What People are saying

DO NOT STAY HERE

Kim Mon 21/02/2015 18:58

I travel all over the world and this was by far the Worse hotel I have ever stayed at. Upon entering the foyer I gagged by the horrific smell. Then as I proceeded to check in, the woman at the front desk was rude. As I warily made my way to my room, the smell got worse - when I entered my room, I turned around and went back down to the desk and said I could not stay in the room as it smelled so bad. The woman did not understand me and called another woman. I went back upstairs and opened the balcony doors to let fresh air in - it was mid-February...Then I tried making an outside call, with no success. The other lady arrived at the hotel and I went down to talk with her. She started yelling at me, saying the hotel and room did not smell. I told it did and she kept fighting with me. I went out and booked another hotel. Then she charged me for 2 nights because I left...

THE MOST UNHELPFUL HOTEL

Oscar Won 30/07/2014 08:49

On arriving at the hotel we were redirected to another building which was very third and dated on first sight.We also had to cross the main road , taking our life in our hands as we did so.The bedroom was very small and basic. The bathroom was nice and had been modernised to a good standard.We had a balcony that didn't get any sunshine at all.We asked to change rooms and were told it would be an extra 80 euros a night ,we agreed to this then we were told we have 1 night in the more expensive room and wed have to return to the smaller room for the duration of our stay. Needless to say we declined this offer The staff, where do i start?they were the most unhelpful people we had ever come across. They made us feel like an inconvenience. The older staff members were rude and unhelpful.When we inquired about a bus to the airport we were told
"no".Just "no" nothing else. Which was not the case at all because when we found the bus stop a few feet up the road there was a direct bus to the airport.The breakfast was excellent with a hot and cold buffet and a nice selection of cakes and breads tea coffee cappuccinos We did notice at our time of stay we were the only english speaking people in the homeland possibly the youngest (late 30s). We did not feel welcome,respected or happy at this hotel and i would put that down to the
older staff members . We tried to have as little interaction with them as possible due to there hostile manner. I would not recommend this hotel.

Boot Camp at the Beach

Jgawthon 08/06/2012 22:18

We tried to book ourselves a double room in this hotel online, a month before travelling to Italy. The website was not user-friendly, and we should have taken this as a sign of things to come. There was no way to pay online, and when we phoned the hotel they were unable to process our credit card number—even though they were successful with the same card at our actual check-in later. They also asked that we fax or mail them copies of our ‘documents’ (passports), which we refused to do, saying this had never before been asked of us when booking a hotel room abroad. We would give them that information when we arrived, as had been the practice for us countless of times before, at other European hotels.

We arrived on a Saturday, for a five-night stay. There were two women at the Reception Desk, one of whom appeared to be the Manager. We were given a double room, on the second floor, facing the busy and noisy Viale Columbo, instead of one facing the ocean. When we enquired about better options, the Manager reminded us, with an air approaching smugness, that this was the room we had 'contracted' in our e-mail, and we were referred to the agreed-on price. Then she informed us that the ocean-facing rooms were “superior” rooms and would carry a 30-euro per night surcharge. When we pointed out that we had not been told of these options when we had sent our enquiry by e-mail, we were told that, well, 'now we knew the choices' - we could pay the extra 30 Euro, if we so wished, or not.

From our perspective, we had booked a full five nights in this hotel and all indications were that it was nowhere near capacity, and wouldn’t be until the next weekend. Based on this, a savvy manager would have taken the initiative to “upgrade” us to the ocean side or at least move us to a higher floor, on the Viale Columbo side of the hotel, so that we were not seemingly in the traffic . True, they didn’t have to do any of this, but such a gesture would have made a big difference to us. Instead, we just settled into our room, which was clean and well-appointed.

Over our stay, we discovered things which spoke volumes to us about the attitude of hotel Management. This did not apply to most staff, who were efficient and friendly enough (except for the taciturn Attendant at the included breakfast each morning).

First, our room. There was a long safety-alarm rope in the shower stall—a standard feature in most shower stalls in Europe. However, instead of hanging down to within easy reach, it was wound up tight and hung neatly up near the ceiling, close to where it emerged from the wall (see photo).This rendered it useless.

Second, the room contained no binder with the expected printed information on hotel services, amenities and local attractions. When we enquired about this, we were stunned to learn that, if we had any questions, the hotel staff would simply tell us whatever we needed to know. Any queries, no matter how small, had to go through them. ("Is there a charge for local calls from our room?" "Yes." --Just a terse answer, with no volunteering of other potentially helpful information, e.g. how much it would actually cost; for that, we would have had to pose another question, of course! A textbook example of how information is power.)

Third, the room telephone had two small keys attached to its cord (see photo). Upon inspection, we discovered that these keys fitted two holes on the underside of the phone. When we asked innocently about this curiosity, we were told that this was none of the guests’ concern.

