Mangia's Torre Del Barone Resort & Spa

“Great hotel but staff need to be better at service”

Booked this resort with Jet2 Holidays and met our 2 friends there who had booked with Neilson. Firstly, I believe this is a unique position for Neilson to 'partner' with a hotel and usually they have ownership of a whole resort. I mention this as it felt that it was early days for the relationshi… more

Booked this resort with Jet2 Holidays and met our 2 friends there who had booked with Neilson. Firstly, I believe this is a unique position for Neilson to 'partner' with a hotel and usually they have ownership of a whole resort. I mention this as it felt that it was early days for the relationship between the hotel and Neilson as they felt a little disconnected. Hotel staff were unable to answer questions about Neilson activities, despite some 'sharing' of a weekly programme where lots of activities were actually complementary to hotel guests, despite not booking a Neilson holiday (an all inclusive activity holiday). This included things like group runs, sound baths, classes such as strength and conditioning , stretching, yoga etc. In fact, it was hard to work out what Neilson guests were paying extra for - although if you want group coaching in tennis/padel/pickleball sports, sailing and bike rides, then its all included with Neilson. Hotel guests can even use kayaks and paddleboards from the Neilson watersports hut on the activity beach (free for 15 mins or 20 euros for 1hr) - but again, it was information that hotel staff didn't seem to know. This was a lovely hotel - clean, a great lobby , rooms had sea views (although with some bushes in the way) , good facilities - a warm therapy indoor pool (although the sulphur makes it very smelly), an outdoor pool and really comfortable sun lounges which (in June) didn't seem too hard to get. There is a small beach not so far from the pool which is a 'calm beach' , adults only. The downside to this beach is that it's quite rocky and pebbled. A slightly further walk (or a train!) was the longer sandy activity beach with lots of sun loungers available. Lovely beach and safe with lifeguards and marked swimming spaces - as well as watersports by Neilson. It was quite busy at weekends with LOTS of Italian teenagers playing volleyball and football just a bit of a way up from the hotel part of the beach. It did however, seemed policed by the lifeguards. We were half board at the hotel - and the food was actually really good. Breakfast was a little unbalanced with LOTS of pastries and sweets (even cakes!) but the bakery stuff was a strength of the hotel - they were lovely. You could get omelettes (made to order) and there were some sausages , scrambled egg etc. Some fruit but this could have been better . Some cereals. Although the breakfast wasn't at all poor, we have had better at similar hotels in Croatia . Dinner was similar each night (730pm - 930pm) with salad, always 3 different pasta's, always a choice of a meat, a fish and a veg option. Again, lots of deserts and an ice cream station. The quality of the dinner food was very nice and although similar choices each night, we didn't get bored. You can also swap dinner with lunch which is actually similar anyway (and we actually seemed to enjoy the lunches more as were less people). The only thing I would mention is the food at the dinner buffet and breakfast does appear low at times and depending on when you go , they may not always fill up - this esp happened with dinner desserts that did seem to occasionally run out and never got filled up. The main downside to this hotel was a strange type of atmosphere with ordering drinks from bar staff and dining staff. It was so hard to get anyone's attention - they don't seem to want to look at you very easily. I'm not sure what this about but each day was a task to order drinks from the pool bar, dining room and main bar. Our friends also found the same issue. The staff seem to use phones to make the orders and this seems to influence them to be always looking down at these phones - I think also, there was a wifi connection issue for them esp in the bar. We gave up in ordering a paid lunch as the pool bar as again, it seemed so hard to get served and takes so long to make an order with them due to them appearing to not really want to serve you. There was also a rude female member of staff in the pool bar that seemed to take a dislike to us sitting at the bar (which were the only available seats). It was very odd for a 5star hotel to be like this and you'd thing the staff would be trained to pay attention to guests to make more money on drinks (for a half board / all inclusive hotel). I would have been very frustrated if I had gone all inclusive as you can only order drinks by going through the pain of firstly getting someone's attention, then a wait, then filling in a form each time you order a drink so they have your room number etc. Rooms - very very comfortable beds and pillows - can't fault the room. Coffee machine and water daily included. We had a king suite on the ground floor. Lifts a but weird though and do diagonally! All in all, this is a very good hotel - the only point is that the staff need to be more attentive with drinks service and also be available to give you the information you need for your holiday. There are lots of things we didn't know until we asked - i.e bus service to Sciacca each day - excursions etc.

