Sant Alphio Garden Hotel & SPA

As part of a small group, we stayed at this hotel. We were given the worst rooms at the back of the hotel which were overlooked by the path to the beach and in desperate need of refurbishment. No curtains, only nets and a shutter that noisily pulled up and down. We are seasoned travellers, but THE BEDS IN THIS PLACE WERE THE HARDEST AND MOST UNCOMFORTABLE WE HAVE EVER EXPERIENCED. I stripped off the bottom sheet and covered the matress with the douvet after the first night, which helped a little, but my partner and I both had aching backs after three nights on these beds. The shower room was miniscule and there was mould round the bottom of the shower and the door was broken. The waiters were rude. The bar staff were bad tempered and curt. The drinks at dinner were overpriced as we were the drinks at the bar.

Our group of 24 arrived after a long journey from the Amalfi coast. Although the check in staff could see I was using two sticks and struggling to walk, they allocated me room 509, some considerable way from the reception, bar and restaurant. I could not open the door to my room, and neither could three of my neighbours, so I had to walk back to reception. I asked if I could have a room which wasn’t so far away but was told no. One of the staff managed to open my door and said next time I couldn’t unlock it, call reception. How I could do so was not explained, as the telephone was inside the room. I said that getting up the many stairs to reception would prove difficult and she told me to go through the garden next time. This was unhelpful- especially as we had torrential rain the following day. She said I should pack my case and see her the following morning, when she would try to get my room changed. This didn’t happen, as her colleague at reception the following morning told me she had been wrong and he knew the room availability situation better than her. No room was free. He also asked why he wasn’t told of my disability (and his manner could have been friendlier). But I usually manage in other hotels, and had not anticipated either a sudden bout of sciatica or a journey to my room involving two flights of stairs and such a trek. Room 509 has no view and is below the level of a path which runs past the window. People stopped and looked into the room, so I had to lower the shutters. The noise at night was awful: shouting outside, toilets flushing, snoring from another room. The shower was not clean. They offered me a change of room for my final night but by then I did not trust them to deliver and couldn’t face the upheaval. The food was good and restaurant staff efficient, but the barman didn’t seem to notice women waiting to be served. The hotel has some lovely features, and I’m sure my experience was not typical, but for me it was a disappointing end to a wonderful holiday and a little more empathy from the reception staff would have been welcomed.