Gran Valentino Village — Hotel in Castellaneta

We booked at the Valentino but found ouselves and our friends at the Kalané Resort, one of the several so-called villages in Gran Valentino. Terribly difficult to find the place as there are no sign posts whatever. We got lost, our friends got lost and wasted time getting there. In and out day only on a Sunday so arrival very chaotic.||The first disppontment was the beach. We came here for sea bathing and to get to the beach you have to struggle to get onto a train or bus for an extrememly bumby ride of about 3 km.No chance of crossing the pine wood as it is completely fenced in and the railway line runs along the coast too. Last bus service before lunch at 12.40 absolutely packed like sardines, last shuttle from the beach in the afternoon at 18,40 ! Ridiculous when in June and July you can stay on the beach till at least 8 p.m. No wonder most people preferred the pools in the afternoon. Less harrasment than going to the beach!||Once on the beach, rows and rows of chairs and very noisy animation. After one morning on the beach we gave up going there. Just think, we came for a holiday on the beach!||Fortunately we discovered the pool at the Kalané was salt water. Quite a small sized pool with two jacuzzi but they were never working properly. Luckily we discovered the Valentino pool, much larger and with jacuzzi working perfectly. This pool saved our holiday.||The restaurant at the Kalané was chaotic, You had to stay in a fixed place. We had to move from our first table as the air conditioning was so cold, and the weather not that hot. Staff often did not clear the dirty plates away so these were piled up in the middle of the table. At breakfast the croisantes were always cold whereas we discovered that at the Valentino they were served hot. Apart from that the food was excellent, over abundant and so varied.||The rooms were in a sort of building similar to a parking lot and the housemaids never remade the beds properly, just pulled up the sheets. Not a four star accommodation.||Fortunately we only stayed one week, but four of our friends were moved to the Valentino for the second week and found a slight improvement. However the whole village was taken up with a very large group from a Bank.||There was a spa available but costs were high, whereas the bank group got discounts on everything.||We only went one evening to see the animation in the area above the Kalané which was not too bad.||This place is good for the sea water pool at the Valentino and the food. Never again with the sea so far away!||Far too expensive for the accommodation and distance from the sea! Not good...

Very good quality of service as usual.|This year the food was excellent and the pizzeria offered a super pizza (napolitan stile) !! awesome!!! |I loved the restaurant at the beach also!!|Special thanks to the waiter Angelo for the professionalism, kindness and accuracy in his assistance. | |About the pizzeria and beach restaurant, congrats to the manager Francesco for his excellent coordination, nice talking and attention to the Clients.||Thanks even to Gianni, the archery teacher! The first one in my last 5 years who really instruct the Clients instead of simply make Secretary of the tournament!||Good the attention on the anti CVD19 prescriptions ! The entire personell waired the mask all the time in any condition! Over standing !|The double turn and especially the all you can eat but " no self service" formula in the restaurant is a best practice to leave on for ever since it generate less chaos in the room and reduce the food waste. ||Feedback to get better:|1- the main night show must be better coordinate with the baby show in order to let the second restaurant turn to attend both!|2-what really disappointed me it's the lack of prinzing in any competitions 😕! Probably the famous challenge in Pescara cannot be done this year, but why don't give to the winners even a simple recognition like a "fake |"medal plus a bonus for the bar, for the shop or for anything else. This year they didn't run neither the awarding celebration on the stage stage! Very very cold and unusual!|3-last but not least, I see too much plastic waste! it's time to implement a more sustainable policy ! Plastic glass at the Bar for each water drink can be replaced by a new format like paper glass one shot. Finally, waste recycling is totally absent. ||Anyway, very...

It doesn’t come cheap, but it is. Rooms are really outdated and all the property lacks maintenance and looks like abandoned to itself. The beach is 3 Km away and only reachable with an overcrowded train which goes through a bumpy road with no shade at all. Also the beach has a bar which closes in the hottest hours, therefore all guests are left with no access to water. No towel service at the beach - towels can be rent for 6,50 euro each only at the hotel and if you want to change them you need to rent it again during your stay. ||No room service. The few services provided have a strict schedule to follow: breakfast, lunch, dinner, kids activities, train to reach the beach, bars, pools, etc. ||In the evening they offer a selection of entertainment - the one for the kids are really lovely, but when it comes to the ones for adults the music is horrible and terribly loud. It goes ahead until midnight without respect for the guests that have young kids and/or are on vacation to relax. And this is a family resort or at leat this is how they advertise it! ||Food is ok, but nothing special compared to the quality you can experience in this part of Italy. ||Staff are nice, but clearly overloaded. ||I don’t recommend this place…. Really think before booking this place as they charge the whole amount of your vacation two weeks prior your arrival and there is no way for you to reduce your stay and get some form of refund when you realise it’s not the place where you were hoping to enjoy...