Hotel Casa Theodora — Hotel in Calvi

From summer 2015, the Casa Theodora is being run as a couples/adults only hotel exclusively for customers of Simpson Travel. Lovingly restored by its owners, almost every wall and vaulted ceiling is painted in colourful frescoes. The hotel’s six rooms/suites, spread out over three floors, are individually decorated using tasteful colours and furnishings. Each is equipped with tea and coffee making facilities and a hairdryer. Good quality toiletries are supplied and irons and ironing boards are available. There are no minibars, but the office area off the ground-floor lounge contains an honesty bar with a fridge full of reasonably-priced cold drinks, including bottles of wine, local beer and soft drinks. Beneath the hotel, a small heated indoor pool has been built into the former wine cellar. Pool towels and towelling slippers are available for guests wishing to slip into the pool after a busy day exploring. ||||Breakfast is taken on the small outside terraces or in the upstairs salon. The offer comprises cereals, bread, croissants, pain au chocolate, yogurts, fresh fruit, fruit juices, generous supplies of tea and coffee, and a different cooked breakfast most mornings: scrambled eggs with bacon or salmon, boiled eggs and toast, omelettes, crepes and “full English”. Tea, coffee and freshly-baked cakes or biscuits are served in the lounge every afternoon. Evening meals are prepared and served by the hotel’s helpful live-in concierge team, Julie and Shaun, on two days a week. Guests drive to neighbouring villages or to the larger coastal towns of Calvi or L’Ile Rousse, to eat out on the other evenings: there are no restaurants in the village, and none within reasonable walking distance of the hotel. Menus at the local restaurants are dominated by meat: wild boar, lamb, goat, veal and steak, served with potatoes or pasta. Vegetarians might struggle, although the traditional Corsican vegetable and bean soup served with coarse bread is almost a meal in itself. the nearest restaurant, The nearest restaurant, the Sol e Luna in the village of Felecito, does not take credit cards, so make sure you have sufficent cash as the nearest ATM is in L’Ile Rousse a 30 minute drive from the hotel.||||The hotel’s remote location and the number of steps up to and within the building make it unsuitable for guests with limited mobility or for guests who enjoy strolling out to local restaurants for lunch and dinner. Car hire, included as part of the Simpson's package to the Casa Theodora, is essential as there is no regular taxi service, bus service or cycle hire in the area and, apart from a daily bread van and weekly meat van, the village of Muro has no shops or other facilities (though a bar was being constructed next door at the time of our visit.) The nearest supermarket and pharmacy are 13k away in Lumio. Walking to either of the neighbouring villages can prove challenging as there are few footpaths and limited refuge from oncoming traffic due to the number of walls lining the road. ||||Simpson Travel provides very clear driving directions to the hotel which is set on the lengthy one-way street through the village. Guests are advised to park in the village square and walk the final stage of the journey as there is limited parking in the street directly outside the hotel. Simpson Travel is working with the hotel’s owner to secure more reserved parking spaces, so this should not be an issue for future guests. We found some of the local drivers freely ignore the one-way system: it is wise to proceed through the village with caution!||||I enjoyed the peaceful mountain location with red kite circling overhead, and I would like to have been able to spend more evenings relaxing in or near the hotel, after a busy day spent exploring the area by car, instead of having to venture out along the narrow, winding roads again to find...

Disappointing||||➖ We had originally booked for five nights on the basis of apparently positive reviews, however, after one night we decided to leave as the property simply was not suitable for us. The bathroom was mouldy, the wardrobe was in the bathroom and the shower was broken. The accommodation did not fit the description of a superior deluxe room. Basic amenities one would expect in superior lodgings such as a mini fridge and ironing board were not available. As a consequence you had to ask for ice and for an ironing board - these were given quite willingly ( by the staff who checked us in), however, it felt like an unnecessary effort for both guests and staff.||This was compounded by my husband's first interaction with the actual host was very terse as she got unnecessarily agitated as he got near ( unknowingly ) to the private part of the hotel. This was confusing to my husband as the doorway he tried to enter had previously been given as the access to the pool which was supposedly available at any time. This was not the welcome he was expecting and really set the tone for our interactions with the host which did not feel welcoming at all. In fact we felt like unwelcome guests in somebody else's house instead of paying guests - A cost which was not insubstantial at €160 per night!||This was in direct contrast to Paul and the hosts daughter who checked us in and went out about their way to try and make us feel at home.||As we were about to check out (after only two nights ) the host said that we could look at another room, this was declined on the basis that the hotel, whatever the room, would not be the relaxing experience we had hoped for given the intrusive nature of the host.||A closer look at other reviews will reveal that we are not alone in having this particular experience -a shame as we were really looking forward to a relaxing five night stay. Despite giving notice that we intended to leave after 24 hours thus giving the ability to resell the room is a request for just one night refund was refused. This review was also put on the Booking.com site where I originally booked and the hotels response was both personally insulting and inaccurate which only serves in my opinion to prove my point about the hotels approach to some of...

• The house is old, apparently from a doctor (as the name of the place testifies), well maintained in the old style: everything is arranged to make comfortable rooms (really old charming style, so do not expect stylish Novotel with standard furniture), well cleaned with individual airco in each room (hot & cold).||• The breakfasts were very good.||• We asked the owner if it was possible to have a dinner at arrival (late, around 9pm), she managed to get it organized and mentioned it was 35 EUR/pers for the menu of the day, without drinks. We were OK as we had a long drive. The meal was really not OK: cold inside, rough, overheated and dry. Worth 10 EUR/pers. Wine also oversold at 35 EUR, while the same Columbus bottle is at 25 EUR in a nice restaurant. Avoid meals but breakfast.||• Myriam, the owner is very intrusive and often complaints on others: on her own staff (her niece L., her daughter A. and her son S.). Also about other hosts, so ... probably also about us to other hosts||• She welcomed us with a sense of humour which is not always easy to decrypt. Being quite intrusive in guest, e.g. at breakfast, it made our stay quite unpleasant as her remarks made us uncomfortable.||• I would suggest she focused on the guests, treat her staff at their value. Being demanding with others initially require showing the example and being demanding with ourselves.||• Superb art work in the interior: frescos, paints, … sometimes a bit kitsch but this is stylish still.||• Almost no parking space in front. Need to go just 200m away close to the church: not a big deal.||• Do not count on the swimming pool: kind of fake teaser.||• This is overpriced.||• I do not recommend. It was a...