A Customer-Service Failure That Ended Our Family Holiday Early
A Customer-Service Failure That Ended Our Family Holiday Early
I am writing this review to describe our experience as accurately and fairly as possible.
This review is not about restaurant opening hours. Hotels are free to decide when their restaurants close. This review is about how a simple customer-service enquiry escalated into police involvement and our family being required to end a prepaid holiday one day early.
We stayed at Falkensteiner Family Hotel Diadora on an All Inclusive package with our two young children. My wife had suffered an injury approximately two weeks before our holiday and was walking with a noticeable limp throughout our stay.
On 4 August 2026, at around 9:45 p.m., I went to reception after being told there was no food available anywhere in the hotel. I was not asking for complimentary food. I simply asked whether there was anywhere in the hotel where I could pay separately for food or room service.
At reception I spoke with Adam, who confirmed there was no food available anywhere in the hotel and suggested that I take a taxi to Zadar.
The problem was that Zadar is approximately 25–30 minutes away by car, and there are no restaurants or food options within walking distance of the hotel. As a father travelling with two young children and an injured wife at nearly 10:00 p.m., that was not a realistic solution. I was simply trying to find a way to buy food without leaving the resort.
Surprised, I asked:
“Who is the idiot who would make this decision?”
My criticism was directed at the hotel’s policy—not at Adam personally.
I asked to speak with the manager on duty but was told no manager was available until the following morning. I accepted a meeting for 10:00 a.m., believing the matter could then be discussed properly.
Feeling frustrated, I replied:
“So I should just go F myself?”
Adam smiled and answered:
“Yes.”
Even after that, I still asked him to check once more whether anything could be arranged.
Adam walked away without explaining what he was doing. He later returned and began helping another guest without updating me.
While speaking with my wife, she suggested asking whether outside food delivery was allowed. Because Adam had not updated me, I asked another employee, Álvaro, whether it was possible.
Adam interrupted and said:
“Sir, calm down. I spoke to my colleague and she will check.”
I replied:
“Isn’t that important information that you should have told me first?”
Adam then responded:
“Sir, are you crazy?”
This happened in front of Álvaro and other guests.
I was genuinely shocked.
A short time later, Una told me she had arranged something with the kitchen. I appreciated her effort. Unfortunately, no food was ever delivered that evening.
At that point the issue was no longer about food. It was about how a guest had been treated.
I again asked for the manager and was told:
“The manager will be here in two minutes.”
I waited.
No manager ever came.
Instead, security became involved and we were informed that the police had been called.
My wife, despite her injury, came downstairs to speak with the staff herself. We then returned to our room and started packing.
A few minutes later, two Croatian police officers came to our room together with the receptionist who had replaced Adam.
The officers were calm, respectful and highly professional throughout.
After listening to both sides, they explained that this was not a criminal matter but a customer-service dispute.
We explained that the hotel wanted our family to leave immediately even though it was almost midnight and we had already paid for our stay. The officers told us that, in those circumstances, the hotel did not have the right to require us to leave immediately.
The hotel also told the police that I had threatened to leave a negative review. The officers explained that writing an honest review describing a guest’s experience is entirely within a guest’s rights.
One of the officers then went downstairs to speak privately with the hotel staff. When he returned, he told us that the hotel was still demanding that we leave. However, because we were travelling with two young children and my wife was injured, the police said we could remain in the hotel until 10:00 a.m. the following morning.
Even while the police remained at the hotel until approximately 11:30 p.m., no manager ever came to speak with us.
The following morning, at approximately 8:15 a.m., the Residence Manager knocked on our door and told us we had to leave by 8:30 a.m. We explained that the police had told us we could remain until 10:00 a.m. She simply replied, “Ah, OK,” and left.
Later that morning, General Manager Pedjman Hamie met with us personally.
Mr. Hamie apologized for what had happened, told us that a receptionist calling a guest “crazy” was “not acceptable,” confirmed that he would investigate the incident, and agreed to refund the final night of our stay.
During our conversation, Mr. Hamie explained that he had been informed food had been prepared for me that evening. I explained that this was simply not what happened. Although Una had told me she had arranged something with the kitchen, no food was ever delivered.
My wife then said:
“If the police had not come, our family would have been outside the hotel in the middle of the night.”
She asked Mr. Hamie whether that decision had been his.
He immediately replied:
“No, no.”
I appreciated Mr. Hamie’s apology, his commitment to investigate the incident and the agreement to refund the final night. Those were the right steps.
Unfortunately, they came only after our holiday had already been disrupted.
My criticism is not the hotel’s dining policy. It is the way a straightforward customer enquiry escalated into a guest being called “crazy,” repeated requests for a manager with no manager ever attending, security involvement instead of customer service, police attendance over what the officers themselves described as a customer-service dispute, no food ever being delivered despite being told the kitchen would check, and our family, including two young children and my injured wife, being required to end our prepaid holiday one day early.
I sincerely hope Falkensteiner uses this incident as an opportunity to improve communication, management availability, staff training and conflict resolution. If those improvements are made, I will gladly update this review.
