Hotel Carillon

“Great staff, okay food, no all-inclusive”

I think this hotel has so many good reviews because the staff that works there is exceptional. They are all very nice, hard-working, and polite guys. The owners are exceptionally lucky to have Michela in their team. She does absolutely everything there: from dealing with the bookings and payment, t… more

I think this hotel has so many good reviews because the staff that works there is exceptional. They are all very nice, hard-working, and polite guys. The owners are exceptionally lucky to have Michela in their team. She does absolutely everything there: from dealing with the bookings and payment, to be behind the bar in the hotel in the afternoon and the cashier and bar disco in the evening. She also had to deal at 6.00 am. with moving the car of a nasty client who blocked us on the day of departure. She is amazing. We bought the 'all inclusive' formula, but it's not exactly all inclusive: if you want the air con, it is 5 euros a day. Do you want a fridge in your room? 5 euros a day. There is no coffee included with lunch/dinner, only with breakfast. You will get a card that entitles you to have 1 drink a day. I joked that it was a bit like R|anair... However, at least you can have free water and wine with your meals. The umbrella and sunlounges are paid directly at the beach, and then you will get a refund from the hotel bill at checkout. The hotel itself is nice enough, although our room was outdated and there was no rack for towels near the sink. The food is okay, just normal food, but the portions at times, a bit stingy (my trofie with mussels had exactly 6 mussels, 3 of which were empty shells). However, what really made all of us unhappy were the opening hours of the restaurant. They were too short... 8-10 for breakfast, 12.30-13.15 for lunch, and 19.30-20.15 for dinner. 45 minutes to have the main meals was definitely not enough. On the first day we had lunch, we arrived at 12.45 and some of the buffet dishes were already finished when we arrived but they were not replaced. We also felt rushed while eating. My friend, who is a very slow eater, was feeling quite stressed as they would put the second main on the table while she was still eating the first main. So then she would just stop eating and leave her food behind because of the rush. There is a nice disco club where also local come to dance the popular Italian folklore couple dances. We had a nice time there with our mothers. Would I go back? Yes, but only because of the staff working there, not because of the food or rules and price policies.

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