Hotel Villa del Mare — Hotel in Maratea

My wife and I stayed here for 3 nights during the course of an Italian road trip. On arrival, we were impressed. Set back into the cliffs with dramatic views, we were hoping for good things.||The car park is a little tricky to access but I'm sure if you're driven this far in Italy you'll manage it!||We headed to reception to check in. My Italian is pretty poor so, like everywhere else we'd stayed, I was patient and offered to use translating apps to make communication easier. However I found the staff here to be particularly rude and surly. Not something I'd mind normally, but they then started to tell us that the terms of the booking were incorrect. We'd booked through booking.com, like we had for every other hotel along our trip. It clearly stated that breakfast was included but they insisted that this was not the case. €20 a day. In 1000 miles of travelling around Italy, this one the only instance that the terms of the booking were questioned.||Moving on. The room was clean and pleasant, with a lovely view over the bay. Cleaning staff were thorough and punctual. Breakfast consisted of a cake buffet, coffee, some cold meats, hot dogs, scrambled eggs and fresh orange juice. Nothing special but not bad. Having been told we were paying for this on top of our booking, we filled our boots! Views with breakfast were stunning. We sat outside when the wind allowed and it was gorgeous in the sun with the views.||We headed out into the local area for exploration for a few hours here and there but the majority of the time we stayed on the private beach. The water is beautiful and with the beach being set back into a bay there is next to no wind. The beach is very convenient to access, with a lift directly down just behind the bar and then a short walk down to the seaside.||However, what we weren't told was that access to the beach is NOT included in the room rate. I was rather horrified to discover that access to the beach was charged at €18 a day. No mention of this was made anywhere on the terms of our booking, at check in, at the point of entry to our beach. The beach attendant asked us if we were staying at the hotel when we arrived, he took our name and room number and showed us to a beach bed. As you can access the beach as a non-hotel guest, people who weren't staying were paying for the access. ||In summary, the Hotel Spa Villa del Mare could be a fantastic place to stay. It has decent facilities, wonderful views and provides a blissful setting for relaxation. However, the bitter taste left with the extra, unexplained at point of sale charges has made it difficult to reflect on our stay with much a a sense of satisfaction. We were quoted €297 for 3 nights stay and ended up being charged €425 (which includes 2 rounds of drinks at the bar).||The curtness of the reception staff did not make us feel welcome and will leave a lasting impression...

I was there for an italian-french wedding. We had a beautiful big room, opening on the pool.The room was quite humid, but it's normal for a building on a cliff. The furniture is old, but it's the style of the hotel. The bed was confortable. The breakfast was very good, with fresh orange juice, cakes, fruits, ... Quite a big choice. And the view is stunning from the breakfast terrace, as well as the pool. The beach is small but beautiful, nestled in a beautiful creek. And there is a lift going to the beach! Beach beds are available for a fee, but that's absolutely normal in Italy, it's the same on every beach so don't be surprised. And it's always quite expensive. The food at the wedding was great, but also in the hotel's restaurant and the snack near the beach. There is not much to do around but the region is beautiful, it's very good for quiet resting holidays. The personnel was ok and they even drove us to the station in the nearby city. The swimming pool is very nice. ||||For the downside, there might be some improvement. The window in our room did not close well. The bathroom was quite nice, with lemon soap, but it got wet everywhere too quickly. And yes, there are a lot of mosquitoes in the area, but that's quite normal in the south of Italy. I didn't try the spa, but we did a boat tour, wich was interesting but to avoid if you have seasickness, it moves a lot! ||||In conclusion, it's more a 3 star than a 4, but again, they have different...

Stayed for 5 nights for a family wedding in August. The hotel is set in a beautiful location...cliffside, overlooking its own small bay....tremendous views!! On arrival, found parking a little difficult as there was another wedding taking place...very busy! After checking in (staff ok....), found our room, which wasn't too spacious, but it had its own small balcony with breathtaking views!! Bathroom was small and dated....very small shower cubicle with a shower curtain that insisted on having a fight, each time you took a shower!! Good air con system, although a little noisy, essential as the weather was very hot!!||Communal areas were very well presented inside the hotel. The outdoor pool was super, with plenty of free sun loungers...had to pay on the beach for them! Downside tho'...if there was a wedding taking place, the pool was closed to non wedding guests....bit of a trek to the beach!!||Breakfast was good, with plenty of choice. Staff were ok, but not particularly friendly.||The wedding day itself was out of this world....the whole day with the help of Lucia, the wedding planner, went like a dream....good food and plentiful! Lots of happy guests!!!||Super location for a wedding!!||NOTE...a car is essential...cliff-side roads with very steep drops!!|| biting insects...we all suffered..some quite badly!|| expensive bar with differing prices depending on staff (pint of lager 5 euros...next round 6 || ...