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“Feels remote”

Hotel was fine however not 5* Rooms were good, very clean with sea view and very comfy beds. Few things to know... Nearest town 10mins away by car. We understood that we would be able to walk into town however, we were advised not to as there were no paths and would be dangerous. Wish we'd k… more

Hotel was fine however not 5* Rooms were good, very clean with sea view and very comfy beds. Few things to know... Nearest town 10mins away by car. We understood that we would be able to walk into town however, we were advised not to as there were no paths and would be dangerous. Wish we'd known. We were only b&b as we like to eat out so had to take a taxi most days which is 20 euros each way, worked out expensive. 90 euros for two to eat in the very moderate buffet restaurant. The Pizza restaurant is reasonable,the others are expensive. There were no English speaking tours our first week only French they managed to organise some for the second week. Shuttle to Palermo is worth taking, lovely city. There is a shuttle bus into Sciacca twice a day however the last one leaves the hotel at 4pm returns at 7pm. Restaurants in town don't open until 7.30 pm Sicilians eat late. We ate in town and enjoyed some lovely meals amongst the locals. The town comes alive after 7pm especially at weekends. Pool area and quiet beach are pleasant . The short private beach was not equipped with loungers or chairs but nice to walk along . Contrary to previous reviews if not booked with Neilsons the canoes and tennis/ paddle etc will cost you. If you would like milk for your tea in the room that will be 4 euros. Take English tea with you're if you're particular. To enjoy this hotel you either need to hire a car to get around and explore and eat out or spend your time relaxing at the pool areas or playing tennis. Don't book b&b...not practical.

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“Not the usual Neilson beach club experience”

We went to this resort with Neilson and have been to many of their beach club . Whilst we had a lovely holiday and the Neilson staff were fabulous as usual ( Steph the manager always present and helpful, Laura and Carla were great fitness coaches and Michael and Jemima were fab padel coaches ) th… more

We went to this resort with Neilson and have been to many of their beach club . Whilst we had a lovely holiday and the Neilson staff were fabulous as usual ( Steph the manager always present and helpful, Laura and Carla were great fitness coaches and Michael and Jemima were fab padel coaches ) there were several things that could have been better and things I wish I’d researched a little more before booking. Positives : Wonderful Neilson staff Rooms were clean and well equipped with sea views . Water and coffee provided daily Great breakfast and plentiful- lots of pastries / fruit / cooked options Lovely soft sandy beach ( once you had walked 10 mins to the beach ) Good padel/ tennis / pickle ball facilities Good desserts at dinner Exercises classes very varied and well instructed Padel lessons excellent and small groups Social padel great fun and well organised All Neilson staff were friendly helpful and professional - cannot fault ! The hotel is in a beautiful setting with great views Negatives This is not 5 star Neilson have 30 rooms in this hotel so it is not a Neilson club and very different Lacks a club feel - no evening quiz nights etc Dinner is not as good as other resorts - lacks variety - we had sea bass x3 in a week. Salads were ‘messy ‘ and unable to work out ingredients in the salads as was a jumble of ingredients which wasn’t appetising . Queuing in the mornings for a good coffee ( instead of a machine )could sometimes take 5-10 mins Poor service in restaurant to order drinks Swimming pool is a good size but has loud piped music all day which we found annoying Indoor Sulphur pool is smelly and can smell it quite a lot outside Pool towels are poor - thin and tatty . The padel courts are 10 mins walk away and the beach is at least a 10 mins walk away in the other direction ( so beach to padel 25 mins uphill) . The resort is too spread out for an active week. - this is fine as I like walking but becomes tricky if you are going from a padel lesson to a class as it means a lot of hanging around . Although there is a train and golf buggy’s there is no regular time for these . Calm Beach is a lovely area but the sea is very shallow and rocky so not good for a proper swim . It also shuts the bar at 6 pm. It is a wedding venue also so on our first day we couldn’t go to the calm beach and on our last day we had no access to the shaded gym area Despite these comments we had a lovely week and did lots of activities but if you want a true Neilson club experience then I wouldn’t recommend this hotel and sadly I don’t expect we will return.

