11 days on Ischia recently at Hotel San Francesco, and our stay was nothing short of exceptional. The hotel was lovely and clean, the AC kept the outside heat at bay perfectly, the Swimming Pools/Turkish spa and services were all amazing. The food served here was on another level; all locally grown produce and local recipes, it was an Italian food lover's dream and the staff were some of the most friendly and welcoming people I've ever met; especially Anja who made our trip extra special.

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“Extremely Beautiful with the kindest people!”

Beautiful hotel in beautiful setting. Very traditional with lovely friendly hospitality. We stayed in an apartment to the side of the main hotel and had a large one bedroom with seating area that converted the sofa into another double bed. Half board was definitely worth it with the food being 100%… more

Beautiful hotel in beautiful setting. Very traditional with lovely friendly hospitality. We stayed in an apartment to the side of the main hotel and had a large one bedroom with seating area that converted the sofa into another double bed. Half board was definitely worth it with the food being 100% traditional Italian. We were assigned a table at the start of the holiday and this was our same table each morning and evening (if you have bottled water or wine they will cap it, label it and present it at your next sitting which we found perfect as it saved on wastage) We were presented with menus in the morning with three choices for starter and main and we had to make our selection then. Breakfast was very well catered for with a great selection of hot and cold with the chef making eggs to order. This hotel and the island is Ischia is like stepping back in time to the 1970’s - not commercialised, just beauty, tranquility, kindness and very traditional. If you are looking for a break to completely recharge then this is the place for you. There was nothing that was too much trouble for the hotel, they arranged our trip to the local spa and even provided their own transport to and from. Highly recommend this hotel - There is nothing to dislike. The pool area was also fabulous with comfortable sun loungers and the indoor pool and sauna were also fabulous too. We were two ladies travelling and felt very safe here and on the island. There was an excellent local bus service within two minutes walking from the hotel and we used this to travel around the island. The local beaches were soft glorious sand and you can rent two beds and an umbrella for €20 a day, the nearest beach is a 7 min walk from the hotel. Travelling from the main land was extremely easy and the ferry ride took around 45 minutes and the scenery was spectacular for the whole journey (although Naples port was very busy!). We were collected from the airport in small minibuses and transferred to and from the port by Tui staff and the same from the port to the hotel. I want to tell everyone to go to Ischia but really don’t as it is so unspoilt and it would be sad for this to change.

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