Relais Masseria Le Cesine - CDSHotels — Hotel in Vernole

I am just lying by the relax pool waiting for our 5pm transfer (after another fantastic lunch) and it’s bliss. ||We were a family group of 9 on the area for a family wedding and so decided to stay in for a week all inclusive at (for us) a perfect resort. ||Having read a few previous reviews I will agree that this is definitely a Italian hotel geared for Italians. Everything is in Italian all the food is Italian, drinks italian, entertainment Italian, timetable of day Italian but then we are in Italy!!! ||The staff have been AMAZING with us. The entertainment team were such fun and made us feel so welcome and included in all activities. They really made a effort to get to know us and Integrate us with all the Italian guests (I heard one English couple and a French couple everyone else Italian) special welcome to Mateo ! ||The level of English amongst staff is mixed but it’s way better than my Italian (almost no existent) but that didn’t matter because everyone tried their best to communicate with us and we had no issues at all. There are enough staff who speak good English if you need something and everyone else is just so friendly and tries their best . ||The Food, WOW!! Every meal was incredible, yes it’s all Italian (no curry night or Chinese ha) but that is what we wanted and the quality and taste is amazing . I actually thought I knew Italian food but there has been so many amazing new dishes and flavours on offer. We also liked how although it’s a buffet it’s served to you and so you don’t end up with random concoctions of food. All the food links up to make a great meal (the wine is average though in my opinion). The pizza on offer twice a day made by a true pizza master was so good. All waiting staff are professional and friendly as well as the bar staff and you can’t go wrong with peroni on draft and the aperol spritz . We also really enjoyed the special aperatif’s and the live singer. ||Rooms are nice and clean, decent size. We stayed in the Cesine in room 248 and this was a great room for us. ||Definitely a hotel for families as the vast majority of people had children (we were with 4) and so for us this was perfect.||It is isolated but we had done our research and knew this. We just wanted to be together as a family, have some fun, relax, eat well and we couldn’t have have done this in a better place. ||I didn’t know much about Italian social culture before this trip and thanks to our brilliant experience I want to know more and will definitely be returning to Italy and probably to another hotel from the same chain (to try something different) but thankyou to all staff for a amazing holiday. ||My only area of critique would be that although we loved the Thursday and Saturday dance shows on a evening and the Friday sports night we couldn’t really understand or access the evening entertainment as it included lots of talking in Italian that we couldn’t follow. We would have liked at least a little translation on this or even just more Help with actions to understand (visual prompts etc) as I said before we expected this a little but it would just have been nice to have understood more the evening entertainment. ||If you want a really Italian holiday experience I highly...

We stayed here for one week and really enjoyed our stay. Since the resort is massive you never feel like you are surrounded by people which is quite common in other resorts. The property is one of the most beautiful one's as it respects the local architecture while being modern as well. The whole place is divided into two main sections one is the main hotel area and the other is the masseria. We stayed in the Masseria. It was like a little piece of heaven, you have to walk a bit more to get there and cross an olive tree field, there is a smaller private pool and the rooms are converted from the Masseria. I don't think I have ever been in a hotel with such high ceilings, the air conditioning worked very well, the rooms were renovated (or maybe actually new!) and spotless, the daily cleaning was effective and perfect.

One of the strong point of this hotel was definitely the food as every single meal was different and special. staying at the Masseria also meant we had a private dining room in the main restaurant as well as a private Buffet. We also had breakfast in the Masseria. The staff at the buffet all wore protective masksand served us the food directly rather than allowing every guest to touch the buffet which was a great covid-19 measure. The animation safff also wore masks at all times even under the blistering sun. The restaurant in the Masseria is for guests to attend one meal with typical regional dishes. The dessert was to die for. Staying in the Masseria meant we didn't hear the evening show when going to sleep early which I imagine may not be the case for the main hotel area.

There is a nice reserve nearby for walks or going for a run though it gets very hot without the wind in August.

The few negatives we considered through our stay were: the beach has black sand and was extremely windy during our stay, we didn't go more than 30 minutes as the minibus was cramped and the beach was very unpleasant, we had to drive 40 minutes to 1 hour to the Ionio Sea to enjoy nicer beaches and meant we missed out on our all inclusive lunch. The gym had a gorgeous view into the olive fields but was not well kept, the machines were ineffective, and there was no water or mats, it wasn't a place I could use for a week and the sun heated everything up. The only pull up bar was on the kids playground... beware if you have allergies or special dietary needs as more than once we actually asked the staff whether there was meat in the dishes and they said no but then we would find it in there anyway. The animation was overall made of really lovely people and our kid enjoyed how nice they were and the baby dance in the evening however the activities were underfunded, light to say the least, amateurish for the best. The DJ in the evening show would often not do as asked by the person with the microphone it was a bit strange. Another example is that for archery there was only 1 bow for everyone which meant you had to line up and wait your turn (usually villagi have many at a time).

Overall a great stay if you want peace, good food, and a pool. Otherwise if you're looking for the beach...

This was a last minute booking. Resorts are not usually our ‘thing’, but the all-inclusive arrangement suited our needs for this week in the early season. We had an absolutely wonderful time. The resort is so clean, so well supervised and so safe. The beds are comfortable and the pools are exquisite. The regular shuttle to the beautiful beach is a plus. |What makes the Relais so special is the staff. I have never encountered a place where every single employee demonstrated such professionalism and kindness. Hotel work requires a lot of patience, tact and charm. The staff have it in abundance - from the ladies who service the rooms to the lifeguards and the entertainment crew (grazie to “the angel” Gabriele, Luisa, Esteban and crew) to the servers in the dining room - everyone was so accommodating. The service was always friendly and professional. The food in the restaurant accommodated all tastes, and it was very good. Our children tried so many new dishes and loved them all. The kindhearted maitre- Michele and his team ensured that the busy environment ran so smoothly. Always there, always discreet, always attentive. The staff behind the food counters were relentlessly cheerful even at breakfast time. They remembered how we like our coffee, they replenished the Nutella dispenser and managed it all with humour and finesse. Grazie Alesia, Luisa and co.|The bar staff also managed the busy aperativo time with calm efficiency and smiles. The aperol spritzes are an elixir! Many thanks to Anna, Isa, Marco and Andrea. I don’t know how you do it. |A special acknowledgement to Marco at the beach bar who was so welcoming every morning with an espresso and a smile. |All of these elements enhanced the atmosphere and the beautiful sunshine helped too! |We arrived to this resort tired and somewhat discombobulated, however from the minute that we arrived at the reception desk, one had the sense that this holiday would work out. Again, the ladies - Daniela, Ludovica, Emmanuele at reception were absolute pros. From organising taxis to sourcing pool goggles, nothing was too much trouble. Gianluca who brought us to our rooms always greeted us with a smile and a wave is another star. Apologies to all of the other wonderful lads and ladies whose names I forget, but whose easy charm made our stay so memorable.|The Relais accommodates Italians for the most part, but there were French, German, English and our own little Irish family to contend with.|If you are looking for an all night party facility, this place is not for you, but if you would like a family-friendly or a relaxed couples’ break, you will find yourself very...