Hotel Piccolo Paradiso

Three star hotel, but more like one or two stars. Bed pretty hard and uncomfortable, staff vary from friendly but mainly unfriendly, need to smile a lot more, food was the biggest let down. When thinking about tips for restaurant staff my family member suggested "buy them a book on how to cook Italian" .. yes half board and food was disappointing. First night chicken just had herbs as flavouring? Don't call that Italian but made for British palate?? On top of this it was dry and overcooked. Other meat dishes similar, or ok but not enough sauce, so I ended up choosing the vegetable option as my main in order to get a tastier meal. All pasta (starter) was not cooked al dente! It was way undercooked as if just shown to the boiling water, and that affected our enjoyment of the various ones each day sadly. The sauces for pasta were only 'ok' or less. The dessert was just chosen by hotel..no choice and most evenings a disappointment. Poor quality. Only the tiramisu evening was 'ok'. We had to eat once at a nearby restaurant to get lovely authentic pasta and meat dishes sadly. I have stayed at a 3 star hotel on Lake Garda which served fabulous italian food, so I was extremely disappointed to be in Italy and suffer this cuisine all week when I adore Italian food. The pool water was 'green' yet on the internet it was blue so made you worry about water quality. The pool was unheated and that is unacceptable in my opinion for a so called 3 star hotel. I got the impression everything was about cost saving in this hotel re food amount, food choice (breakfast had only 'one' type of cheese, no omelettes offered and only an option to boil your own egg re food quality. Also cost saving is the unheated pool. We luckily found a sheltered sea area along the beach esp for public swimming where the sea was warm enough and which saved our holiday experience. The staff were a mix of friendly and totally unsmiling no matter how often you met them! When we left we noticed they didn't make any attempt to say goodbye to their patrons at all . We tipped every area at the end, but I now wonder why we did. We loved the harbour area, and the atmosphere there but would never return to this hotel..would have to stay elsewhere if we return. Luckily we were on a walking/hiking holiday so we're able to concentrate on our group socialising and the activities outside daily. If I was in the hotel all day I would be even more disappointed as there is just no welcoming feeling. There was no bath mat provided.. sounds corny but important..I had to ask or would risk slipping on the tiles. it was not replenished which is weird. Had to ask each time at reception which was a nuisance. had a balcony that looked out front to harbour with parking area in front which was not noisy, even though I expected it, but instead could hear the person next door using loo as if they were in my room! Plus point: the hotel is very clean.

Just returned from a wonderful 2 week stay at this hotel. We stayed B & B only and throughly enjoyed the breakfasts and meals we chose to have at the hotel. All facilities were excellent. Pool man Emilio (?) - thanks for the Negronis - and restaurant/bar staff looked after us very well - thanks Pasquale & team. Some younger members perhaps lack experience/confidence with foreigners - or perhaps it's just us "foreigners" issue only. Thanks everone for all assistance with local facilities/boat trips. Area is wonderful - loved our extremely relaxing stay in Marina Lobra/Massa Lubrense. Bellissimo!

Restaurant staff rude. Fruit salad for dessert, told waiter I didn't want any and he asked if it was too healthy for me. Complained to front desk and they shrugged it off and said he was trying to 'lighten the situation'. As a bigger girl, NOT AMUSED!