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“Not a 5* Hotel”

Honest Review… PROS - Hotel is spotlessly clean and rooms are very comfortable. Swimming pool has luxurious sunbeds. The calm beach is idyllic with super beds and bar area with a wonderful view. The sandy beach is just a short walk and more going on with water sports but only soft drinks availa… more

Honest Review… PROS - Hotel is spotlessly clean and rooms are very comfortable. Swimming pool has luxurious sunbeds. The calm beach is idyllic with super beds and bar area with a wonderful view. The sandy beach is just a short walk and more going on with water sports but only soft drinks available if you are ‘all inclusive’ The Lime Bar beside the pool is very modern with lovely food and good service although this is situated beside the indoor sulphur pool which smells like rotten eggs! CONS- This is NOT a 5* hotel as far as the service goes in the main restaurants! Tables are not cleared promptly and if you would like a glass of wine with your evening meal.. don’t book this hotel. Breakfast choice is standard and acceptable and lunch choice is also acceptable but the evening buffet is grim. Only ONE meat dish and ONE fish dish and the pasta is over baked and inedible. We lived on salad every evening! You can wait up to 30 minutes to catch a member of staff to order a drink which is unacceptable. We booked the pizza restaurant twice and although the pizzas are lovely .. again the service is dire. No-one offers a second drink or offer of dessert. The experience team based in the main reception are not very proactive.. We wanted to book a boat trip but they tried to push other excursions which we weren’t interested in and it took them a whole week to arrange a boat trip for us. This had to be cancelled due to windy weather and we are STILL waiting for a refund 10 days after returning home! On arrival at the hotel the hotel will take a €250 holding fee and the city tax is €10 per night. The final straw… it appears the hotel has deducted the city tax twice from my bank!!

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“Disappointed ….”

There were certain 5 star standouts but there were glaring failures. As Neilson guests who do +2 Neilson holidays or Active Away a year we know about beach holiday clubs and this fell well short of the mark Positives 1. The grounds are huge with significant grassy space and the views are fanta… more

There were certain 5 star standouts but there were glaring failures. As Neilson guests who do +2 Neilson holidays or Active Away a year we know about beach holiday clubs and this fell well short of the mark Positives 1. The grounds are huge with significant grassy space and the views are fantastic. Clearly 5 star. 2. The range at breakfast with the Sicilian Pastries and Barristo Coffee excellent. Given the number of English guests ( not just Neilson ) surprised no baked beans or a choice of hot eggs. Poached Eggs not an option. Clearly 4.5 star 3. The sandy beach you could walk to and there were plenty of loungers at the beach. The Petit Train shuttle worked but busy at lunch time with the 4 other hotels that share this beach. Negatives 1. The buffet at dinner time was simply awful……. I am not used to an Italian restaurant serving pasta that looked it had been glued together. You had to choose your dinner times wisely as things did not appear to be regularly cooked but just sat there. Consequently hot food was well not hot and lukewarm at best. I’m not sure what meat was served when we had kebab but it was some form of dubious compressed chicken! From a 5 star resort! I’m not sure if the salads used at lunch were simply stored for dinner as some of the Sicilian cold dishes were limp and tired. Puddings ran out but thank god the ice cream saved some of the day! 2. The drinks service at dinner was confusing. Getting drinks could be a challenge and staff were rushed. 3. No laundry aired in the room. We are on an activity holiday and used to washing tennis clothes and socks. No where really to hang your stuff except your chairs and balcony outside 4. 1 charging station in the room for your devices which was shared with the coffee station. No dressing table for wife as 2 extra sofa beds shoved in. Room provided was different to that as sold. 5. Reception team very busy and not proactive in helping to book for taxis or calling outside restaurants 6. Calm Beach is beautiful area but bar there shuts at 6pm. Why? Beach there inpractical without beach swimming shoes and frankly not easy to swim there at all So we definitely would not choose to return as there are glaring issues which the hotel could resolve but choose not to. In conclusion very disappointed and frankly this hotel is in reality 3.5 star with the quality of the buffet and other issues

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