🤑 RATE - Given the 170€ per night for a superior DUS room (standard ones were not available at the time of my "last minute" request) 👉without any reduction despite the single occupancy and with half-board effectively mandatory - under penalty of also giving up breakfast for a negligible price difference – it would have been appropriate to find in the room:
• breakfast set with kettle, herbal teas, tea; perhaps a small bottle of fresh water or some welcome fruit as a pure gesture of 👉kindness (negligible cost for the property);
• an adequate daily welcome kit instead of a daily bar of soap and sample;
• bath linens for two, consistent with the rate equivalent to that of a double room, or a bathrobe and/or slippers, since it is, among other things, a superior room.
👉If you charge 4* prices while being a 3* (if not even a boutique hotel as they present themselves on Instagram), the services must be up to par.
🛏️ ROOM - Spacious, clean (though I am a careful guest who doesn't even request a change of linens out of respect for the environment), fairly quiet, with a very comfortable bed and a firm mattress.
I appreciated the change of bed linens halfway through the stay (but not the waste of recyclable glasses, all returned) and the Sky channels on days of bad weather (when the signal came in....).
However, the furniture is of "basic" quality and sparse, lacking, for example, a luggage rack.
Probably the only element, besides the square footage, that distinguishes the “superior” from the “standard” is the small balcony with a pleasant mountain view, but it lacks a small table; presumably to prevent guests from using it to comfortably consume snacks and takeout meals.
Confirming this, the additional 🚫 against bringing any outside food into the room, under penalty of an extra charge.
🍽️ DINING
Breakfast: rigid schedule served from 8:15 – not very suitable for a mountain location – to 9:30.
With the exception of very fresh croissants, coffee, and packaged products, other dishes (e.g., basic eggs) are for an extra charge. Considering the room rate, it is also 👉quite tacky to additionally charge for water consumed during meals and even for a single barley coffee. And the indication that drinks were excluded was not noted in the booking confirmation.
Dinners: also in this case a rigid schedule, but high-level, homemade cuisine, excellent raw materials, tasty dishes, well-presented and very varied compared to the meager, high-calorie recipes of the Bergamo valleys. Compliments to the chef! 🙌
💆♀️ SPA - Not included in the price, offered at €79 for 4 hours or, worse, at €50 for 2 hours (treatments obviously excluded). 👉Same rate as those not staying at the hotel.
Considering the six-night stay, a gesture of 👉courtesy – for example, 4 hours of complimentary access during a day with unfavorable weather – would have been more than appropriate and appreciated.
For comparison: QC Terme San Pellegrino, full-day rate with aperitif, €76.
🏨 FACILITY AND MANAGEMENT - Central location, well-kept interiors and exteriors with very pleasant green spaces but unused and not made available to guests. You only dine inside.
A real shame, for example, the 🚫 against eating meals on the balcony or in the garden, under penalty of being charged for the meals even though they were already included in the rate: a rigid rule, not justified (it would have been a pure gesture of 👉courtesy toward a request made kindly by a client) and in contrast with the image of relaxation that the property aims to communicate.
Management's availability in correcting a booking error of mine in adding a night but with the “impossibility” 🚫 of canceling the last one. Result: arrival one day early, but the obligation to stay one extra night.
📩 STAFF AND COMMUNICATION
The informative emails before and during the stay were appreciated, albeit with sometimes admonishing tones 🚫🫡.
The same inflexible approach emerged from a couple of telephone conversations, handled with very little patience (Quote. “We have no incentive to accommodate a single guest” )
👉Among other things, with the assignment of a room for guests with disabilities (it matters little) without prior notification and with a confirmation link that referred, moreover, to a different room.
👉Non-transparent methods in the face of a payment request instead: 1. advance; 2. immediate; 3. non-refundable.
The restaurant service is professional - a course of study in the sector is evident - but 👉the staff's forced and abrupt manners definitely dampen the overall experience.
The relationship with the clientele is made of small gestures and verbal exchanges:
👉👉👉 at T’Ami I did not feel welcomed, but treated exclusively as a golden goose.
Furthermore, medium-term stays should be valued in some way compared to short ones.
A welcoming approach would have earned you a 4-star review.
PS: Ever stayed in our South? Highly suggested!
📍LOCATION - Selvino, although well-kept, is not a renowned destination and the Orobie Prealps are certainly not the Dolomites. It is a highly requested destination, albeit very poorly connected to Milan despite the proximity, only because it is suitable for the elderly and families with children/teenagers, as confirmed by the hotel's clientele even in the middle of August.
Precisely because the location offers services and a setup tailored exclusively to this target, the prices are disproportionate and unjustified.
