41 Reviews
Hotel Villa Ottone
Portoferraio|1.22km from Chiesa di Santo Stefano alle Trane
Summary: A beautiful location, that’s all. The price is 5-stars, the rooms are 2.5 stars. Restaurant overcharged more than €150 for wine. Keep an eye on your bill. The bar staff, led by Paulino, is friendly and attentive, his cocktails are legendary. The rest of the staff varies between outright rude and arrogant to charming and efficient. Two large parties made up of several rooms had dinner, separately, at the restaurant on the evening we arrived. Despite telling the Maitre our room numbers with each order, the bill for each table was simply divided by the rooms, irrespective of what had been ordered. The food was mediocre at best, but hey, it was only €86 per room, including wine, right? Well now comes the fun part. At each table, the wine bottles were then randomly assigned to rooms, DOUBLE BILLING the WINE. We only discovered this when one of the guests checked out and noticed the wine was included on his bill, along with the ”Menu Special” for €86. After getting all the accounts for the rooms of our group, and spending nearly two hours combing through the invoices, we finally got to the bottom of the issue. The full meal including wine was charged, split amongst the rooms, and then the wine was charged a second time. This happened to two different tables who were not associated with each other for the dinner. Sounds fishy to you too? Well, the hotel management wasn't too interested. The Maitre seemed more upset that we'd discovered the restaurant's cheat than the fact they made a ”mistake”. Another 30 minutes of discussion with the hotel’s duty manager resulted in the doubly booked wine being removed from the bill. Despite the whole hotel using carbon copy pads to take orders, no one showed us the bill from the restaurant, nor were we asked to sign anything on that order. Everywhere else, we needed to sign for €3 espressos in the bar, etc. What a great way for the newlyweds to spend their first day as a married couple. I wouldn't be surprised if ALL larger groups are subjected to the same treatment. I advise you to double-check your bills. The rooms in the annex are old and buggered, like 1980's old. The beds are uncomfortable, the carpets are dirty, everything has a musty smell. You'd also have to be a hobbit to use the bidet in our room, usual rate ＞ €300/ night. During our three-night stay, we sunned ourselves on the stony and narrow beach, with the occasional whiff of sewage. This smell is particularly delightful when you are enjoying a hideously overpriced salad at the beach bar. Breakfasts are generally good, although the chefs have no idea how to fry an egg. The first day, one of my two fried eggs arrived without the yellow, clearly having broken in the pan. However, the chef had managed to burn the bottom, while leaving the white raw and uncooked on top. Two of our party arrived at breakfast on Saturday, 10 minutes before the breakfast buffet was due to close at 10 am. We overheard staff complaining about the late arrival, as if the
45 Reviews