Praia Art Resort, an SLH Hotel — Hotel in Isola di Capo Rizzuto

We stayed at Praia this past week as travelers from the US. There are not many (if any) travelers from the US visiting this property, which makes it feel more authentic to the area but more difficult to navigate if you’re not comfortable with using translation apps. Very minimal English is spoken at the resort - which is okay with us, but could be intimidating to some. ||Our room - 301 - was amazing. The set up is perfect for a couple. Gorgeous, private yard with a pool and another gorgeous sitting area in the back (that we didn’t even use!). The unit has 2 full bathrooms, the bed is very comfortable and the closet has amazing space to open your bag and unpack. ||On the downside, the room does feel very dark and there is minimal lighting especially in the bathrooms. The lights don’t feel well placed, especially with no lighting in the shower at all. ||Towels were minimally stocked - only 1 per person. And no towels were given at all for the pool. We had to steal them from the beach every day. This just feels sloppy. If the unit has a pool, towels should be stocked and refreshed. ||This trend continued at the resort pool. There were no towels at all at the resort pool. Additionally, the pool is not set up well. There are only 4 (massively uncomfortable) pool loungers. The rest of the pool is set up with dining tables. Given there is no restaurant or service at the pool, other than breakfast, we did not get this. It made using the resort pool awkward and annoying. ||One thing we absolutely loved is that you get a lounge bed assigned to your room at the beach. There is no fighting over space and everyone has their own bed. It’s great. We’ve never seen this at a hotel and loved this feature. ||The food and service is the reason we are giving this hotel such a low rating. ||The hotel is isolated from town. Nothing is walkable except a few small stores in the neighborhood. There is no hotel shuttle at all, which we strongly feel should be an option to get into La Castella and the neighboring towns. The cabs are expensive (20 euro to go 3 miles into town!). La Castella is an adorable town with many restaurants and a gorgeous castle. The locals were so friendly - shout out to our fave restaurants Tippico & Piccante and Donna Carmela. Amazing food and the locals were so friendly! ||The surrounding neighborhood is like a family resort. It feels run down and isn’t very well cared for. There are really no sidewalks and walking around is difficult with speeding cars and trucks blowing down the streets. We like to walk and hike around our hotel in the mornings and this resort was not set up for that at all. ||In addition to the isolation, the restaurant hours and food options are not convenient for international guests. The breakfast is open 7:30-10:30 and then nothing is available until 12:30. The restaurant that opens at 12:30 is the only restaurant on property and it is very formal with a limited menu. After it closes at 3:30, there is nothing else available until dinner which is just a larger version of the lunch menu. The food and drinks are VERY expensive. The food is good at the restaurant but there’s no way a guest could do 2 meals per day there for a stay at the hotel. They need a more casual service at the pool with pizza, panini and salads. The quality of the breakfast was pretty terrible on the kitchen menu. The selections of meats, fruits and cheeses were great but there eggs were terrible. Eggs aren’t really an Italian thing so maybe they should try making something more typical so it is better quality. ||NO ONE ever asked us if we wanted anything during our 4 day stay at the hotel. At one point, we were in the pool and the entire staff including the restaurant manager were sitting at a table at the pool. They walked by us multiple times without even asking if we’d like a drink. This is just crazy to me. There is also no beach service unless you walk up to the bar. ||The service was overall pretty bad. The staff was friendly (the gentleman at the breakfast bar and the young lady waiting tables were lovely) but it’s clear that none of them have been trained to work at a luxury resort. The manager is from Sardinia, which next to Calabria, is the worst hotel service we’ve ever had. The hotel needs a real manager from a luxury hotel in an international tourist area if they want to have return guests. They will get people like us once - but the guests will have a similar experience to us and not return. The hotel was very difficult to get to, isolated, and not set up to be a destination on its own. They need to improve the food and hours that food is available, lower the drink prices, add shuttle transportation to neighboring towns, and get some better service. This was a one and done for us. 4 days was way too long and we were very...

Hotel Room:|Our room was spotless and very well maintained. The housekeeping was excellent, and the beds were absolutely fantastic – large, comfortable, and perfect for a restful night’s sleep. The only minor issue was with the outdoor lighting, but this was fixed immediately after we reported it at the front desk.||Reception & Service:|The reception staff were extremely friendly and attentive, always greeting us warmly and eager to help.||Hotel Grounds:|The entire property is beautifully maintained, very clean, and gives a luxurious impression throughout.||Beach & Beach Bar:|The beach is cleaned daily and looks pristine. The sunbeds are wonderfully comfortable, offering plenty of shade and a perfect spot to relax. The beach bar is modern, clean, and service is friendly. Prices for drinks are on the high side, but no more than what you’d pay in the center of a major Western European city.||Breakfast:|Breakfast is tasty with a good variety, but unfortunately there’s no buffet. We would have preferred being able to help ourselves instead of asking for every little thing. Items like scrambled eggs are charged extra, which feels a bit unreasonable given the overall price level.||Restaurant:|The food itself is very good, fresh, and of high quality. However, the service does not live up to the 5-star standard – the staff clearly try hard, but they lack the training to serve food and drinks in a confident and professional way. This was a bit of a disappointment considering the prices.||Overall:|If you’re not overly concerned about budget and are willing to overlook a few shortcomings, this resort is absolutely worth a stay. By Northern European standards, we would rate it 4 stars, with potential for 4-star-superior if the service were brought up to an...

The property is stunning, the rooms are gorgeous (the daily glass bottle of Panna was appreciated), love the idea of breakfast sourced from local products. It is oddly located in a gated community that seems almost abandoned. There were a few faux pas at breakfast - a tea kettle for hot tea was either dirty or had residual milk in it, as it produced a 'murky tea'; the cucumbers at the breakfast buffet were probably cut the night before, as they were kind of wilted and tasted moldy. However, overall delicious spread of local cheeses and meats, home-made pies/ cakes/ muffins, variety of seasonal fresh fruit, bottled Pellegrino and Panna ;) The pool is absolutely stunning and the beach is perfectly serene and idyllic. It was not quite perfect though - we were asked to not have snacks at the pool ( hotel rules, but those rules allowed for a bikini photoshoot during breakfast), the towel system between the pool and the beach was a bit confusing, the reception offered a welcome drink but never followed up (as we preferred to get into the room first), so we never got that drink lol. We got few 'reminders' to dine at the Michelin star restaurant, which seemed over the top expensive, however did not try the dinners. The support staff cleaning the rooms (no turndown service), maintaining the property, and waiting in the restaurant were sweet and very kind. Overall very good experience, with few exceptions. A relaxing place to chill...