How this hotel received such positive reviews amazes me. The staff were unfailingly rude, the hotel is in need of a good deal of paint and the centro benessere's pool was very grubby.

Despite correspondence detailing vegetarian requirements, little or no effort was made to meet these, with an antipasto of either meat or fish placed at our table each night and returned to the kitchen each night I really felt sorry for the single women guests lined up at the back of the dining room like unwanted spectres. Guest asking for variety such as an egg for breakfast were ignored.

The receptionist was, however, rude to just about everyone to be fair so I didn't take it personally. While waiting 1 1/2 hours for my bill, she was skilfully insulting to an elderly French guest who had dared to ask for a place on the beach.

We're going back to Bordighera next year but self-catering. Incidentally, several of the more approachable staff also had their own views in line with ours. This is not a lack of cultural awareness, either. I am a fluent Italian speaker and work as an interpreter and translator.