I would like to provide a detailed review of my contacts with the owner and our entire weekend at the establishment in order to spare future guests some disappointments.
First of all, a brief retrospective. In December 2021, we celebrated my husband's 60th birthday in the company of about thirty people, family and friends. Lily, the owner, had been fussy about certain details that I had attributed to the stress of the multiple government recommendations for COVID.
In February 2026, I contacted her again, this time to explain that I was looking for a place to spend the entire weekend for our 40th wedding anniversary on the last weekend of August. She sent me proposals by email and we set an appointment for March to finalize the project. I explained to her that we wanted to hold a vow renewal ceremony on Saturday around 11 a.m., followed by an aperitif and meal for 20 to 26 people, access to the pool in the afternoon, then do it all again in the evening with music and dancing organized by our son for a little less than 20 guests. Book a few double and triple rooms and have a more intimate meal again on Sunday for 12 people. We added to all of this soft refreshments for the 2 afternoons + the $10 corkage fee per bottle of champagne that we brought. She said yes to all our requests and we paid a 1st deposit.
In May, I contacted her by email to inform her of 2 important things: a change in the number of rooms and nights, and a swap of the 2 lunches (intimate meal on Saturday and ceremony on Sunday); I asked her if this would be a problem in case of another scheduled event. And from that point on, the exchanges became complicated. First, she told me that I had to redo a summary because I was changing everything. I replied that I was just swapping the Sunday lunch to Saturday and vice versa. Then that pool access costs €12 or €15 (I'm not sure between the 2 amounts) except for people staying at the hotel and that we have to say who will go swimming or not. It's complicated to know that months in advance and who will be likely to swim or not. We indicated that we did not agree, as the full weekend was quite expensive. In short, she ended up accepting by granting us this favor!
On 07/30, we came to celebrate my birthday with 7 people. A nice bill on top of that. We paid her a 2nd deposit, which represented more than 50% of the bill. We finalized everything we wanted to do ourselves. Setting up lights, the sound system for dancing on Saturday night, the table layout for the 3 meals; I gave her our guests' menu choices as well as the final count (12 for Saturday lunch, 18 for Saturday dinner, 20 for Sunday lunch) and 4 rooms.
And that's when the petty arguments began:
- the music must stop by midnight at the latest; to be able to set the table for the next day, can't you leave the room at 11:30 PM so the servers have time to clear and reset? Because you understand, I pay my servers until midnight.
- (I asked, the small terrace we chose in March will be too narrow for 20 people, I just measured) oh yes, it's more for 15 people (but you knew we would be 20 or more?) yes, but you were the ones who chose this location and it's better if you do everything inside because with the heatwave you will be too hot (ok)
- you want to hold your ceremony at 11:00 AM, we won't have had time to set the table in your room, make an effort because you are asking a lot of me (ok, we will do it at 11:30 AM)
- you chose a soft drink option for the adults for the 2 afternoons but you forgot the children, you need to add €56 (no thanks, only 1 child drinks something other than water)
- on 07/30 and on the very day of our weekend, she told me: you are asking me if you can access your rooms at 11:00 AM and leave 2 of them at 4:00 PM, not possible, my hotel is full (strange, both times I went on your website, I tried to book 8 rooms from Friday to Monday and strangely it's possible, so your hotel is not full, so we can have rooms where no one slept on Friday and where no one will sleep on Sunday, right?) All right, but you are asking a lot of me.
- You know how many people are going to swim because my other clients pay to access it (very few will swim, don't worry, plus there are 8 of us adults sleeping at your establishment and pool access is therefore authorized) "in the end, on Saturday afternoon 1 person swam, on Sunday morning, 4, and in the afternoon the same"
- You can hold your ceremony downstairs near the pool, you will see it is prettier (No thanks, we are doing everything in the same place, it is more practical for us) Are you sure? It is prettier all the same, you have the arch with flowers and that way we can set up your table during that time (well, why not) it will be €250 more because you are monopolizing 2 areas and making us lose another potential event (well no thanks, we are staying in the same room)
Finally, on the day of the setup, she came several times to check and remind us not to disturb the other guests; she gave us 4 quadruple rooms with 2 large beds instead of 2 double rooms and 2 triple rooms + baby bed, which meant that the 2 two-year-old children slept very poorly, and their parents too, because they were not used to sleeping in a large bed with their older sibling.
But apart from these stressful little inconveniences, it was above all the most important thing that was not up to par.
The rooms were very, very dusty on the nightstand and the floor; I dropped some medicine when I was lying down that I had to pick up, and I saw under the beds! I think it is never vacuumed! Unbelievable. My 2 sons' rooms, moldy bathroom, and for the 4 rooms, intense dust as well.
The meals! The Sunday fish was inedible, dry, tasteless, and this was unanimous. The duck breast was overcooked, the side dishes were bland and tasteless; ultimately, our guests did not know what they were eating.
On Saturday for lunch, we were 8 adults and 4 children. We had negotiated a €50 menu for the adults, including wine and coffee, and we had said that we would pay for the appetizers separately. For the appetizer, 6 guests had a glass of wine, and at the table, we ordered wine. My husband paid the bill, which I found very high. I checked and saw that they were charging us for the wine. The server told me that the wine was not included. I brought out our email exchanges to prove the opposite to him, so he called the owner. She came and told me: there was only one glass of wine included per person, the server must have told you. (Well no, he didn't say anything, so remove the 6 aperitif glasses from the bill and deduct the value of the other 2 glasses from the total amount) Oh no, the wine was taken as an aperitif and you were supposed to pay for the aperitif (???) Well, simpler, I'll give you back the $5/person that you paid for the wine, here is your $40
On Sunday, they provide us with champagne, punch, and some appetizer crackers. We drink and I don't see anything else coming. I am going to complain; they had forgotten to give us the verrines included in the price! They arrived too late.
Establishment's restrooms with a lack of paper towels to dry hands and a trash can that was overflowing all weekend
In short, from this weekend I will remember the joy of having our family and friends and a wonderful speech from our son, but we will never set foot in the Perla Riviera again; $160 for a double room without breakfast and $210 for a triple for these services is completely outrageous. Same for the meals at $65 and $85/person that were not good. You would be better off reducing the quantity and improving the quality; even your desserts are not great, barely average.
