Hotel Marinedda Thalasso & Spa

This holiday cost us €6000 for 7 nights for interconnecting rooms for a family of four, half board. So we were expecting a wow factor. It lacked that. Once there everything was triple what you’d pay normally so we spent another €1000 and that was being half board! We arrived late, 11.30pm and all we wanted was our beds, but we were brought immediately to the restaurant. Then we were left there for ages, not knowing what was going on. A waiter, with no English arrived and served us sushi, something that my children would never be into. It was just very odd. We could not eat it so late. I then requested to go to our rooms and was told I had to pay the remaining balance in full before receiving the key card. Another odd experience. We paid up and were brought to the room. We had been promised rooms with amazing sea views, but were put in rooms 531/532, furthest from the sea, right next to a busy road. It was so dark and creepy. Plus it was the furthest rooms from the pools/restaurants. I was very upset by the whole welcome experience, just so odd and off putting. The next day, I checked out the view and it was minimum. You could only see the sea of you stood up and only from the twin bedroom. All the hedgerows were blocking it. For 5 star the bedroom decor was very dated, lacked a wow factor. The bathroom had no hand soap and no face cloths. I rang reception and looked for them and asked if the hedging could be cut to allow the sea view to be seen. Then Mario the manager arranged for us to move rooms, to the heart of the resort over the reception. Even though he warned us the rooms could be noisy, the views were spectacular. Once we moved we were much happier. Felt like we were no longer in the middle of no where. The resort itself, the pools and beach were fabulous. Always plenty of loungers with umbrellas. That’s what made the holiday. The food was only ok. We were half board. Breakfast was good, with lots of options though weirdly you had to pay €10 for orange juice if the free juices were not to your liking. In a 5star I’d expect fresh juice, but the juices came out of cartons, always smooth no bits. We got lunch at the pool or beach bar and typically spent €70 for lunch for four. So very pricey. Coke was €5, and a tiny glass of Prosecco was €8, it was about 2 gulps. We had the buffet each night as because of our first night experience in the restaurant we were afraid to try the main restaurant again. The buffet was lovely but by night 6 we were tired of it. I felt it lacked being kid friendly, for example there was no pizza or ice cream!! Again at dinner we’d end up spending another €30-40 on drinks. The hotel offered a shuttle to nearby village. It was a little rundown so we did not avail of this service much, which was a pity. Also warning, lots of mosquitoes so come prepared. My husband got lots of bites! On the whole I was very disappointed. Thinking back I felt we were never properly welcomed and I wonder was it because we arrived so late.

Pro’s - amazing food. - location, very close to the beach and Isola de Rossa as small town, but still not crowded at all. - staff members have a great attitude and really make sure you have the best experience possible, with a smile. - rooms are clean and nice to be in. - the beach you can rent an umbrella with beds for a half day or day, for a good price. - you even can be brought to the beach on a (looks like golf) car and back up to your room. - when something goed wrong, staff will go all out to or fix it for you, or come with an alternative, in our case the airco was broken and we got an upgraded room (junior suite) and made our experience even better! - because of the airco issues, we slept in 3 different rooms ( 4 days, 1 day, 9 days) and in all the rooms, the view was great! Because of the height difference even on the park, most rooms have a great view. And the park has great scenery. Cons: - high prices for lunch opportunity’s (the food is great though)

The only description for this hotel is “ Outstanding”. From check in - to check out the staff are all and without exception, very helpful, friendy and attentive. Set on gentle slopes, the rooms are spacious, kept very clean and topped up with essentials, with free bottled water a real bonus. As a party of 3 adults we opted for a suite with sea view and a standard room, both were perfect and the large beds very comfortable. Breakfasts were copious with a large buffet and wonderful omelets cooked fresh to order. Similarly the buffet evening meal had an incredible choice of antipasta, mains and desserts of all type. Staff agin very attentive, collecting used plates and replacing cutlery promptly. We quickly found the a la carte table service restaurant ( also included in HB) and opted for this most nights. Food here is first class and service excellent. Staff soon got to know us and we enjoyed their friendliness. The pools were well maintained and with poolside service a good place to relax. As was the beach, which offered a good view and a very pleasant bar with a limited but good choice of food. The hotel is as said , built onto a hill side, however staff using the electric buggies happily stop and offer lifts. This is a real benefit on hot days. Some may comment that prices are a little on the high side, but to be honest, whilst they are, you get what you pay for plus more …so well worth the cost. The one exception being that you have to pay for sun loungers on the beach, even as hotel guests. To just confirm the levels the hotel go to, we checked out at 05:30. The hotel provided us with a well stocked breakfast box each. Thank you Marinedda for helping to create some wonderful memories.

