Hotel Ristorante Castello Orsini — Hotel in Nerola

Terrible. We had a 3 week stay here while working nearby.

To start.. The views are breathtaking and the hotel itself is captivating. It would make a great trip for one night, if not just to experience the grandeur of a staying in a castle.

The problem is that this is a 3 star hotel with all the pretentiousness from staff that you'd expect of a 5 star hotel.

There are 5 main issues, which finally ended in me losing my temper.

Issue one: The lock broke. The key has 4 different sides. So you have to make an intuitive guess as to which way it goes in to unlock your door. Eventually, like rolling a dice you will get lucky. The lock broke after 4 days( they didn't fix this until I was moving out for one night to be replaced by another guest)

Issue two: I was waiting for an important letter to be delivered. I Asked the staff each day for 3 days if it had arrived. They'd pause, tap around on the computer (I have no idea why, very little Britain) confer with each other and then finally say 'no sorry'. After the third day I went and peeped through the gap in the hotel post box and it was there. I told one of the managers walking near by. He said they'd bring it to my room...

I had to go and collect it at reception after waiting for 3 hours.

Issue three: I accidentally left two books and goggles by the sunbeds. I went and asked at reception if anyone had seen them. They said no. I didn't want to be patronising and suggest they look in lost property so I left it at that. But, lo and behold, my colleague saw the items in the hotel lost property/storage room.

Issue 4: I had to move out for one night. When I came back I found that the air conditioning was now broken. I asked if I could move to a different room. They said "I'm sorry, but we have nothing. Just leave your windows and doors open to get a breeze"(something the manager 'andrea?' would lie about later). The next day they managed to get the air con blowing but it was just blowing hot air with no temp control. One of the managers later on said 'we've fixed your air con for you'. I was so fed up at this point I just smiled and nodded. Couldn't be bothered to explain the new issue.

Issue 5: The main one. One of the first times I have ever lost my temper.

A clothes wash is 15 euros. I asked the girl at reception to wash one small bag of clothes before leaving two days later.

The woman at reception said they'd be in my hotel room by the morning next day. Of course this didn't happen and they were all still damp after I collected at reception.

Finally, at checkout, they wanted me to pay 60 euros for my wash! Apparently they had pressed them which costs 45 euros (I didn't even know that option existed).

I had just asked for them to be washed and I was arguing my point with the blonde lady at reception. She then threatened to call the police if I didn't pay. They reduced the price by 50%. If it wasn't for the fact that I had all the other problems I may have let this go..

Unfortunately she went on to accuse me of breaking my lock and stating 'we should have charged you for this. Luckily we didn't' - and finally - when arguing about the fact that I had a faulty room for 50% of my stay the manager 'andrea' (the blonde lady was talking on the phone to him) suggested that they gave me the option to move rooms!!

I lost the will to live, and found their desporation to take just a little more money off me laughable.

I believe in honesty and had faith they would admit their mistakes. This was a disgrace. Due to my colleague waiting for me as we had to catch a flight I had no option but to pay.

It, being a castle, is completely shut off from the community. They don't have maps, information about busses and trains and no information about the surrounding areas. They seemed to resent the fact that me and my colleagues would eat out of the castle every evening but frankly the food isn't that great, with no atmosphere present in the castle.

Definitely Style...

This self awarded 5-star hotel is not to be compared with 5-star Forbes/ 5-diamond AAA awarded hotels. The 5-star rating is misleading as it doesn't provide the service or quality of such a rating. The bedroom furnishings were in bad condition and the carpet was stained and discoloured. The shower was connected to the tap and with no fixtures to hang it to the wall. Some towels were worn through and there was an assortment of different branded toiletries. Breakfast - fruit salad from a tin! I don't think the pastries were made in-house either. The quality was basic but plentiful. Billard room was equipped with half the number of balls needed and cues without tips or chalk. Wifi didn't work in our room, terraces or by the pool.

This castle hotel has the potential to be so much better. If they want it to be 5-star then they should charge 5-star prices and provide the service and quality that is expected. It's a half-hearted effort to...

Attenzione! Di 5 stelle non ha assolutamente nulla!!! Luna di miele, prenotiamo una suite all'interno del castello, al nostro arrivo troviamo una stanza molto grande ma di uno squallore unico. Lascerò le foto in allegato per permettere a chiunque di fare le proprie considerazioni. Iniziamo dal letto: due reti ed un materasso accostati ad una parete umida e piena di macchie di muffa. Assenza di copriletto e coperte! Assenza di comodini e lampade da notte. Nella stanza principale prese elettriche scoperte, fili e prolunghe elettriche, condizionatori con pezzi mancanti, divano vetusto con buchi sullo schienale, un mini frigorifero buttato in un angolo della stanza. Ricordiamo che si tratta di una suite! Passiamo al soppalco in cui avevano riposo il letto aggiuntivo per il nostro bimbo. Divano letto con una doga rotta,, lampade da comodino senza interruttori (on/off metti e togli la spina) moquette macchiata e vecchia, pareti con macchie di muffa. Per ultimo passiamo al bagno della fantastica suite: puzza di fogna nauseante, tazza con bidet incorporato, vasca da bagno con idromassaggio non funzionante,, collegamenti elettrici con nastro isolante, al nostro arrivo acqua sporca all'uscita dai rubinetti del lavandino. Riscontrato quanto sopra esposto mi reco in reception sperando si trattasse di un errore. Ed invece no! Non hanno suite disponibili per il cambio, o meglio non hanno personale di servizio per fare aggiungere un letto aggiuntivo per il bimbo in altra camera. Non siamo in piena notte ma bel alle 15.30!!! Chiedo di parlare con il direttore e, incredibile a sentirsi, non è in hotel e, avendo terminato il suo turno non può essere disturbato telefonicamente. (Servizio da 5 stelle?) Ad ultimare la presa per i fondelli mi riferiscono che riporteranno la lamentela al direttore il giorno dopo! Per non rovinarci completamente la serata procediamo con visita guidata al castello e cena riservata alle prigioni. Location, cibo e personale di sala impeccabili. La conferma dell'incapacità nella gestione dell'hotel è avvenuta il giorno dopo al check out. I due receptionist non hanno accennato al problema nè hanno provato a scusarsi. La direttrice,seppur presente, non ha avuto la decenza e professionalità di farsi vedere. Saldato il conto siamo andati via... sicuramente non torneremo mai più. Peccato davvero per il ristorante, il servizio e la location che come dicevo meriterebbe il massimo della...