Antoperla Luxury Hotel and Spa

This is advertised as 5 star and pictures are great but at best, this is a 4 star property. We paid for a jetted tub/dip pool room and were disappointed that we were positioned on a main footway with no privacy for the tub and with the position of the room and buildings, we never got any sunlight which made the water in the pool freezing cold and unusable. I raised this with reception and asked for a change but they applied no effort and told me we could move rooms but at a cost of €100 per night (€800 for us!). I asked to speak to a manager and I'm still waiting...nobody ever came to discuss the matter and find any way of appeasing me. There was this general arrogance from the receptionist that "it is what it is, deal with it". Our room also lacked natural light and the window we did have was on footpath looking into the bar so it was very much a case of keeping shutters closed and lights on. See pic. Breakfast was OK, nothing special, lacked variety for a week, same basic selection. Water...! We were given 1 bottle on arrival and told that they won't supply any more but welcome to buy our own. We did that and then got a row at the pool on 3 or 4 occasions that we had water not purchased on property and due to "tax laws" we had to either hide the water in bags or drink at our room- see above point of not having a great space to enjoy refreshments. The bar was super expensive, €28 for a whisky and rum/apple juice. The physical hotel is beautiful and this place has so much potential but it feels like management are penny pinching and not training staff correctly. My top recommendations would be;

• provide a bottle of water each day to each room. This is standard 5 star practice and the cost to guest satisfaction returns would be significant
• lower bar costs, so prohibitive that it was rare to see people using the bar at all which meant staff were constantly just standing around doing nothing
• train staff to go around the pool and offer drinks, snacks etc. We literally sat by the pool for 7 days and were never asked once if we wanted anything. The money the hotel is leaving on the table is incredible! More reasonable priced drinks, plus staff trying to engage with customers is a recipe for lots of money for the hotel!
• train staff- more smiles, more engagement. It felt more like we were staying in a self catered apartment than 5 star hotel.

Would I stay again...not based on this experience however with improvements then yes.

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at Antoperla Hotel. The hotel is beautiful, very clean and excellently located very close to the beach and promenade with many restaurants. We were very happy with the staff that made us feel welcome and attended to all our needs. They are very friendly and helpful. Christina and Helena are both amazing! They also made our chihuahua Pippy feel special and spoilt him with treats. Dimitri did a lot with providing information and support. The breakfast was great! We will definitely recommend this hotel and their friendly team. Thank you for making our vacation so special!