My Wife and I had the most wonderful holiday as a couple since our honeymoon on Sicily 27 years ago! Kids flown the nest and time for us to enjoy some US time. The hotel was perfect, is well kept, has the most smiley, happy and welcoming staff of any resort we have stayed at. We relaxed immediately on arrival, ate some of the nicest food we have ever eaten at a buffet restaurant, the choice was just amazing, the quality was excellent. the Spa was SOOO relaxing. The beach was excellent for swimming and watching the surf event on the Sunday! Thank you team smiley and we will be back!

Very nice and romantic hotel. If you want to find peace and tranquillity this is the place to go. Food very good . The staff working at this place are incredibly friendly and the service is simply excellent. The views from the rocks are astonishing and you can find a lot of privacy. You can also use the hotel next door (5 stars) for dinner and to change environment

The standard of staff friendliness and helpfulness is extraordinary. The hotel is laid out tastefully and in keeping the environment. The hotel is very environmentally sensitive. The food is outstanding

A beautiful hotel with a fantastic team of people dedicated to making your stay welcoming and enjoyable. It's a ten minute walk into Isola Rossa where there's a good selection of restaurants with all price ranges. In the evening there's a locally run tourist 'train' that goes from the reception at 8.30pm into Isola Rissa and returns at 11.30pm. Its only a few euros and quite a fun if bumpy experience to have at least once! Once you've tried the Hotel's evening buffet though you may be tempted to just eat there. Its an extensive selection with variety throughout the week and at €45 per head is great value and high quality. There are spectacular views of the sunset. The lunchtime snacks in the poolside bar and restaurant are also very good. The team there were particularly friendly and efficient. The hotel has a private beach with a beachfront cafe bar. Only went there once for a drink but again looked good and it was nice to see staff serving complimentary cool melon to guests on sunbeds in the afternoon sun. An overlooked and underutilised feature is the Hotel's Thallaso Spa. We bought a three day package which allowed a two hour entry to use the three saltwater pools (one indoors) of varying temperature. This package also includes a hydrotherapy treatment and 25 minute massage. We also paid for a longer massage and manicure. I'd expected the spa to be very busy but there never seemed to be more than half a dozen people there. The rooms are laid out like a small village on the side of hill, with a beautiful wild garden. The main hotel is divided into two areas, one with main reception, a la carte restaurant and poolside breakfast and lunch restaurant. The second area has another bigger pool snack bar and restaurant and hosts the evening buffet. There's a range of different sized rooms as you'd expect in a five star hotel. Decor is traditional Mediterranean, light and airy with very efficient air conditioning. But it's the Marinedda team that make this place special. Every member of staff we met or passed during the week greeted us with a 'good day' or 'good evening' and they generally seem a happy bunch which makes for a good atmosphere.

My husband and I spent 9 days at the hotel with our 18 month old. It is in a beautiful location and the beach is fabulous. In general staff were very friendly and very helpful. The weather wasn't great while we were there so there were limited options for us to do anything other than sit in our room and wait out the rain. As it was the start of the season only one restaurant was open in the evening time which was disappointing as eating in the same place for 9 nights is a lot. We would have at least liked the pizzeria to be open as an alternative. The food, particularly the fresh fruit, buffet appetizers and desserts are very good. We would caution the inconvenience of the only dinner option starting at 7.30pm (always delayed to 7.45pm) which was far too late for us and we ended up rushing each night as our son was exhausted and needed to be put to bed. Even a 7pm start would have made such a difference. Room was clean and comfortable. The bathroom/shower could do with some updating. Main frustration with the hotel is the overpriced below par lunch options. Lunch at the beach bar arrived cold and was poor quality, especially for the price. Such a shame when breakfast/dinner options are good. Also, you can't drink the tap water so you have to purchase water constantly which we thought was a bit much for a 5 star hotel. Typically this is offered complimentary.

Outstanding facilities, lovely and attentive staff. We were very well looked after. The standard and quality of the main buffet restaurant (always outside in the summer season) was incredibly good. The pools were good and always plenty of room. The lunch options are mixed - limited bar menu, and the lunch buffet is not good value for money, but acceptable. The beach is private and well serviced, but extremely busy. That was fine for us since the kids preferred the pool. We had previously stayed at Valle dell’Erica, the group’s flagship 5 star. Vd’E is a league apart (in terms of setting, beech, food options), but not at 2x the cost.