After a previous visit to Capraia, when we saw the hotel and enjoyed a quick lunch in their restaurant, we were so excited to stay here. From the moment I tried to make a reservation though, it was an awful experience. It was impossible to book online and no one answered emails. Finally, after months of trying to reserve a room, I called and booked.

Upon arrival, we were met by a van that carried all the guests from the ferry up the hill to the hotel. Not once were we greeted by the driver, assured we were getting in the right vehicle or even helped with our baggage. We sat in the hot van for 10-15 minutes while the driver stood outside and chatted to a friend. At first, I thought we must be waiting for one last passenger but that was not the case.

When we got to the hotel, we encountered 2 females at the front desk that looked like they would rather be anywhere else in the world. They threw our room key at us, argued about when dinner ended (one said 8pm and the other said 9pm) and provided no additional info about the rather large hotel property or island.

After settling in to the room, we went back to the front desk to ask a few questions. Both women made it clear that we were being burdensome. They were short and rude, even rolling their eyes at times. Throughout the stay, we asked a few questions about the bus, ferry and restaurant and were given totally incorrect information every time.

We showed up for dinner (which was included in the room but we didn't know that until we checked out the next day as no one thought it important to mention at check in) and were initially turned away. We actually had to argue with the host and ultimately just walk in and seat ourselves at one of the MANY empty tables. The only positive of the stay was the dinner -- the food was delicious. Service at dinner was painfully slow and inattentive though. A table of Italians actually complained. Italians love to take their time over meals. When they complain, you know something is going terribly wrong.

As if the stay hadn't been disappointing enough, breakfast was awful. We showed up at 8:30am (breakfast started around 8am and didn't end until 9am) and the dining room was a disaster. Dirty dishes on almost every table. Crumbs and spills all over the buffet area. It was so unappetizing and dirty, we grabbed a piece of fruit and choose not to eat or drink anything else.

The check out process was just as frustrating as the check in process. The same 2 unfriendly women had an attitude when we asked to leave a bag with valuables behind the counter. (All other bags were stored in a common area hallway, out of sight from the front desk.) Since check out was at 10am and the ferry didn't leave until 6pm, you'd think they would be prepared for people to want to store bags. But again, asking them for anything resulted in a serious attitude.

Needless to say, we were very disappointed with our stay here, in particular the staff. The rooms weren't bad. If the hotel replaced their employees, they'd have half a chance at being a high quality place to stay. Unfortunately for us, the hotel stay ruined our visit to Capraia.