SALAPIA SALIS RESORT

The worst experience we have ever had with the hospitality industry, and we are well-travelled.

We booked to stay at this resort for 12 days. We were required to make a full payment in advance which we did.

When we arrived, one of the first issues we discovered was that the car park was a long and convoluted access away from the front entrance and very hard to navigate, especially in the dark and with a young child. You had to drive past a large, poorly-lit derelict area where the road was of poor quality in order to get to the hotel’s back entrance and car park. Even then, there was no signage anywhere to direct you. This was a daily and rather unpleasant inconvenience.

Secondly, the back entrance to the hotel’s car park had a gate which was not automated to permit access. The owner requested that we call his mobile each time we wanted to get in so that he can let us in manually, yet he appeared visibly annoyed each time we did this. One time we WhatsApp-called him and he got really angry about that and said 'NEVER WHATSAPP CALL ME'.

The housekeeping female staff were friendly. The breakfast was average. The rooms did not have basic drinking cups. The air conditioning system was difficult to navigate, so we had to get help. They had no iron which was unusual for a hotel. We had to borrow one from a friend.

The swimming pool has no shallow end which makes it dangerous and unsafe for children. The water was freezing, so after one short trial while I clutched onto my two-year-old daughter we decided not to use it again. This was a real shame as it is highlighted as a key feature of the resort and our young daughter was looking forward to playing in the pool.

We had a family emergency which meant we had to check out a week early. At this stage, our stay in this resort had not been enjoyable and we were actually glad to be leaving.

At check-out, we were charged for a coffee that we never signed for. We realised that they billed us for a coffee when we first arrived when we had only asked for an empty cup. They never showed us an itemised bill when we checked out and just charged us an arbitrary amount. As we were in a rush to leave for the airport we didn't bother to argue about it. It's not what I expect from a self-declared four-star resort.

When we left we had a couple of heavy suitcases and a child stroller. The owner stood and watched us in the car park as we loaded our car up and not once offered to help with the suitcases. He was more interested in chatting to our toddler, and the manner with which he did this was a little creepy.

We had made the booking through booking.com. As we had booked to stay for 12 days and checked out 1 week early we enquired through booking.com about a partial refund. The booking.com team spent weeks trying to contact the owner. Eventually when he responded, he categorically refused.

We are well-travelled, but this was by far the WORST EXPERIENCE we have ever had with the hospitality industry. We found the owner to be a menacing and unpleasant character, and the hotel resort had innumerable inconveniences. This made our short stay far from relaxing and unenjoyable. This was a huge disappointment as this is a region of Italy that we love and have visited often for nearly a decade.

I wouldn’t stay in this hotel resort again if I was offered it for free.

In response to the owner’s reply:

We did not stage an early departure. We had an emergency back home and had to get an earlier flight back. We were on flight BA2607 departing Bari at 18:20 on 14th September 2024. You are most welcome to cross check this, and check with every hotel in the region or the rest of Italy for that matter that we didn’t leave your resort for another.
What is most tragic is that, despite an emergency back home and having to cut our holiday short, we were somewhat relieved to be leaving this resort.

We requested only a partial refund for the days that we would not have been at the resort due to earlier departure, which I think is not unreasonable.

The truth hurts. Time for hard reflection.

I booked this resort from the positive google comments. Beautiful setting, comfortable beds.
We arrive on Saturday afternoon, my pregnant wife and four year old daughter; Everything OK.
Sunday morning breakfast with two other couples orange juice No. croissants 🥐 chocolate jam and cream....
Monday morning we find ourselves alone for breakfast because the other two couples had left on Sunday Ok
We end up with FOUR CREAM-ONLY CROISSANTS that we don't like... ADVANCED on a Sunday Morning and that's it, Mrs and Mr. Emanuele said that their pastry shop was closed... bla bla bla I pick up and go buy the croissants at chocolate to my pregnant wife and daughter. What about total disappointment after spending 300 Euros for two nights ... And they lost x 3 Euros .... Emanueleeeee you're a furbettinooo ehh
eMANUELE YOU DESERVE A STAR
CONGRATULATIONS you are a big greeting from Massimo ranieri 💫