Hotel Colonna Resort

This hotel had the best value for money from evening I was looking for on the area, but I was still unsure whether to book it or not as I saw some other reviews that I did not like... I am so glad I booked this hotel in the end. Everything was great and I really recommend it :-)

Very nice, comfortable and quiet place for relax. Area of the resort is very large, so instead hotel is full you have a lot of privacy. Your time you can spend near the salty swimming pools or on the nice beach or in wellness spa center. Food is very good and the service at all also.

All the positives first.....Wow! Indisputable 5 stars views, scenery, crystal clear sea waters and 7 salt water swimming pools (1 is a rather cool jacuzzi so do t expect to be able to swim in it...sit and enjoy the bubbles cuddles and views but don???t expect heat or swimming and you won???t be disappointed with it.👍😉🤣). This place is seriously a swimmers paradise. You cannot go wrong here is you love swimming. We really enjoyed the snorkelling too. On a sunny day when it???s not too windy and wavy the visibility is excellent 10 meters at least...there were lots of lovely fish to see from parrot 🐟 🐠 fish, minnows and cat fish to swordfish, starfish and jelly fish...little pink guys you want to steer clear of if you see as they sting but we only saw 4 during our 10 day stay. It???s such a large resort that you never feel crowded, there???s always plenty of towels deckchairs umbrellas etc so never a dash for the best spots which is nice. We loved the wooden pontoon which curves out to sea hugging the sparkly rocks because of the access into the sea via two stepladders and the views, oh gosh, you never get bored of the views with the sea the mountains and variety of boats out at sea from sailing, yachts, katarmarans to cruise liners, kayaks and paddle boards there is always something or someone to watch and/or see. As you spend most of the time outside weather permitting, it???s only fair to start with the highlights and these are the hotels best feature...location, scenery, pools and beach. Next best feature? The staff. They were genuinely lovely but seemed a little in fear if we are honest. I think they must get some pretty bad critisism, difficult requests and deal with some pretty arrogant rich money talks type of clientele because whenever we approached them to ask something, they seemed to take a breath and brace themselves but we are the sort of customer who love people and like to make a connection so once they realised we weren???t complaining or had unrealistic expectations, they relaxed and were funny, helpful, professional, polite, courteous and even went above and beyond the call of duty. Our chambermaid service was particularly excellent in that the rooms were clean tidy and fresh with everything topped up and things replaced when needed with a night time call around 8-9pm as well to check things were ok and if you needed anything like fresh towels...sweets and chocolate each night too! Reception staff were terrific and organised a kettle with tea milk and sugar in our room as we kind of expected that for a 5 star place but maybe Italy works differently to the UK as these facilities were not automatically provided. The shower room you book for half an hour before leaving if your flight is late but you have to check out of your room, is spacious clean with all you need a great arrangement and well worth asking for rather than paying an additional and unnecessary 80 euros to keep your room for a late check out...you can go out for a meal instead! It was 70 euros by taxi back to the airport but we caught the sunrise private coach to the hotel for 7euros arriving. Negatives now and there were a few but please do not get the impression these spoilt our stay because they really didn???t. A few small changes and attention to detail could really very easily make this place even more 5 star but yes, if we are honest, some of the criticism on trip advisor that we read before booking, are true but harshly out and overstated in places. If you are the sort of people who make the best of it and look on the bright side of things and have a constructively critical problem solving kind of attitude about you, take the risk, read on and still visit this place because it???s stunning and so worth it.....don???t be put off by what we are about to share because in the big scheme of things they really don???t matter and only tarnished apour enjoyement marginally.....knowing now what we didn???t then, we???d still have gone 85% over the moon with this relaxing and restful holiday this is the 15% that niggled us and would have made it 100% fantastic if addressed. Food....We stayed on a bed and breakfast arrangement and we have to say that it is not a 5 star breakfast sadly. Only 3 choices of cereal, no chef to do your eggs as you like them or make omelettes. No beans or mushrooms or variety in terms of pastries provided or fresh fruit salad, only bowls of whole fruit or tinned fruit available and this was limited to prunes, pineapple, apricots and pears. The toasters were annoyingly squeaky and didn???t toast the bread properly. The boiled eggs were over cooked and most fried eggs were undercooked and not as fresh as they could have been. The one day we had lunch we decided to order from the pool bar because the quality of buffet lunch provided was not worth the extortionate price and our lasagne came out like warm and needed to be reheated and the pizza was no more than a piece of little bread with a little cheese n tomato on top. So we ended up taking the shuttle bus to a supermarket and stocking our fridge with bits n bobs we wanted to eat but we were so disappointed not to experience fresh pizza and pasta Italian style.😢You can eat out but it???s expensive and the last shuttle from the hotel is at 6pm meaning you not only pay for you meal but a taxi home too...it all adds up...if money is no object, not a problem but if you are on a budget, seriously hire a car, go to the supermarket or drive further out where it???s cheaper. The strict evening meal dress code excludes some people from eating at the hotel for dinner...no sandals allowed....you have been warned! The Spa was small and in a poor location next to the gym so if people were running or doing weights, well it was noisy not relaxing and off putting as you could see each other!😉🤣Bizarre arrangement and bad planning on the architects part. We topped our water bottles up in the gym because at 6 euros per bottle of water we were not using the ones in the mini bar. Water of course should be free or at least seem like it???s free and covered in the cost of your accommodation especially in such a hot country where you can???t drink the tap water! Smoking.....we hate smoke and being near smokers. Be warned. There are no designated no smoking areas if you want to escape the smoke. Fortunately we moved each time smokers set up camp near us and there were about 1 in every 10 who smoked so you could get away from it but why oh why don???t they designate an area for smokers so that those of us who don???t want to passively smoke can breathe the lovely fresh sea air and not have it polluted by those who think (wrongly) when they light up, it doesn???t affect anyone else!? Only indoors is no smoking in this establishment but we did recommend a 🚭 no smoking area be set up on the beach and by the pools so maybe next year..... Anyway, we hope that???s helpful. Have a fab holiday if you do decide to go and feel free to ask any questions...if we know the answers we will happily try to answer!👍😊