Perhaps this is a four-star hotel by Sicilian standards, but for anyone who has more experience of quality hotels, the Tritone really seems like a two-star hotel. It really is quite a nightmare to start your stay by having a feeling of being cheated by the staff. Upon arrival (we had no reservation) we were told there was a room at the rate of 150 EUR. We were then showed the room, and once we had accepted the room and the rate and signed in at the reception, the man at the reception told us we would actually not have the room we were shown, but rather another room, "a much better one, closer to the pool". We then asked to see that room (sensing a fraud), and came to see that it was not as good as the room that was used to sell us the stay, but was slightly smaller, with poorer location on the ground floor (poorer view and in the immediate vicinity of the pool) and with no bathtub. We said we preferred the first room, and so we did get that one, but we were told we might have to change rooms for our last night. No one from the staff contacted us about having to change the rooms, so we thought, of course, that everything was ok and we would be allowed to stay in the same room. Come the evening of our last night, I approached the reception to inquire about internet access. The manager immediately snapped at me, "You have to leave today" (his English was not good, so I assume he meant to say we ought to have left that day). What a nice and polite way to approach a customer, isn't it? I said "excuse me", and then he directed me to a member of the staff, the man who had shown us the rooms upon arrival. This young man was even more rude in his speech, basically accused us of staying in the room and having caused a big problem, but that the problem was now solved. He went so far as to mock our wanting the nicer room: "I showed you a better room but you say no, no, we want the other room" - as if it was a big crime from a customer to want the best room available. :-D It felt as though he was merely pissed off at not having been able to pull off his scam on us, and that he wanted to unleash his wrath on us for doing that! :-D I have never encountered such behaviour from any staff member in any hotel. The manager just stood there and accepted this in silence.
Upon arrival we also said we were looking for a hotel with a swimming pool; indeed, that was our primary criterion. No word was said then about the fact that on the third night there was a wedding at the poolside, with the pool area closed for the whole day. The restaurant of the hotel was also closed for the evening. During the evening of the wedding, a live band was playing music loud until after midnight; it would have been impossible for anyone to catch sleep while the wedding was on. Essentially, the four-star hotel was reduced to a two-star hotel for a day, but no one cared to inform us about this downgrading neither was it possible to negotiate a smaller fee for the room.
The food in the a la carte restaurant was mediocre but very pricey. I would not have thought that three small plates of salad (just veggies, no cheese etc.) could cost 9 euro each. Some of the pricing was outright ridiculous. 9 euro also for a piccolo of basic Italian sparkling.
I have never come across a more impolite, unprofessional and childish staff at the reception. They have no conception of what their role is, where their salary comes from, what their task is and how they should relate to and speak to a customer. They seemed to take personal offense if what they offered was not accepted, and then wanted to pay it back with insults. Crazy people. The people at the restaurant were polite, but the reception staff was right out of a nightmare, and we would strongly advise against paying a four-star price for a room at this hotel. At least, if you do go, be aware of the possible stunts they might try to pull on you.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
