VILLAGGIO RESIDENCE TORRE RUFFA ROBINSON 3 *

This would have been a better review but on checking out we learned that the hotel scams guests with misinformation in order to profit from them. First things first. Make sure you have cash, you need to pay the tourist tax in cash - holiday companies need to be better at conveying that information as we weren’t told (the tax is fine- cash only is a problem). Secondly you cannot buy anything at the hotel, you cannot even get a glass/ bottle of water, until you check in at 5pm. You will be allowed to sit by the pool or beach, but you aren’t eligible to purchase anything as your first night begins at 5pm . To purchase anything at this hotel you need to load up a hotel card for any drinks or snacks. They will tell you that anything you have left on this will be refunded. It will not. If you pay by card, even if you are assured it will, it will be it won’t be refunded. I’m not even convinced it would be refunded even if you used cash. You have no access to tap water at the bar outside of mealtimes (water from your hotel room is fine to drink and there is a fridge in your room to chill it). You have to buy bottled water from the bar or from the coop. Waiting and bar staff are lovely and helpful, but reception staff are less so, even if you’re Italian speaking. They will tell you one thing and then the lifeguards or serving staff will tell you that isn’t the case, and there’s no love lost between them. Rooms are clean and the housekeeping staff are great, really lovely and thorough. The beds are firm and the air con is good. The rooms are large but there’s very little sound insulation so if you’re not an early riser…. You will be. Access to Sun-beds depends on the time of year. We were initially shown to the posher ones and then to the ones crammed together on the beach. Both are fine if the resort is quiet and there is lots of space to spread out. They appear to shut the pool from 2-4, but not always. The local village shops, banks etc also close from 2-4 The food is excellent. I haven’t eaten this well at any other hotel. Really good selection of antipasti and roast veg with menus on display every morning. The location is great, you can see Stromboli and Etna on clear days, the beach is stony as is the area (beach shoes are a must) but they have put a curve of rocks in to create a bay which is protected even on rough sea days. The pool is ok, but a little loud with the animation team going. Dining windows are strict and very much kept to. Dinner is 7.45- 9pm and they will start winding down at 8.45. You are not allowed to fill up water bottles from the restaurant and that is strictly enforced. It’s very much an Italian resort with very few Brits, which suited us. But if you have read of the other reviews you’ll see that Italian guests also aren’t hugely impressed with the way everything is run. It’s a 20min walk to the local shop and a 30 min walk to the train station. Capo Vaticano is well worth visiting, as the beach is stunning. Sunbeds on the beach cost €20 for two but be warned, Ubers are unreliable, particularly for the return journey and it’s an hour walk back. A taxi will cost in excess of €30 whereas an uber is about €8. Pizza at the beach is a MUST. It’s great! Trainers or walking shoes are a must if you leave the resort, as the hills are epic! Up until checkout we would have booked for that resort again but the card situation soured the holiday. The reception staff treat you like an inconvenience, the other staff are brilliant. We will be returning to Calabria. 100% recommend the region. It is beautiful.

We are currently staying at Villaggio Torre Ruffa Robinson and, while there are some wonderful aspects to this hotel, there are also several significant issues that potential guests should be aware of before booking. Let’s start with the positives. The location is beautiful, the sea is stunning, the food is of a high quality and offers excellent variety, and many of the staff are friendly, hardworking and helpful. The entertainment team in particular have been welcoming and enthusiastic throughout our stay. We also enjoyed the fact that the majority of guests are Italian, which gave the resort a more authentic atmosphere and allowed us to avoid the typical “British package holiday” experience. Unfortunately, some very basic elements of hospitality and guest care are lacking. One important point that is not clearly stated on the TUI website is that rooms are not available until 5:00pm on arrival day. This information does appear on the hotel’s own website, but not on TUI’s. After a long journey, this came as an unwelcome surprise. Communication can also be challenging for English-speaking guests. While translation apps helped us and a small number of staff speak English, there is limited support for non-Italian speakers. Our arrival experience was disappointing. Our luggage was left unattended in the reception area, and our passports were taken and stored in plastic wallets within a clip file at reception. On two separate occasions I visited reception and found no staff present, while passports remained openly accessible. This raised concerns about security. There was also very little information provided upon arrival. We were simply handed a room key and asked to pay the tourist tax, which must be paid in cash. We had not been informed of this requirement in advance. No explanation was given about the resort facilities, and we were not shown where our room was located. The beach setup has been another frustration. The website states that guests will be assigned sunbeds, but this never happened during the first five days of our stay. Following a beach reorganisation, the sunbeds and umbrellas were placed extremely close together. There are approximately 72 umbrellas in a relatively small area, each with one chair and one sunbed. The result is a very crowded experience, with little personal space and guests frequently moving umbrellas to chase shade, often affecting neighbouring areas. The bar staff have generally been good, but there appears to be a lack of consistency in management policies. For the first five days, I was able to obtain water in plastic cups to take to the beach and pool. Then, without warning, a member of staff informed me this was no longer permitted. I was also refused ice and, most surprisingly, refused tap water. This was particularly frustrating given that the room fridge is very small and struggles to keep drinks cold. In all my years of travelling, I have never stayed at a hotel where I was told I could not have a cup of tap water. For me, this was the moment that summed up the wider issue at the resort: the facilities and surroundings are excellent, but the hospitality and management often fall short. We will still enjoy the remainder of our holiday because the coastline is beautiful and we have some exciting trips planned. However, if guest service, organisation and attention to detail are important to you, I would strongly recommend researching alternative options before booking. This resort has the potential to be exceptional, but at present it feels like a beautiful location that is being let down by inconsistent management and a lack of basic hospitality. Sadly I’ll find somewhere different for our next trip to this stunning region.