La Sciara Hotel — Hotel in Lipari

My partner and I booked originally through Booking.com to stay for 2 nights in Hotel Ossidiana nearby to the port, however a few days before our holiday we were told that the hotel was overbooked and we were offered a room at Hotel La Sciara as an alternative. We were very sceptical as there are hardly any recent reviews online, and we were quite worried with what we might find. Our hydrofoil booking and Stromboli trek was already in place, so reluctantly we took our chances and accepted this alternative accommodation. ||Surprisingly, we were very glad that we accepted this as an alternative hotel, and couldn’t have been happier with where we were taxied to (in a small golf cart free of charge!). All of the staff were exceptional, particularly the receptionist/ lady on the front desk who spoke fantastic English and was very helpful with restaurant recommendations and things to do on the island in our short stay. She also provided us with a map, welcome drink of prosecco and olives and bruschetta by the pool and also made sure we were happy with our room and had everything we needed. The room was very clean and comfortable and we had a great view of Stromboli from our window. Other very old reviews seem to indicate that rooms with balconies do not have dividing walls and are communal, but from what we saw (from the poolside) this has been rectified with temporary dividers and plants which should be fine for those wanting some privacy. ||The breakfast was very nice with a good selection of cakes and pastries, cereals, meat and cheese and even cooked eggs and bacon with fresh coffee made on request. We ate there on our last night in the evening and had a fantastic meal with excellent service, it was one of the best meals we had all holiday. ||We get the impression that this hotel has opened again for the 2018 season perhaps maybe after being closed for a number of years, and expect other travellers have been put off by the lack of online feedback (as we were), but we both think this is a hotel worthy of visiting again and would recommend to anyone...

After reading good reviews we were very much looking forward to our stay at La Sciara. The only saving grace for this hotel is the charming outdoor space and grounds and proximity to a cute little beach. The interiors of the common parts are stylish and this could be the making a truly beautiful hotel but unfortunately given my comments below it doesn’t stand a chance. ||Now for the bad:||We emailed the hotel in advance to arrange a taxi buggy to pick us up. I got no reply from the hotel and when we got off the ferry there were no available taxis so we had to call the hotel and convince them there was no one to take us till they finally sent us a taxi. ||Check in took a long long time. The staff were aloof and didn’t care to give us any recommendations. They didn’t even take us to our room. Simply pointed us in the direction and left us with our luggage. ||We then came to ask for pool towels which you have to pay €4 for per person as a ‘rental charge’. I think this is pretty unacceptable when you’re paying so much for a hotel. ||There was no complimentary water in the room, the towels are like serviettes and the bed is so hard we almost did our backs in. The floor was filthy. There were no amenities, the bathroom was grotty and we had a single sheet on the bed. ||There was no wardrobe just a wooden hanging rail, no working safe and our room which was meant to have a view, which we paid extra for but there was none. It was so so so claustrophobic I felt like we were sleeping in a tin can. The windows don’t open and our view was of a wall and the back of the pool where they blast music all day and night so you can’t sleep a wink. ||The hotel breakfast was okay but especially during these times there were no measures but in place for hygiene. Plates were dirty, serving spoons were shared and none of the staff wore masks. ||All this, given the price of our stay at €200 a night was hugely disappointing. Honestly, we couldn’t...

This was our third stay since 2018 and it pains me to say it, but La Sciara is not what it once was.

First the positives: the amazing pool, the view, the great location in a quiet area away from the port, close to beautiful beaches. Rooms are cleaned daily, very well, and the service is friendly.

Now the negatives: the breakfast was very sad. Frozen croissants, green bananas, grey-boiled eggs. The breakfast service was chaotic: messy tables that weren’t cleaned (or were abandoned half-cleaned), coffee and hot meal orders that never arrived. The breakfast staff seemed overwhelmed, but simultaneously kind of blasé. Considering there were never more than a handful of tables at a time, it was a bit of surprise. We once had lunch at the pool bar and had the most depressing “Strombolana” salad: 15€ for a few green leaves, slices of tomato and olives. The rooms are very basic – not in itself a problem – but are literally crumbling. After some rain, sections of the wall in our room literally dissolved into a powder. Our room had two bedside lamps, unplugged, with only one socket to plug them in – which required moving the bed. The lever-operated plug in the bathroom sink continually got stuck, meaning the basin wouldn’t drain. Our double bed was two single beds pushed together, held together with a flat sheet. (I'm not naive, I know this is done everywhere, but for the love of god put a double mattress topper on it.) I could go on.

The price is in line with other accommodation: for August, on an island in Italy, you won’t pay less. But it felt exorbitant considering the lack of quality and care in the service.

Sadly, I think we’ve made our last visit...