Smadalaro Gard Hotell & Spa

We stayed at this hotel from 20th to 23rd July 2022. The archipelago was the highlight of our southern Sweden round trip (2 adults, 2 children 9 and 13). We have been looking for a romantic hotel in the archipelago for a long time, next time we would rent a cottage. We booked a "large" family room. When we checked in, the lady said (ironic?) that we had more space there. The room turned out to be so small that we couldn't even open a suitcase on the floor. We asked to be moved to another room which was given to us with much reluctance and astonishment. By the way, no one helped us to drag our suitcases up the stairs (no elevator in the building next door). Still tiny, but big enough for the four beds to fit, at least. We lived out of a suitcase, since there was no possibility in the room (2 small shelves and 4 hangers) to unpack only the bare essentials. The bathroom with shower, single sink and toilet was measured 2.3 m2. Flooding when showering included. The nice thing about the room was the lovely blue wallpaper and the location towards the forest. There is no sea view in this category. When we arrived we wanted to go to the spa. Again, nothing: children are only allowed to go to the spa until 12:00 noon, entry costs about 50 euros per person on top, even if you just want to swim in the pool. So no pool for the kids, since the outdoor pool is only accessible via the spa. We went for a swim in the sea which is wonderful, which at 18 degrees just isn't for everyone. The pool would have been a nice addition. The hotel doesn't provide towels for the sea either, but bathrobes are provided! Today (22.7.22) we tried the spa again in the morning and came across an extremely nice employee. Since the spa is not fully booked (book in advance!!) we are allowed to stay until 3:00 p.m. and only paid 900 SEK in total. The spa is wonderfully laid out!! We went to eat in the brasserie which is in a really wonderful location and the food was delicious too! We had booked a table all evenings in advance, which unfortunately didn't work properly and only with discussions as to why we wanted to sit outside when that was stated in the reservation confirmation. The system was down and it was not possible to write the food to the room. There is no served terrace, this is self-service, drinks are to be picked up inside the house. All in all, wonderful location, restaurant romantic, individual employees very hard. Overall a little loveless with outliers, service could be improved significantly, commercial and apart from the location, the costs are not in relation to the performance. It's a fine line between a relaxed atmosphere and waiting 20 minutes for someone to clear the breakfast table from our predecessors....