Residence Playa Sirena — Hotel in Unione dei Comuni della Val Vibrata

We just returned from a one-week stay at Playa Sirena where we were staying in a 2-room apartment with my parents. We were using it as a base from which to visit relatives inland and therefore wanted a good-value hotel near the sea, which Playa Sirena definitely was (750 Euros in total for the four of us for the week and 5 minutes walk from the sea.) It is very much a family-focussed hotel - indeed the whole resort of Tortoreto Lido seemed to attract mainly families, which is understandable given the beautiful sandy beach and shallow water. ||||Accommodation:||||The hotel seemed quite new, or at least very newly renovated. Both bedrooms a very good size (one a triple), with plenty of wardrobe space and reasonably comfortable beds. Air con throughout (although seemed a bit temperamental in our room sometimes). Nice balcony equipped with outside sink for washing and a couple of sun lounger chairs. Kitchen/diner really well equipped with pots, pans, cutlery etc, combination microwave/oven, fridge and gas hob. The only downside was that the apartment wasn't really set up for 4 adults spending a lot of time inside as there was not much "living" space and only one very small sofa/bed for comfortable seating (you could just about squeeze two people on it at a push!) The other people have to use the hard dining chairs. However we spent a lot of time out of the room so it wasn't too much of a problem. There is also quite a complex recycling system!||||Facilities:||||The hotel has a very small bar with seating mainly outside in the covered area next to the pool. The pool isn't huge but big enough to swim - the only downside is that it did fill up very quickly with children by late morning, and also closes every day from 1-4. You also need to wear a swimming cap (although these can be bought from reception for 2 Euro). ||||Parking:||||Whilst they say on the website you can reserve a parking space in the underground garage for about 5 Euros a day, there is also a big free car park at the back of the hotel, so we used that instead.||||Eating:||||Whilst the apartments are set up well for self-catering the hotel also has a great restaurant in which the menu changes every day, you order at the counter and they cook it for you. We ate there the first evening and had a mix of pasta and meat/fish dishes with a bottle of wine, and it came to just over 40 Euros for four of us. A lot of people seemed to be getting takeaway to eat in their rooms, too. The food was basic but very good.||||We also drove to Tortoreto Alto a couple of nights (about 15 minutes by car) and ate at L'Antico Portico (absolutely fabulous, pizza by the metre and a meal with wine for 4 was 60 Euros), and L'Anchise (typical Abruzzo cuisine. Not quite as good or friendly as L'Antico, but with fabulous views over the countryside.) ||||There are supermarkets (including a Lidl) on the main road behind the beachside road if you're self-catering - about a 5-minute drive away.||||Beach:||||Tortoreto Lido was actually much bigger than I'd thought, and runs into the neighbouring resort of Alba Adratica. Playa Sirena is at the far end of the resort, so in a slightly less developed position. The beach is lovely with fine white sand and the water extremely shallow - and so very busy! As I've mentioned, the beach is just a 5-minute ||walk from the hotel. As part of your package you get a reserved beach umbrella, deck chair and lounger per apartment - so unfortunately if you have more than two people you have to take turns (even if you pay you can only hire 1 more deck chair for 35 Euros for the week). However we did see other people on beach towels in the non-hotel reserved parts of the beach.||||Resort and around:||||Tortoreto Lido is about an hour and a half drive from Ancona airport. There didn't seem to be a huge number of bars or restaurants on the seafront road- there's a small bar (Bar Fontana) next to the hotel, but most other bars/restaurants are at least a 10/15 minute walk along the seafront. ||||General:||||Gianna and Mammi, the two ladies who mainly staff the hotel, were absolutely fantastic - so helpful and friendly, both before and during our stay. Mammi even helped us sort out the late return of our hire car! ||||Overall, we had a great stay at Sirena. Whilst I'd probably not recommend it if you're looking for a quiet romantic getaway, it worked really well for us as a family base...

Our family had a two room apartment on the fourth floor, with a balcony looking out over the beach. It is at the south end of the beach in Tortoreto, and if you have never been it is a great spot. The beach is fantastic and the bicycle path and walking path go all the way through Alba Adriatica, past restaurants and gelaterias. Rent the bicycles and really explore along the beach. We love the beach in Tortoreto - and it was nice to have the reserved lounger and chair at the beach.||The location is great with a short walk to the beach, or the very clean pool - which is a good option some days.||Our stay was made even better by the welcoming staff of Gianna, who helped us with arrangements to get to and from the apartment from the train station. She was very helpful and her english was very good.||We found the accommodations very clean and the two rooms and bedding worked for our family of six (10-17). There is limited space to sit around in, but we did not do much of that - on our one rainy day everyone lounged on the beds or went down do the cafe.||The restaurant is very basic, but very good and we enjoyed a meal there, and sometimes brought parts of our meals up to our room. They were very helpful, providing me with salt and some Parmesan cheese one night. The rooms were well stocked for cooking, but I found it a bit of a problem that there were not dish clothes, sponges or dish washing soap.||||The bus service is very good and we enjoyed shopping in San Benedetto one afternoon. ||||We are from Canada, and this is our third time to Tortoreto for the beach and the Italian hospitality. We would recommend the Playa Sirena without...

Just returned from one week stay at Playa Sirena staying in a 2 bedroom apartment with daughter and son-in-law. Agree with everything above and only real disappointment was there were only two chairs on the balcony and one lounger and chair with umbrella on the beach. For a family of four (for which the apartment was big enough) we were not able to either sit out on the balcony or on the beach together. L'Antico Portico in Tortoreto Alto was fantastic to eat at but although I would say that the L'Anchise had fabulous views, I felt that the food (mine was cold) was expensive and not all that good and the waitresses not over friendly. What I would definitely agree with is the friendliness and helpful attitude of Gianna and Mami. They were great. Altogether a very nice stay and would recommend, especially...