I have just returned from a two nights stay at this new hotel. For the moment they have only rooms and suits in the main building. Adjacent bungalows are now being built.
The room (208) is bright, and well appointed. Decoration is in fact extremely modern and pleasant. We had a room with an huge double bed which was much larger than what is commonly known as a king-size bed, I would rather call it an ”imperial size” bed. The consequence of this, is the fact that the room seems much smaller than what it is in fact. There is sufficient wardrobe space but no drawers at all. Every room has a floor to ceiling sliding glass door that gives directly to the veranda, set with two straight chairs and a coffee table. The view from the verandas is very peaceful, due to the excellent location of the hotel. The in-room bar, with a good assortment, is fitted inside the wardrobe making it quite hot. There is a code operated safe and a flat screen TV. Bathrobes are available in the room, but there is no place to put them after being unfolded. A couple of hooks in the entrance would have been very welcomed, since the hangers in the wardrobe are in short supply.
The bathroom is marble on the walls and floor. In sharp contrast with the bed on the room, the bathtub is rather small. I felt confined inside (and I’m slimmer than the average on this country). Furthermore whenever one takes a shower it is impossible not to splash water to the floor, since there is only an undersized glass that protects partially the bathtub. Toilet and bidet are also undersized. There is one stylish wash-basin. Taps are also extremely stylish but not at all intuitive to operate. Once you have learned how to interact with the ones installed in the wash-basin and bidet, try the bathtub. A true challenge for the mind. Toiletries are good and there is also an hairdryer. Here again no drawers. I do not know if this applies to the other rooms, but mine had no toilet brush.
The restaurant is also bright. I dined there twice and have mixed feelings about it. The menu was conceived by a reputed chef in the country. Presentation and preparation show lots of creativity. On the first dinner I was totally satisfied, but on the second one I was served a very tough steak that however was tasty. I think that preparation is careful but raw material not always good. Wine list is limited but with affordable prices and one can order a glass of wine. Cutlery is more graceful than practical. Service is smiling and nice. I did not like decoration of this room, specially because there are three different kinds on chairs (each kind matches with one of the three different sizes of tables). I think that the final result, as far as style is concerned is not good, but obviously this is a question of personal taste. Curtains and fabrics of the chairs are in patterns of orange. I think this is the preferred colour of the team of interior decorators, since I also found this colour on the toilet paper of my room.
I was very intrigued by the glass staircase around the lift. This was the first time I saw stairs made out of this material. They have a sort of shock-absorbers to tackle with sudden loads.
Breakfast buffet has a reasonable assortment. Presentation is pleasant and food was good.
The hotel has other infrastructures I did not go, such as the swimming-pool and the spa, which I heard saying is rather small. There are two tennis courts. The hotel rents bicycles by the hour and kayaks.
All in all I think this hotel is very good for people wanting to relax with family and children in a very pleasant surrounding. There are infrastructures for youngsters and even the restaurant has specially designed menus to suit their particular tastes.
On the other hand there are some aspects I did not like. This hotel belongs to a renewed chain of hotels (Small Luxury Hotels of the World) but in fact it is only a four star hotel. There is no attention to small details and this is paramount in any luxury hotel. For example: Staff is kind, smiling and as far as I saw, very accommodating, but this is not trained staff that one usually finds on a luxury hotel; They put a little chocolate on the pillows of my bed the first night but they were missing by the second night; The in-room bar had no pricelist; During one of the nights I was there (29/30 March) it was the moment to set the hour ahead one hour. Oblivious of this fact, since whenever I want to relax, I do not read newspapers nor do I see the news on the TV, I ended up one hour late for breakfast the next morning. A reminder at reception or a note in the rooms should have been a good idea; The sliding glass doors of my room did not shut completely, letting the outside air in the room and even blow curtains. I suspect this is a recurrent problem around the hotel, since the same equipment is installed in the dinning room with that same result. Either they chose an ill-conceived material, or it was not well assembled; Written confirmation of my reservation was sent to me by mail far too late at 18:18 on the very same day of the check-in, when I was already on the 90 minute drive that separates the hotel from home. I only got to see the mail when I was back to work next Monday.
I think that the team running the hotel has still some homework to do and above all, must invest on travelling and be guest in other hotels, since this is the best way to learn and later apply knowledge.
Still I am not bothered at all with this experience since I paid a reasonable price for this stay and I still got a wonderful relaxing weekend on the country-side.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC