Our first impression of this hotel was not good. We had requested a car to collect us from the station which turned up 30 minutes late. When we arrived at the hotel no apology was made following the late arrival of the car and we were told 'the main thing is you are here now'. The accomodation was very nice if a little dated. First night in the restaurant was described as the perfect buffet. We were told that we did not need to make a reservation only to turn up to a buffet that was empty and food that was covered in flies. Not at all 5 star!! Breakfast we hoped would prove to be better. Breakfast was served ouside but undercover. Again the food was covered in flies and there seemed to be a colony of wasps present as all the food was completed covered and not edible. We complained that this was unacceptable to the waiting staff but the hotel failed to take notice. The only saving grace to this hotel was the sister hotel next door where we had breakfast and our evening meals for the rest of the holiday. This hotel still has a lot to learn to warrant the 5 star rating it has been given. Poor service, poor attention to detail, reception staff who are unknowledgable. This really is a poor hotel and i would never return or recommend it to anyone else. If you want a 5 star experience please go elsewhere. Very disappointing.

We wanted to spend part of our time in Italy on the coast for the benefit of our 3 year old son, so eventually found the Hilton Alborea complex. The lodges are very well constructed and furnished with 2 bathrooms, bedroom and living area (with sofa bed). Some lodges are open plan with a single main space including bed, others like ours have separate bedroom and living space. Very efficient air conditioning, very clean indeed, sink and mini bar were useful (we used mini bar as fridge for our son's milk and juice, plus some chocolate supplies!). Staff mostly speak reasonable English. Outdoor pool has very large ultra-shallow area for children which was great. Note that the majority of the guests are Italians on holiday or a weekend break (which was great). Hotel has private beach reached by hotel's own coach/buggy service, 5 minutes away, good sand, very clean and clear water. Main disappointment was restaurants, there was a limited menu for our son and at busy times service was poor. Price quite high too, and the beach restaurant is completely overpriced for the (not very good) quality. There are two other Hiltons at the site, one more for conferences and then the Hilton Kalderia which offers spa treatments and is more like a regular hotel layout. We ate in the Kaledria restaurant on our last night and it was much better service and menu choice than Alborea (reception organised an electric buggy, with driver of course, to pick us up from our lodge and take us to the other hotel, about 3 minutes; same service on the way back).

We did not find many good places to eat close to the hotel. Taranto is about 20 mins drive away, nice square and pedestrian shopping area once you get to the heart of the town (past the old town and the fishing dock).

Hilton Alborea was generally family friendly apart from limited menu options. Lodges were cleaned daily, to very high standard indeed, and our son's sofa bed made/unmade each morning and evening. Contrary to the Hilton web site info at time of our trip they do NOT have an ATM on site. Hotel reception let us use one of their own back-office PCs at quite times to check our e-mail (at no charge) and were generally very helpful indeed.