5 stars for which there are many questions

Written: 19 september 2020
Travel time: 11 — 20 september 2020
Who does the author recommend the hotel to?: For a relaxing holiday
Your rating of this hotel:
5.0
from 10
Hotel ratings by criteria:
Rooms: 6.0
Service: 3.0
Cleanliness: 6.0
Food: 4.0
Amenities: 4.0
We stayed at the Regina Blu Hotel in September 2020. We booked a room with a view and the travel agent wrote about it in the cover letter. We had a late check in (around 23:00). We were quickly given the key to the room, nothing was explained about breakfast and wi-fi. We got a very strange room: with a view of the mountain and the garbage dump behind the hotel, with wires that hung almost over your balcony. The room almost does not get the sun because of the mountain, which rests on the hotel.

But the view from the room is only half the trouble. There was no hot water in the room during the day (at that time the water was warmer in the sea). There were no hangers in the closet, the balcony latch did not work well (I even cut my hand when I closed it). In general, the room looked like it hadn't been completed in time, but they decided to rent it out to tourists.

We contacted the reception several times, talked with the travel agent and the host, and a day later we got the room we had hoped for from the very beginning - with a normal view, a balcony, hangers, an armchair in the room, toothbrushes (nothing like this was observed in the first room). We really had the feeling that we had moved to another hotel. Compare photos!

And then we rested in the hotel about which you all read reviews: with a great view, comfortable rooms with good furniture, with a private beach.

Undoubted advantages of the hotel
The hotel is located on the coast of the Ionian Sea. Why is it cool? This means that there is blue clear water and beautiful nature. The hotel offers an excellent view of the Karaburun Peninsula, Sazan Island, the views from the hotel's beach are simply gorgeous. The beach has sunbeds and umbrellas. Everything is free, there are mattresses on sunbeds.
The entrance to the water is comfortable, not counting the pebbles (but you just need to be ready for this and with the appropriate shoes or endurance : ))

Large numbers. The room has enough space, new furniture, a good bed with an excellent mattress. Sleep like at home. The linen is fresh, clean and new. The room has a large bathroom with shower, bidet, large sink. Excellent working air conditioner.

The hotel has a very Instagrammable pool overlooking the sea, a good bar where you can pay with a card (which is very rare for Albania). In the restaurant you can order pizza no worse than in Italy and good cocktails.

Breakfasts
The hotel has an ordinary, but very monotonous breakfast. For 9 nights we did not notice any changes. But in general, you can choose what to eat. There are sausages, ham, cheeses, fruits, pastries, coffee, tea, muesli.

cool bonus
Near the hotel there is an excellent fish market-restaurant where you can cook the most super-duper fresh fish and seafood on the coals (you directly choose from the fresh fish that you fry). People go to this restaurant from many kilometers. So you're in luck! And the prices for seafood are a third lower than in ordinary cafes.

Obvious cons

This hotel used to be a 3 star hotel and has been upgraded to a 5 star hotel. But let's be honest, these are honest 4-4+ (and somewhere even 3). The hotel has problems with the staff at the reception (as a rule, they just promise something and do not fulfill it). And they pretend they can't help.

Towels for the beach are issued only from 11 am. Given the heat in Albania, at this time, many are already fleeing from the beach.

Hot water problems. It is difficult to say for the whole hotel, but on the 6th floor it is clearly felt, the water in the shower is, to put it mildly, cool and almost does not heat up.
On the 3rd floor, where we were moved, there were no problems with water.

Very strange room cleaning time - at 2pm. At this time, many are already resting in the room, as it is hot outside. And every day at this time they came to us with cleaning. But cleaned clean and tidy, no complaints.

The main thing to remember is that the hotel has a decent number of rooms with a completely ugly view and service. And they have to rent them out at a super-low price, because it's definitely not 5 stars. In general, when booking a room, focus on the location of the room and request relocation. On the 6th floor, hot water is bad, so it should also be avoided.
Translated automatically from Russian. View original