I have been meaning to write a review for some time because from reading many of the the reviews on Trip Advisor I cannot recognize this beautiful SPA.
I find especially pernicious the opinion of the person who without ever having actually stayed in the hotel, was warned by a their B&B host to "stay away". I do not think that Trip Advisor should have printed that review. It is very true that many of the local small hotels are critical but there is such a long history of rivalry and jealousy between the major hotel and its competitors that these opinions are not valid in a review such as this.
I have stayed many times on weekends in the Hotel over the past few years when I was working in Rome. Now I have a house of my own in the area and and although I no longer need to stay in the hotel I still use the SPA regularly (2 / 3 times a week when I am in Italy). Therefore I feel very competent to both praise and criticise.
The SPA is beautiful. They facilities for massages and treatments are second to none in the world. They are not cheap. But the price quality relationship is good.
The outside pools are divided into 2. The original "Sorgente" pool which is inside the hotel area and the public pools. I use both regularly.
The public area which is very large is open 7 days a weeek. Locals pay a reduced rate.
The "Sorgente" the main thermal pool, is open to the public from monday to thursday for an extra 1 Euro. However on weekends this extra is raised to a very high amount deliberately to discourage the mass public from invading the main pool of the hotel where there are guests paying large amounts for their hotel rooms. I consider this to be a very reasonable way of keeping what is a public spa open to the ordinary local residents during the week but maintaining its exclusivity for the hotel on weekends. It is TOTALLY false to say that the hotel pool is overrun by hordes arriving on a pullman bus. Even the public pool is normally busy but quiet except maybe on the occasional saturday or sunday coinciding with a public holiday. On these days yes it is better to avoid it.
The reviewer who complained about having a massage with sheets separating them from sick people has never had a massage in Saturnia where all the "cabins" are separate rooms with all marble fittings. If there are occasionally sick people around (and I have never observed many) that is normal I think in a SPA.
The hotel is beautiful and comfortable and I have always found the staff pleasant and attentive and as a single woman I have always felt welcomed and comfortable. I even spent 5 days there at christmas a couple of years ago. The views of the main pool from the terrace are stunning. The "stench" another reviewer mentioned is a very personal reaction to the scent of the sulphurous water. I find it attractive and undoubtedly you cannot have a sulphourous termal spa without the smell.
Finally I am not an Italian although I do speak Italian and I have never felt that foreigners are treated any differently to Italians in this hotel.
The negatives. The rooms are expensive and I think the bathrooms in the main building are not up to the standard you would expect of a hotel of this category and need refurbishing. The bathrooms in the new wing are better.
Although the breakfast is very good, I find the restaurant lacking in variety (very little fish, typical of the Maremma but still.....). The quality of the restaurant has always left something to be desired (although I must admit I have not eaten there recently). Yes there is no night life in the surrounding area if that is what you want although culturally there is a lot to see and there are some really excellent restaurants.
I recommend Saturnia all the time to my friends and no one has complained (except for the price of the rooms). Yes, it is expensive but no more so than other luxury hotels.
- Spa Terme Di Saturnia
- Terme Di Saturnia Hotel
