Falesia Hotel

Lots of plus and minus points! It took almost 90 mins to reach the hotel from the airport and after a long and hot journey I thought we would be given a cold flannel and cold drink....nothing. I expected more being a 4 star hotel. The staff were very welcoming and friendly and generally all the staff were pleasant. We had a fantastic maid that cleaned our bedroom beautifully. The bedroom was spacious, a huge bed with the softest pillows I have ever slept on. There was a fridge, kettle with teas/ coffees/milk etc. A small balcony with table and chairs and a clothes dryer. Lots of cupboard space in the bedroom. In this spacious cupboard was an easy to use safe, which was free, not like some hotels! The bathroom was fine with a lovely walk in shower , toiletries but no dressing gowns or magnifying mirror. We were on the first floor but to get anywhere you had to use a lift....no stairs. You paid a deposit for your pool towels but this money was returned at the end of the holiday. The towels could be changed as often as you liked without being charged. Which was an added bonus. Food. We had read on previous posts that the food wasn't very good and thought that surely there must be some picky eaters! Sad to say we didn't find the food very appetising and quite often, lukewarm, cold , bland and after 7 days we could have nicely returned home. The first time ever had we felt like that. Some of the waitresses would saunter by carrying one dirty dish passing our table with at least 2 courses worth of dishes lying there. The young lads were much faster! For a hot breakfast we would opt for an omelette freshly cooked, but it was spoilt by adding cold beans, tomatoes and plastic bacon.. One bonus was that you could make your own coffees and teas. Evening meals were not much better and I would opt for the salads, which were the same every night, and I would add hot meat cooked at the cooking station. I was a bit surprised at how casual the dress code was for evening meals. Most of the women wore smart dresses but the men often were wearing shorts, t shirts and flip flops. One of my big bug bears was the reserving of sunbeds, even though there is a sign to stop this. People must have been getting up very early to reserve their beds. To find a bed we would sunbathe in the beautiful gardens next to the fish ponds away from the swimming pool. Beware of the midges though! Make sure you take sting relief cream with you. Sadly after 5 days we joined in and put our towels out before we went in for breakfast. There is a lovely indoor swimming pool next to a small gym and spa facilities. It looks out to the well kept gardens, ponds etc. The outdoor pool was large and refreshing to swim in. There were no water-sports which I would have loved and no lifeguard. There were toilets nearby to use but like all the toilets in the hotel were small and you had to be very nimble to manoeuvre yourself around the toilet bowl to close the door! Some bad planning there! There were a couple of restaurants nearby and a supermarket where you could purchase water, milk and food. Would we return..... sadly no. It's just not up to the standard we are used to.

Just returned on 3 October from 10 days at the Falésia. We have been going almost every year for the past 16 years. Having read some reviews from early summer we had some concerns about our trip.

However we were not disappointed. We were greeted with the usual welcome from reception (with a courtesy drink). A special thank you to Celia. She is a credit to the Falésia Hotel with her pleasant and welcoming manner.

Breakfast was excellent as always. Dinner was also very good. As a fussy eater there was plenty of choice of salads, fish and meat dishes. The only change I noticed was in the amount of food put out at one time - in previous years it appeared like a banquet with too much food out - there must have been a lot of waste. However the food was always replaced/restocked regularly.

It is true that a lot of the regular staff have gone but we found almost all of the new staff to be very pleasant and welcoming. Some staff appeared to be less so, but I put that down to them being new and finding their feet and dealing with the numerous nationalities now visiting.

The pools both outdoor and indoor were clean, and the hotel and grounds spotlessly clean.

Whatever changes have happened at the Falésia did not impact on our enjoyment and we will definitely be looking to come back again soon.

What a lovely hotel building. Everywhere was spotless and the rooms were very comfortable. Pool area great with comfortable sunbeds that you never have to rush for. Gardens beautiful and the fish are amazing we fed them every day. Breakfast was everything you could wish for. Dinner food very good but sometimes difficult to put things together. Hotel very out on a limb unless you hire a car or get taxis around. Some drinks expensive like g&t cheapest 14 euro each but wine 6euro and beer 5euro so reasonable. The main downside was the staff. Odd ones very friendly but mainly not. Pool bar lady friendly and chatty. Welcome person in restaurant usually friendly. Night bar very variable. Indian lad very friendly. Other man efficient but not friendly apart from one night when he was very friendly and happy. On our last night we sat with 2 other couples who all said the same we didn't feel welcome. I went in 3 times to get drinks not once anyone came out and checked if we wanted anything as on other nights. Ordered went to toilet and drinks sitting on bar waiting for me and they looked like they had nothing much to do. . Not once offered to bring them out. End of night they turned inside lights off shut curtains and shut the door without asking if we wanted anything else and where to get out. Extremely bad manners. This hotel has so much to be proud of but doesn't make me want to return nor the other couples we spoke to. Sad but true.