I have been to Ischia twice in the last six years and stayed here just two weeks ago.

Yes, the hotel needs to improve in one or two areas, but overall, it is a very nice place to stay. The staff are extremely helpful and we had no problems communicating with them even though the only Italian I know gets me a litre of house red!

If you are planning a trip to ischia and looking at some of the negative reviews on this site, please ignore them. Ischia is a beautiful island and well worth a visit, especially as there are very few of the moaning type Brits that wrote the negative reviews on the island.

Best Western Regina Palace Terme.

I really had to have a laugh about the name of this hotel. It is certainly no Palace and is one of the most grubby looking and run down hotels that I have seen in some time. Well in need of refurbishment. Yet it charges top 4 star prices.

It pretends to be a 4 star but is a poor 3 star and certainly not up to the Best Western brand name.

 Dirty floors, curtains and carpets. Dirty, run down and basic room.
 Breakfast is as basic as you can find and the 'American style' coffee is so disgusting that we bought our own instant in a jar to add hot water to. The hot food consists of scrambled or boiled egg and bacon daily and on two days we gave up trying to scrape the egg off the tray and another day when the hot food was cold. Don't believe them when they tell you that breakfast starts at 7.30 am. It means they start to prepare at 7.30. We sat and waited for a coffee for nearly 20 minutes.
 Service in all departments is so painfully slow that you have to hunt down the waiter or attendant to get anything at all.
 If you like a drink then only one bar operates at a time, in the day it is the pool bar and in the evening the reception bar. Neither bar is properly stocked. The Bacardi ran out in the pool bar early week. Next day I expected a new bottle and was told that one had been ordered and was expected on Friday (three days later) - what? Of course, in the evening bar there was another bottle but it was too much trouble to transfer it.
 Ants and moths in the room even though it is called a superior room. Ensure that you bring mosquito deterrents if you travel here.
 All rooms on our floor had a non smoking plate on the door but our room had an ash tray which was cleaned daily by the maid. If I was a non smoker, I think I might object to this hypocrisy.
 We were told prior to our holiday that there was wireless internet in our room. It took two days to repair the system before I could use it. Of course, they blamed the internet provider.

A hotel experience to forget and a hotel to avoid.

About Ischia.

 We arrived on Ischia island via a dirty ferry that blew black exhaust smoke in our face for over one hour. They don't maintain their ferries very well.
 These people don't speak good English so if you are not an Italian speaker, skip this Island.
 Nearly everything you do or purchase is over priced for poor quality.
 Nearly everywhere you go is run down.
 Don't eat on the tourist strip. The food is appalling. The better value for money and quality restaurants are in the side streets.
 Avoid the local liqueurs, especially Rucoli, they are not good. Rucoli in particular, which is what they are famous for, tastes like Venos cough mixture.
 If you reject your food because it is low quality (especially the beef) - expect to pay nevertheless. They will nevertheless argue with you that it is fresh - there is a difference between fresh and bad quality beef.
 Stick to the fish and pasta and avoid steaks, hamburgers and other international dishes. They just don't know how to do it.
 The Italians are the best at Pizza but if your Pizza is floating in liquid, send it back and ask for a properly cooked Pizza. There is little consistency and it does depend on which cook (I hesitate to call them Chefs) is working that day. If you find one restaurant that is to your liking - stick with it and don't experiment with others because the good restaurants are few in the tourist areas. You are also less likely to be tricked if you become a regular.
 Stay away from the famous Italian lasagne on this island.
 Expect a very slow and lazy service everywhere on the main tourist areas and if you don't speak Italian expect further delays and surprises.
 Watch out for the basket of semi stale bread delivered throughout the resort. This is called a 'cover' and you will pay around 3-4 Euro each time even though you didn't ask for it. Reject this immediately. Ask for bread later and you will get it free in many places. Do the same in Capri as it costs 6 Euro, but at least the entire experience will be better value for money overall.
 If you decide to choose a live fish kept barely alive in a bowl with an aerator pumping oxygen into the bowl, don't be surprised to see your fish resurrected when you pass again an hour or two later. This is a gimmick to suggest to you that you ate the most fresh fish - but you didn't.
 If you go to Poseidon Gardens and Spa's on the No. 2 bus, expect gardens that are pathetic, rows of tourists like a Butlins holiday camp in the mid 60's and a self service cafeteria with dried up poor quality food. Obviously, you will pay sky high prices also. The sand is also shingle sand and harsh on the feet. If you take the bus or try to queue don't be polite to assist an old Italian granny onto the bus before you as the Italians will just pile on in front of you. Generally, if you do decide to do a mini bus tour that stops at several locations put something on your seat when you disembark each time. In our case we embarked in innocence. We were lucky to get a very nice couple of seats that allowed us to video and take photos from the open bus window. When we returned after the first stop, people left bags on 'our' seats to capture them. We moved the bags and resumed our journey. At the next stop, we returned to find the people sitting at the prime seats. No more we could do. But a shame to the Italian courtesy mentality again and again.
 Hot food often arrives cold in this resort because the service is so painfully slow.
 Service charges are often included in the bill but if you don't understand Italian you will not understand the bill and contribute an extra tip because that is customary. I hate this tourist trick and I consider it almost criminal. Many receipts are given in a hand written scrap of paper that often vary to the price on the menu. Check your receipts well and counter check the menu price and check the cover or included service charge. Again, if you don't speak or read Italian, you are at risk.
 Try to avoid Hair Art Work di Ciro unless you speak Italian to get your hair done. In spite of the appointment you will wait until all of the Italians are satisfied, then they will fit you in if you are not an Italian speaker. My wife waited one hour despite a clear appointment. Even when they have eventually started the service, they just go off and have a chat to some other Italians.

