Portonuovo

“Absolutely perfect for families at a great value”

My husband and I are newly obsessed with this hotel for family vacations. My Italian relatives live 2 hours away and we are planning on returning to Hotel Portonuovo during future trips to Italy. Everything is just to EASY and well run, especially for families. This hotel must be known as family fr… more

My husband and I are newly obsessed with this hotel for family vacations. My Italian relatives live 2 hours away and we are planning on returning to Hotel Portonuovo during future trips to Italy. Everything is just to EASY and well run, especially for families. This hotel must be known as family friendly, because there were tons of kids, which was nice for our son, who made friends. The hotel offers meals plans for 3 meals a day. We opted for 2 meals a day (breakfast and lunch). The hotel is not conveniently located for quick day-time meals at off-resort restaurants. (However it is only a 10-15 minute drive from the center of Vieste, where we had dinners off the resort). Each room has a table assigned to it in the dining room, so you always know where you are sitting and feel like you have your own space. There are TONS of high chairs available and space for a stroller to be pulled up to the table (perfect for when kids fall asleep during the adults' meal time.) We found the food to be average to amazing, depending on the dish. My husband and I both agree that we have a superb shrimp risotto one afternoon. A similar system is used for the beach. On your first trip to the hotel's strip of beach (a very short walk across the street), the life guard assigns and umbrella spot to your room for the duration of your stay. Each umbrella comes with 2 lounge chairs. The sea floor stays very shallow for a very long time, which is wonderful for children. My 14-month old son loved toddling in the water and playing. Because the water is so shallow, it's also very warm, which was great for a small toddler. Other convenient hotel amenities include pool with umbrellas lounge chairs, bars/snack stands throughout the grounds, a convenience store/market (we were able to buy milk for my son, but they also had food staples, diapers, beach toys, and more), a play ground, a kids' program (like a day-camp), tennis courts, a hotel shuttle that took guests to and from the center of Vieste, and custom-organized excursions to the surrounding attractions. Oh, and you can charge everything to your room, which means you don't have to carry around a wallet. Our bedroom and bathroom were modern and immaculately clean. We also had a large balcony. The AC worked well and was comfortable. The room had a stocked mini-fridge that worked adequately. There were adequate electrical outlets and storage space. The service was really top notch and thoughtful. Everyone knew us by name on the first day and called us Mr. and Mrs. Garcia. We asked for a crib for our son. A play pen was brought to our room before we had finished out meal and went back upstairs. They had also left us plastic bags to wrap up dirty diapers and rearranged the furniture to fit the play pen into the room less awkwardly, which I thought was over-the-top service. My only criticism would be that the only elevator in the hotel was quirky. You'd sometimes have to press the button twice to call it to your floor, and the wait could be long. (However, this obviously didn't detract from me rating it 5 stars.) Best of all, we got all of this for a price that I would be more than willing to play WITHOUT the food and various charges to the room (ice creams, alcoholic beverages, etc).

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“Super-friendly staff!”

This is an excellent mainly family hotel, located about 5km outside Vieste. There is a free hotel shuttle bus although the times were a bit restricted and did not leave a great deal of time in town. However, Vieste was so busy that it was a relief to get back to the tranquility of the hotel! The s… more

This is an excellent mainly family hotel, located about 5km outside Vieste. There is a free hotel shuttle bus although the times were a bit restricted and did not leave a great deal of time in town. However, Vieste was so busy that it was a relief to get back to the tranquility of the hotel! The staff at this hotel are perhaps its greatest strength. They are all extremely helpful and friendly, including the ladies on reception, the attentive maître d' in the restaurant, the chambermaids, and also Michele, who runs the swimming pool bar, and who deserves a special mention for being so welcoming. The room had a separate wi-fi from the one in reception (both worked fine) and was clean, comfortable and spacious. There is plenty on offer at breakfast and if you aren't on half-board, there are a number of restaurants along the seafront only a few minutes drive away. The swimming pool area is very attractive, being surrounded by trees. The beach across from the hotel is well managed; each room has their own assigned sun-beds and parasol for the duration of their stay. The sea was amazing...it was like having a warm bath! There was also something heart-warming about witnessing Italian family values, with 3 generations of various families holidaying together. Even if you travel as a couple, I wouldn't let the fact that there are mostly families staying here put you off, as there were other middle aged and young couples enjoying themselves too.

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“Very good for the price”

We spent here 1 week with 3 small kids. Apart from minor troubles (mould in the furniture) it was excellent place to stay. Very close to the beach, clean, nice pool, very pleasant and helpful staff, quiet place and the beach was empty

“The Cruise Ship”

There are some very good aspects of this hotel but some very bad as well. Most of the staff are friendly. The room we stayed in was big (1st floor) but the shower small, the TV tiny and the capacity to relax there non-existent. Reports on the restaurant varied according to other guests but we found… more

There are some very good aspects of this hotel but some very bad as well. Most of the staff are friendly. The room we stayed in was big (1st floor) but the shower small, the TV tiny and the capacity to relax there non-existent. Reports on the restaurant varied according to other guests but we found the dinner over priced and poor in quality. The breakfast was better but Instant machine coffee in Italy? Really!? You had to sit in the same seats every day and waiting staff whilst in their tuxedos didn't really wait on you, they seated you and brought you some food occasionally but didn't pour drinks for example. The dining room was large and souless. The pool was good and the sun beds we generally available. For non-Europeans, the pool side entertainment until 11 pm wasn't child friendly when we don't have a siesta and if you didn't want to eat lunch in the hotel there were mimimal close by restuarants. However the beach bar across the road was good. Kids club was friendly (Francesca) for our 6 year old to an extent but with no other English speaking kids he felt a bit left out. The pool side activities were interesting to watch for one day but after that we fely like we were on a cruise ship with dodgy activities going on - some may like it, we didn't. It is 4 K to Vieste and after our terrible dinner on the first night we went into town every night. The driver was more interested in the World Cup than smiling at us. There are millions of restaurants in Vieste to choose from and some were very good. All in all we were disappointed with our experience but clearly some of the other guests were having the time of their lives - horses for courses I guess.

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