Resort Santa Maria — Hotel in Marsala

We spent ten days at Santa Maria in the hotel (not the apartments) and would recommend room 10 as it has the biggest balcony by far. Good to store your kite kit.||||Positives||||Rooms were kept spotless and cleaned daily and towels and sheets changed almost daily||Air conditioning worked well ||There is a small fridge in the room to keep your water and drinks||Beds were very comfortable, and there was a good size cupboard for clothes||The pool was kept very clean and is the big bonus for staying here as nowhere else closeby seemed to have a pool||Nearly always sufficient sunloungers||Staff were friendly and helpful||||Negatives||||No pool towels so bring your own||Got very hot by the pool as high hedge is there to keep the wind out||Breakfast was very average. Eggs were mixed and fried instead of just fried. There were also not kept hot although replenished regularly. Making scrambled eggs available and a small egg boiler for cooking your own eggs could easily be done. Also having to ask for coffee every time instead of a hot pot of coffee left out was annoying.||Wifi was terrible – They have a very strange system to log on, and the connection kept dropping off with very slow speed. In this day and age, all hotels should realise a good wifi facility is essential. Could not be used in the rooms at all.||||Out and About||||You need a car, and the restaurants around were mainly not great. With a car drive to Trapani or Marsala for much nicer food.||The supermarket is also 10 minutes drive away.||Make time to visit Erice (mountain village above Trapani) as it was really nice.||The museum of Optical Illusions in Trapani was also good.||||Kitesurfing||||Many days of force 3 only forcing the use of big boards and kites. Mainly used 15m and 12m (75Kgs) and larger board. Only used the 9m once and a few days of no wind.||It is great for learners as its all flat water and all shallow but not good for more experienced kiters as you are continually having to avoid many people with kites at 12 and kites crashing around you. Normally few beginners get out into deeper water but as the whole lagoon is shallow it's just too busy - I would hate to see how busy it gets in end July/August.||The landing area and launch point are very small, and you have to lay out your lines and then re-wrap them to take the lines and kite to the launch point together. This resulted in most people spending a long time with tangled lines, which meant waiting around for someone to help you launch.||I would recommend that a better area to launch for people with their own kit is the KiteSurf Academy next door. ( White wooden building and American restaurant with rooftop balcony) a 1 minute walk away and hardly any other kiters using the space.||In summary OK for beginners but not as good as Club Osmosis in Elgouna. Not good for independent kiters as just too many people unless you sail a long way downwind which is not good if you have a problem as there is no rescue and you have to walk to shore in deep mud underfoot.||I would not recommend it unless you are going with...

Excellent place to stay for kitesurfing. Our apartment overlooked the lagoon so that you could keep an eye on who was out and what the wind was up to. The room was big and had a sink, oven and decent sized fridge and freezer. I got the feeling that they ought to collect all of the crockery and glasses in all of the apartments and redistribute them. As we had hundreds of side plates and only one big one. No wine glasses but two sieves! We brought our own sharp knife as these are always lacking but I suppose I like to do more cooking than most other people.|Unfortunately it was August so we were surrounded by screaming children on the terrace outside our apartment door and below our balcony. But thankfully they spent most of the day in the pool by the hotel so it was only the morning and evening which was deafening. There are three good bars on the beachfront which make very pleasant spots for sundowners. And two places that serve food if you wish to eat out. Conveniently placed between Trapani and Marsala so there is plenty to do on non wind days. There is quite a lot of weed in the lagoon so if you crash when kiting you have to be careful to try to get it off you as there is something living in it that can sometimes cause a nasty sting. But in 10 days of being in the water, and I probably spent more time in the water than most, I only got three stings. These leave a red rash like a small jellyfish. And take a couple of weeks to fade but bring some mosquito bite cream to put on after just in case. ||The staff at the resort were excellent in particular one of the boys on the evening reception desk. He lives in Marsala and so knows all of the best restaurants if you want to eat out. He really went out of his way ringing round for us on a busy night in August. Unfortunately though I don’t know his name but just look for a happy face and it will...

Today, I am more than just a little irritated! Don't call yourself a hotel, if you are actually just a hostel!|We are in a 6-sleeper flatlet.|The position is fabulous. The beds are comfortable, the position (if you're a kite-surfer) is right on the edge of the lagoon.|So, why am I annoyed?|Apart from the great balcony, and good beds, the bathroom has been horrendous. Quite literally the shower leaks so badly, you might as well not bother with the door. The problem is that it literally floods the bathroom floor, which becomes a lethal skating rink. We have complained, to ZERO avail! We went and hunted down a mop and a bucket, and before you get out of the shower, you literally have to mop the deluge, or you might die! |Today - one week into our holiday, I had to ask reception for fresh linen and towels. They literally dumped these in the middle of our bedroom floor and walked away. I got back to the apartment to this! So, we are clearly expected to make our own beds. I think I will dump the dirty linen in reception once I have remade the beds.|As if the shower leak isn't bad enough, the kitchen sink was pouring water out the cupboard below 2 days ago. I've nearly broken my neck twice by slipping in this place. It seems to be fixed now? |There is VERY little that you can call service here! If you are a kitesurfer, you get great wind. If you are a hanger on, theres not kuch of interest, other than colourful kites and a few nice bars on the waters edge. The place is beautiful, but the accommodation is just not good enough. Its all a bit rough and ready. My hubby might be coming on his own if he wants to return, and seeking a different...