Grotta Palazzese Beach Hotel

Very rarely do you come across a hotel that is so hell bent on refusing to provide a single bit of service whatsoever. Well this hotel takes the award for this. What ordinary hotels anywhere else in the world would do, this one will not. They are so rude and obnoxious that can drive what begins as a simple, relatively pleasant conversation into a loud argumentative refusal to offer any kind of service whatso ever. There is a reason that every other hotel in the area is sold out, yet this one still has rooms... Don't say you weren't warned. There are SO many options in the area... yes this place is in the media for its famous restaurant, there is not a single bit of 5 star service present. They really should take a look at who their front of house staff are and question if they are the right face of the company. I wont ever be booking here again! It cost me EUR550 to book a room just to get through the gate as was refused entry to even view a room! There must be a reason for this... maybe when people view it they don't want to stay???

This hotel property and private beach are gorgeous. The staff was also lovely. However, this is FAR from a 5-star hotel. The place had 2-4 couples there for our entire 3-night stay. However, they put us in rooms right next to each other. And, our deluxe w-patio room overlooked the parking lot when there were many empty rooms with patios on the beach side. And, our room was smaller than most standard hotel rooms. There was no luggage rack or room to sit other than the bed. The breakfast was included and it was delicious. However, that is really the only amenity offered. I was shocked to learn that if you wanted to use the private beach as a guest, you had to pay 200E more than the already high price of the room. This is not how you treat 5-star guests. If you must, add 50E a night to the rooms and let the guests use the only amenity you have. There’s no bar, no lounge to socialize with other guests, no spa, no pool and literally nothing else offered. As gorgeous and expansive as the property is, there could be a lot more to offer. The dinner menu was brief and expensive. There was no welcome drink or happy hour/cocktail hour offered for guests. There are a million small ways to make this a true 5-star hotel and it stopped short. They did provide us a shuttle to the cave restaurant on their other property which was great and that experience was 5-star all the way (which we paid for). We planned our entire Italy holiday week around this as the ending hotel over my husband’s big birthday and we left disappointed for the $. :(

Stunning hotel. We visited for my 55th birthday. The room was clean and beautifully decorated. The view - wow!!! It took our breath away. The staff could not have been more helpful or friendly. The area surrounding the hotel is well worth a visit as well. Lots of fun shops, quaint streets and yummy bistros.

Check in was slow and manual and overall service slow. Also, the hotel beach area was covered in seaweed and we could not swim

First night room got completely flooded with rain water. Ac never worked dispute staff came to fix it. The whole room smell like drain water (poop). I told the staff 3 times. They did nothing. Extremely expensive for their service and accommodations. Will not recommend or stay again

The service was slow and not good. The hotel shares the private beach with a club that plays music all day. Nothing private here.