There are so many good points to this hotel that I was tempted to give it 5*. It is a truly beautiful hotel and the staff are wonderful always going that extra mile to try and help. The ambience is fabulous, even the cheapest rooms are huge and comfortable with a large balcony and lovely views. The breakfasts are excellent with a really wide choice of food, which even on their busiest days was being constantly replenished. Every single waiter and waitress are busy making sure everything is perfect for you. The pool staff go out of their way to make sure you are comfortable and in the shade or full sun, whichever is your preference. The porter/concierge staff provided a similar service. The bar was welcoming. We had the seafood Royal buffet on the Sunday night and it was absolutely excellent. So why not 5*? It may seem a bit churlish - but this is a 5* hotel and it just didn't quite come up to the mark. The things I'm going to mention are admittedly small, but were important to us. I don't think I have ever stayed in a hotel of this quality where the bottles of water are not topped up every day. On the first day there are some small bottles in the fridge and one large on on the table. I asked at reception whether these were meant to be replenished and was told if I wanted more they had to be ordered and paid for. In fact, over the 10 days we were there the large bottle was replaced about 4 times, so a very contradictory message. Another small, but very irritating thing was that in the shower there is only a small soap dish at shoulder height, which meant constantly bending down to put down the shower gel or shampoo with water getting in the eyes each time etc. A shelf would have made life much easier. Finally, the pool was really cold, so much so, I wouldn't go in. The weather wasn't particularly hot or sunny, so it would have taken a long time to warm up and dry off. I asked what the temperature of the water was, given that everyone was saying that there had just had a heatwave and the pool is in full sun all day. It was obviously being cooled down as I was told it was kept at c26-28 degrees, which isn't particularly pleasant for a leisurely swim. Everyone going in was saying how cold it was and there were very few people in the water. The other aspects which did not quite meet the mark for us, have nothing to do with my rating, as they were not in hotel's power to do anything about them and were very personal. The hotel is in the middle of nowhere - or at least anywhere walkable. There are no cafes, bars or restaurants within an easy walk, so we had to drive or Uber everywhere. There are, however, many wonderful restaurants a short taxi ride or drive away. Many people chose the hotel because they didn't want to move from the. poolside - but we prefer to be able to explore. With the weather decidedly iffy, we hired a car so we could see more of the area. As I said, my review was so close to full marks - but just not quite.
번역