I stayed at this hotel (4 stars on paper, but definitely not in services and management) for 5 days (4 nights) together with my partner.
We had booked a triple room on Booking simply because it was the last room type left available at the time of booking.
From here began a succession of poor service, unfair business practices, and a total lack of respect for the customer.
1. The "shell game" with the rooms and the mockery regarding the price
Upon our arrival, we were given the keys (a magnetic card) and, once we entered the room, we realized that it was a standard double and not the triple room booked (and paid for).
No one at the reception had bothered to notify us of the change at the time of check-in.
We went down immediately to ask for explanations: the staff dismissed us by saying that, since there were two of us, they had modified the room by giving us a double and that *obviously* we would receive a price reduction on the rate.
The next day, the mockery.
The same staff, apologizing, stopped us at the entrance to inform us that – due to our booking made on Booking and the related commissions that the hotel would have had to pay, in addition to the fact that we had already checked in – it was no longer possible to change the room price.
Consequently, we had to pay the full amount for a triple room despite having stayed in a double.
The strong suspicion then arose on Saturday, when there was a large event with many guests and our triple room was presumably needed to accommodate three people (thus collecting the full rate twice, taking advantage of us).
Despite my immediate and repeated complaints, and the explicit request to speak with the Manager, I was completely ignored: no manager showed up, no apology, no partial refund, nor a discount or concession to remedy the financial damage they caused us.
Even at check-out, total silence reigned: no one bothered to ask us how our stay had gone.
2. Structure and rooms: the "bunker" effect and tissue-paper walls
The stay was mediocre, without praise and without infamy, but definitely below the minimum standards of a 4-star hotel regarding structural comfort:
Nonexistent soundproofing.
The walls literally felt like tissue paper.
We could even feel the vibrations of the phone in the room upstairs and every single breath or sound from the people in the adjacent rooms, including when they were using the bathroom.
Zero privacy.
Total isolation from the network:
The hotel Wi-Fi was terrible and barely worked at all.
As if that weren't enough, inside the facility there was no signal even for the cell phone data line (TIM and Iliad carriers); it felt like being in a bunker.
The only place where the phone connection worked well was the lobby or by the pool.
Construction work:
During our entire stay, there were workers building what looked like a bar near the pool (obviously unusable), with resulting visual and acoustic disturbance.
3. Dining and bar overpriced (with absurd rules)
Grotesque breakfast:
The food that was available was overall good, but the breakfast as a whole was only sufficient and not up to the standard of the category.
For example, I asked for a decaffeinated coffee and was told that they had run out (unacceptable for a 4-star hotel).
But the real touch of class was the policy on tables: while it is understood that breakfast food should be consumed on the spot and not taken away (a rule that is normal in itself), the hotel thought it best to place a card on every single table stating that if guests were seen taking any food item to their room or out of the breakfast room, they would be charged a full 10 dollars for every single item taken away.
An attitude that is, to say the least, police-like, rigid, and unpleasant, which makes the guest feel monitored rather than pampered.
The hotel bar:
It closes very early (at 11:00 PM) and charges crazy prices compared to the service offered. Paying 2 dollars for a chamomile tea where you are only provided with a cup of hot water and a tea bag, having to prepare it yourself, is pure price gouging.
4. Staff and professionalism below zero
The episode that hit rock bottom in terms of rudeness occurred when my partner had a drop in blood pressure.
I went down to the bar to ask for the courtesy of two packets of sugar, and while on one hand the barista was kind, on the other hand, an employee present (a certain Gabriele, if I am not mistaken) intervened, addressing me with the informal "tu" in a completely inappropriate way and making a sleazy and out-of-place joke to me: "*Then leave 100 euros in the room, for the favor!*". Faced with my immediate complaints about the fact that he could definitely have avoided such a joke at a moment of obvious difficulty, there was no reaction.
Professionalism and empathy are optional here.
In conclusion:
The Dioscuri Bay Palace proved to be a huge disappointment. They arbitrarily decided to change the room, despite the booking made, finally charging me the price for a more expensive room, without leaving me any freedom of choice; furthermore, only the employee at the reception had the decency to apologize, but I had no chance to speak with a manager, and moreover, they did not have the decency to propose at least some compensation.
Furthermore, if some were very courteous toward us, other employees proved to be lacking in terms of hospitality and manners.
If you are looking for a real 4-star hotel in San Leone, I highly recommend you look elsewhere.
