Hotel Villaggio Stromboli

We stayed at the end of June. On June 12th I was notified via a message; "we inform you that our beach is temporarily closed due to structural problems, however, umbrellas and sunbeds will be available on the beach 😊". When I asked for clarification, they replied "Good morning, unfortunately this sudden closure has recently occurred, umbrellas and deckchairs are working regularly, the bar and restaurant of the beach are currently closed". When I arrived, I left from Milan and it was not a walk in the park, the situation I found myself in is in my opinion much more serious than a simple temporary problem, I discovered that at the beginning of the month the entire area was placed under seizure, the beach practically no longer exists and even access to the sea was not practicable, except risking walking on rocks, at your own risk, or going around to access from another structure. Even the terraces were uncomfortable and theoretically unusable precisely because they were affected by the seizure. I immediately complained about the inconvenience, but only after insistence and our request did they "solve" it by suggesting that we go to their beach starting from the next day and 6km away. In fact losing 2 days, settling for what else the facility made available; the swimming pool, certainly not the goal of our vacation. We accepted, taking on the burden of using our car, and were reimbursed for parking. However, this meant that the real reason for the vacation at the facility disappeared, that is, to relax without having to move. Our greatest disappointment is the lack of correctness; not having been notified immediately by presenting the reality of the facts rather than a generic justification, speaking of "temporary structural problems", when in fact it was a seizure for building abuse that occurred in the first days of June. Furthermore, the now non-existent beach was kept quiet, a little rough sea was enough to not be able to use it while on their website it is advertised with images that do not correspond to reality. I would never have faced 1200km and the same on the way back if I had known what awaited us, effectively ruining the holidays.

I love Calabria for the sea, the weather, the food... I stayed a week in this hotel, but I was hoping for something better given the 4 stars... I had chosen a deluxe room with sea view and I was satisfied, the sunsets overlooking Stromboli were excellent and the room was large, clean and without any problems (apart from a few ants). But I know of other rooms with leaking showers, noisy air conditioning etc. Beautiful and clean sea, but getting there was a tremendous effort, going down (and up) on a very steep road! A struggle... there is a shuttle service for a fee per person per trip. Then you arrive at a beach that was almost abandoned to itself. Small and poorly maintained, with cemented terraces and unsafe railings. Not to mention the services: non-existent, lifeguard who came and went, bar under preventive seizure, showers not available. Luckily there were bathrooms and a bar restaurant nearby. These are things you don't expect from a 4 star hotel. Very nice pool, more than 2 meters deep, but no lifeguard for any eventuality. Food, highly insufficient: normal first and second courses of fish, but all the rest, meat, cold cuts, mozzarella, from school canteen... desserts not even to speak of, seen once and at the Calabrian evening. I had come to a structure like this precisely to enjoy foods and flavors that I do not find easily, but nothing.... I would not go back there at all...