I am struggling to think about what I can recommend about this Island apart from its beauty. It caters mainly for Italians and they hardly speak any English.

The boat trip around the island is fantastic and shows the great beauty that this island has to offer and it doesn't seem to matter that the boat that you will go on will be run down (like most everything else there) and the food at half way is an uninspiring Italian salad and bread. Apart from the fact that there is no toilet on the boat for a 5 hour journey, it was a delight to swim into a cave.

In fact, the only problem with this beautiful island is the people and their unwillingness to maintain it and give value for money to tourists. In my 30 years of touring experience, I have not witnessed so many tourist tricks at the same time. From my scale of one to ten, Ischia would be a 3. The only worse on my scale are Egypt and Tunisia.

On the other hand, if you take the ferry to Capri, you can enjoy good food at almost the same price, have even more beautiful views, be able to communicate with everyone because they all speak English and have a much better experience. I emphasise that Capri is not much more expensive than Ischia but the difference in 'value for money' is much higher.

Probably, the best scenario would be to book an economy holiday to Capri then take the ferry to Ischia and do the island tour but above all, if you don't speak Italian, don't go to Ischia for a holiday. Don't waste your money, go somewhere else and leave this Island to the Italians.

The hotel is situated in an excellent location, in the heart, the Ischia Porto, but nevertheless in a quiet side street, so that in addition to birds singing in the mornings any noise does not interfere with sleep. In the evening also quiet.
2 minutes - and you're on the main shopping street with cafes, shops, restaurants and other things. Also very close to the beach. Our rooms overlook the garden, all rooms have either a balcony or terrace.
The restaurant is very delicious food. We had paid for breakfast and dinner. But we are the hotel for some reason made a bonus - all inclusive, ie + Lunch and any drinks. While we dined there only one time, because Happy all the time you were on the excursions, we walked around the island, but it was still nice. Breakfast - a buffet with a selection of dishes for lunch and dinner - on the menu.
At the reception there are English-speaking staff in the restaurant maitre d 'says in English. Head waiter deserves special attention. Always approached the table, said that represent specialties, recommended that you select, and generally supported the conversation - how are you so that you liked, but to go tomorrow, etc.
Hotel guests were mainly Germans and Italians.
Cleaned daily, towels, bed linen changed every day. The hotel is clean, friendly staff.
Of the minuses can be noted too small for a 4 star accommodation, though, all the rooms in Ischia, even in 5 star, small, because enough place, but tourists want to earn everything.
Otherwise, everything was at a level that we really liked.

I noticed your last reviews were several ago. I found a completely diffirent experience. II had reserved 4 rooms in all we had 15 people with us. The pool was great for the kids, the breakfast was very good. The rooms were terrific. One room we thought could have been in a better location and we requested a change at the front desk and it was changed immediately. We had the penthouse which gave a beautiful view of the Castello and Procida. I would suggest it to anyone because of the location betwen the port and ponte, Also because it is close to Bar Calise which is outstanding. I will use them again and recommend them to my friends.'