Hotel Riva del Sole

The breakfast was great, as were the staff down who served us and the view from our room was lovely. The maids who cleaned our room were lovely - always friendly and pleasant. Although very nervous when the manager was around, the staff on reception were lovely and much friendlier when he wasn't there.

The welcome on our arrival was luke warm at best. There was a very sour faced old lady stood next to the reception who looked us all up and down unpleasantly and seemed to make the reception staff nervous, as did the Manager with grey hair and glasses (who was also unfriendly and high handed, refusing to reply in english to my questions which was very disconcerting). When we were shown to our room, the patio door didn't work properly, so for the 8 nights we were there, we could only open one side of these doors and despite this being a family room for 3, there were only two chairs on the balcony and it was a squeeze on there for all three of us to sit out. For a cost of nearly £2000, we felt really short changed. There were unwelcoming signs in the room stating that smoking was prohibited (although this was displayed in an ashtray ...); that no food or drink from outside could be consumed in the hotel room (although the mini fridge was poorly stocked with only one type of each drink and with the prices at least double that of the shop opposite). This is not the normal policy for family friendly hotels. Having normally stayed in 4* hotels for our trips, this felt like a 3* hotel that charged 4* prices and was living on past glories from the 1960s/70s - it needs to decide whether to refurb and continue to charge 4* prices or reduce their prices, policies and attitudes required to make it a welcoming choice for international visitors.

Location

Old Fashioned, air conditioning barely worked, hot water fluctuated, no coffee.tea facilities in room, rule about not allowing outside food or beverage in room, charge for beach towel use, insisted on leaving room key at front desk.

Location and most staff were excellent, especially the manager. Breakfast was fantastic. Room very clean.

No pool. Interior of hotel very old fashioned. Male staff on reception desk not particularly friendly or helpful. Air conditioning was very poor.