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| Submission date: 2005-08-30 - Date of Stay: N/A |
| Submitted by: Peter Trenoweth - From: United Kingdom |
| Type of Traveller: Mature Couple - Age Group: 31 - 40 |
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| This is really a three star hotel |
| My partner and I stayed at the Grand Hotel for seven days in June (2005). The Hotel has been recently renovated and this has been done to an acceptable standard. The pool is of a decent size although the pool area is limited in space. The hotel charges for the use of sun beds (5 euros each) but the Flora cannot be specifically criticized for this practice as this is the norm for hotels in the area. Nevertheless it does add to the general impression that you are a commodity at the hotel rather than a guest. This impression is compounded by the strictly enforced rules regarding the consumption of water whilst using the pool area. In 90-degree heat it is totally unreasonable to insist that all guests only consume water purchased at the hotel's inflated prices. This may seem like nit-picking but it is just an added impediment to feeling comfortable in the surroundings. As is the rule that the pool area is closed to guests from 6 pm-9am. Of course the pool has to close at some point but why should you be made to leave the pool when the weather remains gloriously hot until well after 8 pm? Leaving one sunny area of the hotel would not be such a problem if it weren’t for the fact that, apart from the few who are lucky enough to get a decent balcony, this is the only area in which you can enjoy the sun. The majority of the hotel's rooms and therefore balconies face a very, very busy main road. It is simply not possible to relax in this space. Trust me on this, the view is absolutely up there with the worst that you could imagine. Across the busy road is a busy petrol station and the combination of audial and visual unpleasantness that this panorama induces make the room's curtains and double-glazing by far its most attractive features. In short the balcony is redundant which makes you question where Thompson's/Hotel Fora get the nerve to charge a supplement for such a facility. This brings me to the crux of my grievance with this hotel and it's booking agent's and this is that having read the reviews on this page I knew that the rooms facing the road would not provide the type of holiday accommodation that my partner and I wanted. We stated this to the Thompson booking agent who assured us that we would be placed at the other side of the hotel. Further, although she couldn't guarantee this part, we might even get a sea view. On arriving at the hotel we found that this was never the case. The majority of the rooms face the street and those that don't are snapped up early by those that are in the know. Not only was there no chance of a sea view, which is to be expected, but there was no chance of us being placed away from the road. This was not to be expected because had i known that there was the slightest chance of being placed in such a room I wouldn't not have booked the holiday. I arrived on a Monday and was told that there was a chance that we could be moved the next day, this didn't happen. I spoke to the holiday rep on Tuesday morning who told me that she would investigate and that there was a chance that we could be moved by Friday, this didn't happen. I saw the ‘rep’ on the Wednesday and she told me that her investigation would take a few days and that she would get back to me, this didn't happen. I saw her two days before the end of the holiday and she told me that she would have an explanation for me before I left, this didn't happen. When I left on the Monday there was a note from Patricia saying she was still investigating and that she would let us know what had gone wrong with our booking by writing to us at our home address. Needless to say as of yet this has not happened.
The upshot of the whole experience is that if you want a perfectly adequate hotel that is well situated in relation to the town centre then the Hotel Flora is okay. However, if you are looking for a holiday where the Hotel's four-star facilities extend to enjoying any amount of time spent on your room's balcony than it is not.
This is really a three star hotel and that is what you should expect and pay for unless you can get a written guarantee that you will not be put in a room facing the road.
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