Hotel Marinella

I went with a friend, first holiday in Italy, the hotel is an hour transfer from the airport so we booked it through the hotel, excellent service, comfy Mercedes so no complaints. The hotel is spotlessly clean and the staff are lovely, big thanks to Theadora on reception, an absolute star. The hairdryer was faulty, it was replaced, again thank you Theadora, however, I would recommend taking your own hairdryer as I lost the will to live trying to use the hotel one. The hotel is situated on the hillside with stunning views, but it's a steep road down to the beach and the hotel charges for the use of the sun beds provided there, they also charge for the little road train to bring you back up the hill from the beach, so we stayed around the pool area which we had to ourselves most days. We were the only English people there, the other guests were German, this seems to be the norm for the hotel as the dinner menu was in German. The food at dinner was ok, the ships bell is rung at 19.30 and everyone queues to get salad and whatever else is on the menu for the starters, as there were no labels on any of the dishes we didn't know what a lot of things were, but we tried everything, it's definitely catering for German tourists, there was also a pasta dish served at tables and usually a choice of meat or fish, everyone gets the same dessert, we didn't starve but I wouldn't say it was great. Because of the remoteness of the hotel there's no bars or restaurants or a shop, it's quite a decent walk up the hill to the bus stop and the train station and the hotel will arrange taxis for you. We had a lovely meal at a restaurant about a half mile walk away up the hill, but apart from that you're stuck with eating in the hotel. The beds were firm in the extreme, but the room was spacious with a balcony and very clean, there's no lift and lots of steps outside so it's definitely not suitable for anyone with mobility issues. We had a relaxing week which is what we wanted but it would have been better if there had been a bit more around the hotel so you had a choice for eating and drinking. If you're after a lively holiday this is definitely not the place to go, if you're after peace and quiet and like walking up and down hills it's perfect.