This obsessive micromanaging also included parking. The good news: there is free guest parking across the street, in a small, gated area. The bad news: one has to alert the person at the Reception Desk--if there is someone there--that one intends to leave. The staff person then points a handheld remote control towards the gate to open it. Meanwhile, there is a keypad over on the gate mechanism itself, which guests could use to open the gate themselves—if only they were vouchsafed the access code. The more problematic aspect of this rigmarole is the guest’s return to the hotel; someone has to get out of the car on the busy street, make their way in to the Reception Desk and ask staff to open the gate. If the driver is alone, it is more of a problem, obviously. Try jaywalking across the Viale Columbo and you will discover the battle of nerves that typifies the pedestrian-driver culture in Italy.

Finally, my wife decided one early morning to take a walk along the passeggiata, the promenade which runs parallel to the beach. When she descended to the lobby, she was astonished to find that the hotel’s main doors--modern sliding glass doors--were locked, and there was no way to open them. There was an Emergency Exit but it would only lead to an enclosure which would then require scaling a fence to get to the street. There were no staff behind the Front Desk, or indeed anywhere to be found. When my wife returned to our room and reported this, we tried using the phone to contact someone—anyone on staff. Of course, we had to guess what number to call for the Front Desk, but 9 seemed to be a number we remembered from other hotels. Twice, someone answered, fumbled with the phone, and then promptly hung up. I went downstairs myself but all was silent and empty, so I returned upstairs. My wife decided to try again downstairs. This time, she found a staff member, still in her nightgown, unlocking the doors.

This disconcerting event was repeated a couple of days later, even though my wife waited until after 6 a.m., thinking that perhaps someone might be up and responsible by that time in the morning. Again, there was no way out -- at least none that would be obvious to a guest -- and my wife waited, frustrated and feeling like a prisoner, until the same staff member arrived, still in her robe. The worker apologized and showed my wife what seemed to be an interior door (in an area opposite the lobby and reception) that we could use to exit the hotel in the future, if there was no staff present. It would have been helpful to have had this information in an Information Binder in our room. More importantly, this situation could have been a truly significant problem if there had been a fire or a guest’s medical emergency. The idea of being locked into one’s hotel makes no sense.

All in all, we got the distinct impression that Management had some control issues in this hotel, and was running it like a boot camp, with guests kept on a need-to-know basis. We are seasoned travelers and have been to Italy four times, having seen it from one end to the other, including Sardinia and Sicily. We have never found a hotel where we have been treated with such supercilious, thinly-veiled contempt. In our travels, we have always found that, even if a hotel’s physical layout, rooms and amenities are in good order—and this hotel was more than adequate on that score-- it remains for Management to create and maintain a climate conducive to a feeling of being welcome , respected and taken care of. If that’s what you are looking for in Lido di Camaiore, then our suggestion is to look beyond—far beyond--this hotel.

STAY AWAY FROM THESE CON ARTISTS!

ralphmalphshafranon 04/09/2011 17:24

This hotel tried to rip us off. The staff at this hotel must be the WORST and RUDEST staff I have EVER met!
We arrived to check in to the Quadruple room that we had booked and were told that it was not available! Instead, we were told we could either:
a) Take two double rooms and pay an extra €60 per room per night!
b) Leave and forfeit the €220 per night we had already agreed to pay!
I pointed out that this was unfair, as we clearly had a booking for a Quadruple room (it is was printed on my copy and theirs!) and therefore should not be made to pay any more, given that it was their mistake. The manageress became hostile, rude, dismissive, snotty and aggressive in her response to that. She offered no valid reason why the room we had pre-booked was not available (indeed, she admitted she had already sold it, despite us getting there before check in opened!!) and refused to accept that the booking contract was valid.
I paid the extra money (I had little choice as I had 3 others with me!), but contacted Booking.com as soon as I got access to their wi-fi (which was only available at reception). Booking.com tried to talk to her and she suddenly decided she would put an act on, pretending she couldn't speak English! She then cut my wi-fi off (!) and waived me away.
When I got home, Booking.com said they would refund the money as they agreed that the hotel had acted totally inappropriately. For that, I am very grateful.
As for the hotel, I wish I could warn you off them more strongly!

Good hotel poor management

wpr5on 02/09/2011 13:43

This could be an excellent hotel, it is however let down by the standard of management, or that should perhaps be the management of standards.
On arrival parking is difficult until you've checked in and been directed to the car parking (8 euros per night) across the road. There is a good sized lift to access the rooms adjacent to the reception desk and the hotel restaurant is also here. Breakfast, which was the only meal we took was excellent, a good range of food was provided, well presented although sometimes a little crowded.
The bedroom was large, well decorated and clean, but the same could not be said of the bathroom which on arrival was dirty. It took two requests to reception to get this remedied. The staircase also was dirty, and as this was used by most guests at one time or another, should be on the list of areas to be cleaned regularly but obviously wasn't.
The highlight (no pun intended) of the hotel is the rooftop swimming pool and sun terrace which had stunning views over the hills to the front and the beach to the rear. This in fact was a much better option than the expense of renting chairs and umbrellas on the beach.