Lido La Castellana — Attraction in Otranto

My wife, our 1.5-year-old son, and I visited Lido La Castellana hoping for a relaxing day at a premium beach club, but the experience was unfortunately spoiled by unprofessional management and a generally unwelcoming atmosphere. We arrived right at opening time, around 9 a.m., and secured a lovely set of sunbeds on the lawn near some trees. Wanting a shaded spot for our son to nap during lunchtime, we asked the receptionist if we could set up our small beach tent in the shade. He was perfectly fine with it and even helped us reserve a lunch table right next to our chosen spot. Everything started wonderfully. A few hours later, our son fell asleep in the tent, and we sat down for what we hoped would be a peaceful lunch—a rare treat for parents of a toddler. This is when the day took a turn for the worse. A woman, who appeared to be a manager, began loudly and aggressively yelling at the young lifeguards right in front of our son's tent. When I identified myself as the owner of the tent, she turned her tirade on me, shouting, "This is not acceptable!" I understand that there might be a rule against tents, which is precisely why I had confirmed it with the staff member who set us up. The manager's handling of the situation was completely out of line. She created a scene instead of discreetly speaking with her staff to clarify the situation or politely explaining the rules to us. Ironically, she ended up allowing the tent to stay while our son slept, which means the entire unpleasant confrontation was unnecessary. The peaceful lunch we were so excited about was ruined, and the negative vibe she created lingered for the rest of our stay. We even contemplated leaving right then but decided not to miss the rare chance to eat while our son was asleep. Beyond this main incident, other aspects of the beach club were underwhelming: Service: There was no service at the sunbeds. Furthermore, they don't run a tab, so every single water, beer, or coffee had to be paid for separately, which was quite inconvenient. Price: The prices are very high. We paid €60 for a set of sunbeds in the shoulder season, located far from the front. The lunch was also very expensive and, while not bad, certainly did not justify the cost. Staff: With the exception of a friendly young woman setting the tables and the receptionist, the rest of the staff were not particularly friendly or welcoming. The manager's habit of constantly and loudly ordering her employees around seemed to have a negative effect on the entire team's morale and the club's atmosphere. The Beach: On a positive note, the beach itself is small but pleasant and sandy, with some good snorkeling opportunities if you swim around the rocks. We had noticed a number of negative reviews before our visit and were hesitant to go; now we understand why. We visited several other beach clubs in Puglia during our holiday, and all of them were more welcoming, better managed, and offered better value for money. Lido La Castellana has a beautiful setting, but the poor management and high prices made it our worst beach club experience...

Avoid this beach club if you can. I went there on September 3rd with my husband and had a negative experience. It is too expensive for what it is and you receive barely any service, not even good service. The staff has a rude demeanor and don’t even look happy to be there themselves. We were checked in by a gentleman who asked us if “two others” are joining us, we said no it’s just us and he smirked with us colleague and said “Yes two others means just two people”. Where I’m from that would mean a group of four but all good. They charge you for towels and parking which is absurd because you’re already paying over $200 euros if you order a proper lunch.

We wanted to order the lobster spaghetti as it was noted on the menu (minimum 2 people) and looked like the best price for value at $32 euros. Our server said we couldn’t have it that day but said we can swap the lobster for shrimp and spaghetti for a different pasta. My husband said no problem because we thought we were still getting the $32 euro price. Thank goodness I checked the menu and realized he essentially made us agree to another pasta dish on the menu costing $34 euro a plate but times two. The transparency in that moment felt very slimy and the server was annoyed when my husband told him to pause that order right now because he wasn’t honest with us. Also, we ordered the mussels and they didn’t even clean the mussels properly - see photos.

The beach chairs are dirty, restaurant chairs are also dirty so when you’re eating you just want to eat and leave right away. The beach on the other hand is beautiful, however it doesn’t feel like a private beach club because there’s public ones beside you using your beach. I’m not one to be bothered by that but due to the price you’re paying for “premium” chairs you feel like the other visitors paying nothing are getting the same experience.

Long story short, just go to...

We came to this beach based on a recommendation from a travel blog that was been super accurate w their recommendations. I was worried about the negative reviews because it contradicted the description from the blogger’s experience. I feel the need to write a review to just break down why people seem so all over the place on their experience here. Bottom line is the chairs are overpriced for what you get. Too bad the owner is defensive about that rather than seeing the pattern of why folks feel they are overpriced. We have been to a handful of lidos this week so I have points of comparison in my mind. Many people are saying the staff is rude. I didn’t feel that way at all they were kind. They are stressed out and running around. They lacked leadership. These poor servers were clearly needing more help! The food was great no concerns there. They never brought one of our entrees and unfortunately it was impossible to flag down someone because they were so busy and running around. And when we did tell them no apologies but whatever they quickly took it off the check. I would have easily spent more money if someone was simply available to help us. The chairs were outdated and the shade thing kept falling down. If you are going to charge that much just step it up - hire more staff, modernize some amenities and don’t charge for things such a towel and parking! That’s what people are saying just show up as more of luxury lido. If you don’t want to do that simply charge a bit less and I bet you will see the bad reviews disappear. We went to a lido a few days previous that offered free parking, new chairs, towels and the staff asked me over and over what I needed. 50 dollars for 2 chairs and an umbrella. And I spent a lot of money there...