Forte Village Resort - Bouganville

I have very mixed feelings about Forte Village. The positives Beautiful grounds Pools are nice with some really deep ones which the kids loved Family bungalows are comfortable Entertainment is the best we have seen at any resort it’s very professional. Kids club and Nursery are great facilities with lovely staff and included in the stay Lots of academies - literally everything from chess to fencing to rugby to magic. So much choice. Beach was spotless and the water was lovely. Early evening football for anyone to join was a great addition Food was good quality in the buffet The manager Claudia bent over backwards to try and make our stay as positive as possible. We ate at the Belvedere restaurant was exceptional. Truly 5* with great staff I needed an emergency dentist appointment and the staff organised it for me and it was excellent. The men driving the golf buggies round were very sweet! They would always stop to give our toddler a lift. We had some issues with our bill at the end as we had to leave a restaurant due to the time taken to make our food and this was removed. We were also charged for the mini bar which we didn’t use (apart from the m&m’s) and this was refunded. Again thanks to Claudia trying her best to make sure our stay was great. ! But….. You will pay for everything once you get there and it’s very expensive. You can get the 5* experience if you are willing to spend. You get some complimentary water in your room. No welcome drinks it feels like everything nice comes at an extra cost. Which compared to other 5* hotels felt a bit grabby. Most of the restaurants are 95€ a head excluding drinks and they are likely worth it if the Belvedere was anything to go by. However Not all have kid friendly menus. And it would be expensive to eat there multiple times. Bike hire is 15€ a day for a child’s bike Water is 5€ a bottle Soft drinks 6-7€ A Pilates reformer class 195€ for an hour 30mins swim academy session 89€ Mini bar pack of M&m’s 7€ Frozen yoghurt by the pool 12€ Bowling 20€ per person per game Some pools are for the more luxury hotels and their guests. Staff are pretty uninterested and often at the bar you would wait for them to even acknowledge you. One day the pool bar staff just carried on having a row and ignored all the people waiting There are other buffets which are nicer than which you can pay extra for. We were given an upgrade for our breakfast and evening meal and liked the Castello however we then had to pay for drinks which were included at the other restaurant (we only had water) which seemed bonkers! The list goes on…… So while a nice hotel and we did come prepared to purchase activities food and drink the markup is high and with a huge array of options make sure you come with your wallet and a couple of thousand euros to spend.

The place is great... as with all good hotels, the staff make it. To be honest, when you are paying what you pay, i thought the rooms were tired and a bit basic.... i got upgraded, which made it fine, but i was initially let down by the rooms. Having said that everything else was great... expensive but great. DONT go if you have to watch the pennies.. best fish and Pizza i have ever eaten ... unbelievable shows at night, and a tennis club that will be everything you could ever want

We had another wonderful stay at Forte. Family travelling - 2 adults and older teenager. This was our 9th trip. We had two bungalows - both spotless clean, comfy beds and everything needed. Bathrooms huge. Love the pool and spent most the time there, lovely food in several restaurants - we love Bellavista for lunch. Adult football in the evening fabulous and husband enjoyed that daily. Big shout out to the staff - overwhelmingly friendly and efficient this year. Really brilliant - and I mean all - cleaners, Gardners and hospitality - everyone was very cheery. Very good evening shows too in Plaza this year. We love Forte, feels familiar and relaxed. It’s a place we can really unwind. Yes there are always things to improve but the positives well outweigh any negative for us. We will return again ..it’s a boomerang resort for us for sure.

The good: The grounds are amazing and well kept. Plenty of activities. The room was clean. The rest: Check-in was very lengthy at a non-peak hour (we arrived at midnight) and the check-in staff seemed uninterested and unbothered. The room was quite dated, with a door that didn’t lock. Very basic room amenities - no robes, faulty lights, poor air conditioning in 35C heat. The hot items from the buffet breakfast were all cold. The fried eggs were like plastic pucks. Tables left uncleaned. Staff lacking and not giving enough attention. All pools appear as accessible in their official app, but only one was really available to us - the others were reserved for different rooms or were under maintenance (in peak summer). General upkeep of facilities was quite poor. All these comments were passed on to a manager who asked us herself about our experience - her reaction was that of immediate dismissal for everything we mentioned. Overall average at best, especially for the price. Would not recommend.

I visited Forte Village Resort as part of a business group. Overall, everything was fine but it was honestly overpriced though I won’t complain because I had a great time. I was supposed to leave the resort later in the day as I had a late flight so I politely asked the reception if it would be possible to check out a little later, as I had to wait the entire day to leave with the rest of the group. I was clearly refused with the excuse that they were fully booked and that nobody could stay even 30 minutes longer. That morning, I got sick, but still left the room as instructed at 11:00, waiting outside until 4:00 PM for my transfer to the airport while feeling really unwell. When I met the rest of the group, I discovered that every single person had been granted a late check-out time as requested—everyone except me! I felt sick, sad, disappointed and humiliated in front of the whole group as no one could understand why the hotel forced me out while allowing everyone else to stay. My previously good experience at the resort was completely ruined. I spent the rest of the day feeling terrible, especially as I had to take several connecting flights just to get home. My question is: why don’t you apply the same rules to the entire group, instead of treating me like this - kicking me out like I was disposable while showing zero regard for my well-being? This terrible experience overshadowed my entire stay and I will probably never return. There is simply no excuse for what happened.

We were excited for this holiday as it cost in the region of £12,000 for 7 days (2 adults and 3 kids) and have enjoyed other parts of Italy so really didn’t have any nerves regarding issues. Upon arrival we were a few hours early so had to wait for the room which I understand but we made our way to the kids pool next to reception, I have to say as a first impression it was horrendous, filth around the pool, generally looked as though it hadn’t been cleaned all summer. At this stage we were filled with dread as to what may be at the next hurdle. We were under the impression that we were getting a refurbed bungalow so was shocked to see a dated cramped room with an even more dated cramped adjoining room attached to the back that would potentially be used separately for a single person/couple. The rooms were attended to daily by great staff but I guess are under pressure to get the beds made etc so can’t really get it to the clean standard you’d expect at this price. I did go to reception to make the staff aware that the room wasn’t satisfactory and was told it would cost me £800 - £1000 per night to upgrade. Gianni the manager who was a pleasant man wasn’t able to help but I do understand he’s not the owner and is probably trying his best to accommodate everybody whilst managing budgets for staffing. We tried most places for food and we thoroughly enjoyed that side of it however the one exception was the evening buffet at Pinneta which honestly i’d struggle to give 1 out of 5, you weren’t even able to pick the food yourself it was awash with staff to hand out food that would be more fitting in a homeless shelter. The majority of the pool areas were never attended to in terms of cleanliness so always felt dirty and was always standing on something in the pool (not dangerous but annoying). By far the most annoying thing was the constant dodging buggy’s and bikes with small children in our party, it felt like I spent 7 days diving into bushes to avoid being run over. I can’t comprehend money being invested in entertainment staff in the breakfast room at 7:30am when this place needs people really keeping on top of its housekeeping. I don’t think anybody cares for a singer at 7:30am. To summarise this trip 1 - Staff are amazing throughout 2 - It really needs a thorough clean 3 - Bring your expectations down if you’ve been to Dubai/Maldives/Greece as this isn’t as close. 4 - Clean, Clean & Clean!!! 5 - Don’t expect paradise and you’ll do ok!