Kempinski Palace Portoroz Istria — Hotel in Upravna enota Piran / Unità amministrativa Pirano

Unfortunately, our stay at the Kempinski Hotel Portorož did not meet our expectations for a five-star experience. We encountered several issues that significantly impacted our overall satisfaction.

To begin with, we brought our dog along, and we were charged more than what was stated on the hotel’s website. Additionally, it was not clearly communicated that dogs are not allowed on the beach. This information was absent from the hotel’s website, which was particularly frustrating as we had specifically chosen this location assuming our dog could accompany us.

Another disappointment was the dining experience. Upon check-in, we were assured that we could dine at Restaurant Sofia without a reservation, as hotel guests were always accommodated. However, when we arrived in the evening, we were rudely turned away, told that no tables were available. This forced us to venture into the old town for dinner. While exploring the town is normally not an issue, it became a significant inconvenience when we were again told we didn’t need a reservation at recommended restaurants, only to find no available seating. We spent two hours searching for a place to eat, which was frustrating.

The breakfast offered at the hotel was also underwhelming, especially considering the five-star rating. The selection was very limited, particularly in terms of spreads and cheeses. While the breakfast service team is very friendly, they are unfortunately quite slow when it comes to clearing dirty dishes and resetting tables. Plates remain on the tables for far too long, tablecloths are not replaced in a timely manner, and this attracts a lot of birds, which could easily be avoided with more efficient table maintenance, even when guests are done eating or offer to hand over their plates.

Furthermore, we were surprised to learn that there was no turn-down service or additional room cleaning during our stay, which we would have expected from a hotel of this caliber. When we inquired about this, we were told that this service is only available for suites, which we found disappointing.

Another significant issue occurred when we returned to the hotel with our electric car and needed to charge it. We received no assistance from the hotel staff. Instead, we had to manually move barriers to access the charging station, and the concierge was neither helpful nor friendly during this process. This lack of service is simply unacceptable at a five-star establishment.

The cleanliness of the pool and spa areas also left much to be desired. The pool area was not well-maintained, with missing tiles and a general lack of cleanliness. The indoor sauna area was also not clean. Additionally, the food served at the pool was grossly overpriced and far from delicious.

Overall, we were disappointed with our stay at the Kempinski Hotel Portorož and would not return. The various issues we encountered, from the unwelcoming service to the subpar amenities, have left us with a poor impression...

The Kempinski Portoroz Hotel is a very beautiful and well-maintained building. The hotel is very clean and the garden is in excellent condition. We stayed in the new part of the hotel and the rooms were very beautiful and spacious.|“Unfortunately, we arrived at a time when the hotel was holding a competition to see who could go 30 days without laughing, and an estimated two-thirds of the staff were participating.” Perhaps the only place where the staff was pleasant was the breakfast restaurant. In most cases, the service can be described as professional, but not friendly or kind. |As for the food, the high-quality breakfast deserves special praise; it is simply a Kempinski tradition that is carefully observed here.|Room service – a disaster. I knew in advance from reviews by some colleagues that room service was slow. I can confirm this: food took almost an hour to arrive after ordering, even though 30–35 minutes had been promised, and instead of an apology, we were treated very arrogantly by the waiter. We didn't repeat this.|The Fleur de Sel restaurant disappointed us. The food and service were very average. Prices were high. Therefore, we did not try any other restaurants in the hotel and ate outside the hotel.|As for the beach, the review is mixed. The Kempinski Hotel has a beach club. The left side with sun loungers is free for hotel guests, while the right side has cabanas that you have to pay for. Only guests staying in suites have free cabanas. For others, the price is 125 euros, or 60 euros after a discount.|The left side, where the sun loungers are, is very spacious. The umbrellas are very far apart. Unfortunately, there are no signs indicating that the club is only accessible to hotel guests and paying customers. So, from the morning onwards, locals gradually invade the front rows. By the afternoon, they completely occupy first row. The same situation occurs in the back rows, where the children of Cocoa bar guests invade, using the beach club as a playground. In addition, locals take a shortcut through the beach club to the parking lot to get to their cars, so the security of your belongings is non-existent. Yes, there are cameras, but they can only film someone, not catch them. Because the club is located across the road from the hotel, it does not have its own toilets. Hotel guests therefore receive a voucher (this is not a joke) which they can use to access public toilets, which are roughly on a par with those in the Paris metro. Ordering drinks is very impractical, as the staff have to run across the road from the hotel with every order. It makes much more sense to use the services of the adjacent restaurants.|To sum up, I give this hotel four stars...

I can not hide my disappointment, this is my first negative review ever. The Kempinski Palace is advertised on their website with a big photo of a nice old palace, nobody told us that we get a room in a separate standard modern building and not in the old part where are high ceilings, wooden doors, nice old palace design. There is no option on the website to choose from ''old palace'' and ''separate modern building'', I think this is not correct. On the website you can choose from a ''seaview'' and a ''park view'' - but nobody tells you that between the hotel and the sea is a park, then a double height road, then a row of boutiques, then a row of beach bars, then a beach and just then, after 3-400m is the sea, which you can not see from the room, maybe just from the upper floors in the distance. On the website there is an information, that the park view is a ''tranquil view of the park'', which is in real just a big parking place full of cars, concrete and some trees, steel flag pillars and a busy road. Right behind the ''park view'' parking place is a construction, where from the early morning we hear the construction works. Despite the fact this is 5star hotel, there is no coffee machine at the room, the pilows are uncomfortable ones, not the ones I am used to have in a Kempinski, the wifi is the slowest possible, I can hardly read the news, images are loading very-very slowly, upload speed sometimes reaching 2mb/s, it is much slower than any old 3G GSM upload. Today, I think this is a shame for the 5stars. The breakfast selection is the weakest I ever experienced, honestly, in a 4 star hotel it is much-much better. Maybe it is limited because of the Covid19 restrictions, but if this is the reason, please inform the guests about this very limited service in advance. A Kempinski must be an extraordinary experience, this is why guest paying extra money. But a room with a bad view to a parking, a nothing special room equipment, with a bad breakfast, we don't feel any extraordinary feelings, definitely not a difference from a hotel situated in any metropole. Despite this our stay in the hotel was good, everything else was okay, the desserts was extraordinary, but the above mentioned things need to be fixed, to compensate or to...