Hotel Dolcestate

We stayed at this hotel for two weeks 16-30 September. The staff were brilliant but the hotel itself was disappointing. The poolside bar was the only place you could get drinks in the entire hotel, so when it rained you got wet just getting a cup of tea. We have never before stayed in an hotel where there was nowhere to get a drink of any kind inside the hotel building. The food choice was very limited both at breakfast time and dinner. The choice of salad and fruit was particularly poor. The quality of what was available was reasonable except for the pasta which for an Italian hotel was abysmal (Heinz do better). Also no ice cream of any sort (in Italy!!). We were supposedly on an all-inclusive package but without doubt the poorest we have experienced. No tea/coffee making facilities, no whiskey or sparkling wine of any kind, no bottled water, no packed lunches, no drinks after 10.30pm and a 5 Euro charge for beach towels. After two weeks we had really had enough.

Location - 3/10: Located in the middle of nowhere, sightseeing is out of the question without a rental car. There are no shops or restaurants nearby. Hotel - 7/10: The hotel's architecture is very nice, the pool is well-maintained, and there are plenty of sunbeds available. Kitchen - 1/10: Breakfast was very poor quality, with no choice, the same thing every day, stale bread, at most one type of cold cuts and cheese, 1-2 egg dishes, where the scrambled eggs were made with liquid, not fresh eggs. Dirty cups for instant coffee. The food was terrible. Room - 6/10: Preserved in an old building from the 1990s, clean and tidy, but very poor soundproofing, and you could hear everything from other rooms.

We completed a 7 day holiday at the Hotel Dolcestate this August. The hotel is very welcoming and friendly; all the staff are determined to ensure that their guests have great holiday. The hotel is situated in a pleasant beachside community. It is a short 5 minute walk to the beach, which is mostly pebbly but picturesque. We took 2 trips to the must see city of Palermo, both of which were booked through the hotel. For both trips, which only cost 8 euros each, we were picked up and dropped off at the hotel. We also booked a memorable excursion to the Valley of the Temples in the south of the island through the hotel. There is 1 large pool at the hotel with a bridge seperating the deeper and shallower, children's pool. There is also a smaller, quieter pool to relax in. We found the food to be very good, with quite a bit of choice in the self serve restaurant. There was some entertainment, especially for kids, but the focus when we were at the hotel was on relaxation. The hotel was also spotlessly clean. Our only issue was that the wifi was a bit erratic in our room. All in all though we had a great time and would recommend the hotel.

To keep in mind: There are no bike lains or pedestrian parts to the nearest city. You have to get there by car/taxi/shuttle bus. The shuttle has a rather limiting schedule and needs booking a day before. Taxi needs booking 1h in advance. Walking to the city is possible along the beach (~4-5 km, lots of stones, need shoes!), walking along the road is a bit suicidal. Whenever there was some wind the sea was quite murky and full of seaweed. Most of the staff is very helpful. We had an issue with the room we got, which was resolved very quickly. However, a lot of the staff does not speak English (international 4 stars hotel, mind), so some misunderstandings happened (that were cleared up). Google translate is your friend. So, the hotel is somehow rated 4 stars. I would not give it more than 3, and even that would be a stretch. This is from the service and the quality of the rooms. Our room had no cloth dryer (and none were available when we asked at reception). Bathroom sink had the stopper falling out, the shower suffered a bit from variable temperature. Water from the tap is not drinkable, no bottles supplied in the fridge or at all (which I would expect from FOUR stars). The good things: the room was clean and fresh, recently renovated, the AC performed without a hitch - but this is already expected at 2 stars. The restaurant is school cantine quality. Water, juice, milk and coffee is only available at breakfast. Lunch and dinner you have to buy all drinks. The setup is a buffet, with some risk of things running out towards the end. Continental-ish, with local flavour. Fruits are mixed quality, peaches, nectarines and plums were hard as rocks despite being in season (august). Melons and watermelons were good. Essentially, we found the food was significantly better at the only nearby cafeteria some 200 m from the hotel. Cheaper too. The coffee deserves special mention - it is instant from the machine that is poorly calibrated to the cups and spills over for some options. The bar sells real espresso. The hotel has its own beach (5 min walk). The beach is mixed pebbles and stones of various sizes, and sand, quite painful to walk on barefoot. During our stay they cleaned the stones with a dozer once, which was an improvement, but in the water there are a lot of stones right as you go in. There is a bridge they put out, but this happened only for the last 3 days we were there. The toilets are clean and open when the baywatch is there. My main beef with the beach is that it has a lot of trash lying around, and in the water as well. Pieces of plastic, cigarette butts - disgusting. No trash bins on the beach either.

We have spent a beautiful week with my family in Dolcestste hotel, hotel has a beautiful garden, architecture, super calm atmosphere to relax, in July 25 was not crowded as everyone could find enough space in the pool .Animation team tries to evolve everyone to activities, especially Mrs Samuela :)food is high quality,beach is not shallow and with stones , but even with that factor I rate this hotel at max for time spent, thanks ,Agnieszka from Poland