Hotel Hermitage

Food was good as they catered for my husband's vegan, gluten free diet. Service was friendly. Rooms nice and clean but felt the website was not honest in not saying that there was a charge to use the spa. Even on their sister hotel website that does not have a spa it says you can use the their spa hence we chose this one for the spa. Other hotels that do charge for the spa always allow you to use it for free once you have a massage there. Despite my husband and I paying €240 for a massage, they still wanted us to pay a further €100 to use the spa for one hour only. When i emailed my complaint they did not bother to respond.

A disappointing stay. A beautiful location on Biodola Beach with impressive facilities but sadly the first thing we noticed upon arrival was that the sea water directly outside the hotel was a v unnatural almost luminous looking yellow/green, so much so that my children did not want to swim. We walked further down the beach to find that the water was crystal clear, so we were wondering why the section directly outside the hotel seemed to be contaminated with this unsightly discolouration. On the last morning, we spotted a black pipe hidden away at the side of the hotel which was pumping out cloudy water from the hotel directly into the sea. The colour of the seawater transformed & took on a milky hue. When we asked the hotel staff they showed little concern & said it was purely water from the hotel pool, a salt water pool that has gone through a chlorination process before being pumped into the sea. The impact on marine life of chlorine emission is concerning but it was also visually revolting and stopped you from wanting to swim! Not ideal for a beach hotel. We did speak to the Management team & they assured us that the water has undergone analysis. However, to me and other guests we spoke to who were sharing the hotel beachfront the milky water was concerning and uninviting. To make matters worse, we spotted a large rat in the small located in the beach restaurant, not far from the kitchen area where all the food was served. None of the staff had noticed it so whilst I am appreciative of the stunning location within nature, I would expect hygiene levels in the restaurant/kitchen area to be higher. For this reason, we did not eat at the hotel. Disappointing when paying a premium for a luxury hotel.

We have only been here 2 days but I had to write a review before we have even left. I’ve fallen in love with this hotel and the island. It’s stunning it’s like a small village. 3 pools, 3 restaurants swim up bar. The staff are super helpful and can’t do enough for you. The views are breathtakingly beautiful. We have been so well looked after by Fabio, Liam and Tytsana at the pool bar. The restaurant staff in the evening never leave you left waiting even when it’s busy. It’s a beautifully relaxing place with stunning grounds, tennis courts, spa, mini club for the older children I feel ( I wish they had a kids club for the younger ones) I can’t find any faults with this hotel. The rooms are authentic Italian rooms that are so super super clean. Comfy beds and AMAZING bath products. It’s safe to say this place will be on my list of places to come back to next year.

Our family just had the most wonderful time at Hotel Hermitage. The location is incredibly beautiful, and the hotel itself is very well maintained. It is an older property but that just lends to its charm. Many of the staff are older and you get the impression have been there for years. As a result they know exactly what they are doing and we found the service to be exceptional. We arrived to the Saturday night buffet dinner which was a huge hit, our kids are still talking about it as one of the highlights of their holiday! Such a wonderful atmosphere, even though we spoken virtually no Italian, we found the staff very welcoming and happy to speak English. The beach beds/umbrellas are very well attended to, we had lunch on the beach and it was well organised. Breakfasts had a great selection and was of an excellent standard. We used the tennis courts and they were of a great standard, very well maintained. The watersports centre was really convenient, right next to the hotel. Our kids did banana boating, donuting, scuba diving, we hired SUP’s and pedalos. The sea was clean, clear and warm, heaven! The hotel far exceeded our expectations, we got the impression many guests were returning customers and we can understand why. We are already planning a way to fit another visit into our next trip 😊

A group of us had spent some time at Hermitage having fun and decided to miss our shuttle bus back to Hotel del Golfo and take a cab instead. However, much to our dismay, we were told that the taxi drivers were sleeping and there were no taxis until 7am!! Now, this was completely understandable as it was very late (nearly 4am), but we were provided no other alternatives. No blankets, no room to crash in for the night, no water, no attempts to contact anyone. Many were left to sleep OUTSIDE or on the floor of friend’s hotel rooms. What if there was an emergency? What would have been done then? Even if there was a taxi available it would have costed a steep 35€ for a mere 12 min drive between hotels. For the spouses and partners of the physicists attending the conference, we had the only option of an 8am bus to the hotel with little to no alternatives. It made sense to be up early and make it a priority for those attending the conference, but some of us were there to relax and enjoy the fruits of our spouses' labor and were not interested in a 6am wake up time on vacation. What about the other ways to get to the hotel? Well, several of my husband’s colleagues had gotten lost on foot on their way to either hotel, forced to walk through private properties and woods which adding an additional hour to their commute (nearly 2 hours!). Additionally, a bike ride over could be fatal if not an experienced rider. Despite the hotel being very beautiful and being provided with an abundant number of food options, this situation definitely impacted our stay.