Giancarlo Lucia
Google
Rarely do I write negative reviews. However, I am compelled to do so for our stay at Villa Lena. I had my travel agent email them directly with our concerns in hopes they would remedy the situation, which they are refusing to do. Mistakes and things happen. It's not big deal. It's how you respond to those mistakes and your effort to try and right them which matters. Unfortunately, Villa Lena is coming up way short.
We were informed prior to our stay that there was a sustaibility conference taking place during our stay and that it "will not impact our stay." Little did we know, this would not be the case. I believe we may have been the only non-conference guests there and we were an afterthought. Here is what I wrote my travel agent. Villa Lena has refused to take any responsibility and is offering us a 10% disount on a future stay.
So, on to Villa Lena. As you know, they informed us that a large corporate event would be happening during part of our stay and assured us that it wouldn't affect our experience. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case, and our visit fell quite short of expectations. Based on their reviews, this probably wasn’t up to their usual standards. During checkout, I mentioned the issues to the desk agent, and she advised me to write to you so that the matter could be looked into.
It wasn’t all bad, as there were some great staff members, like Dario and Victoria. However, the event clearly took priority, and we felt like an afterthought. For example, there was no one at the pool bar on our first night because the staff were occupied with the event. While they eventually brought someone to assist us, it took a considerable amount of time. Additionally, the regular dinner menu was unavailable because the cooks were focused on preparing for the corporate dinner service. We were only able to order pizza, though we had hoped for other options.
The next day, the pool bar remained closed, and no staff were available to serve drinks. After waiting for a few hours, we went inside for lunch, where we discovered they still didn’t have a bartender. They found a staff member to help, but she was quite young, had just started working, and wasn’t experienced in bartending. I even had to show her how to make a few drinks. The manager later apologized, explaining they were severely understaffed because the team was exhausted from the event, and they couldn’t fill all the shifts. This issue persisted for the rest of our stay, which was frustrating because they had reassured us it wouldn’t happen, and even acknowledged it was far from ideal. The pool bar didn’t open at all the following day for lunch or drinks.
Another significant issue we encountered was with the wine pours. Due to the lack of experienced staff, the pours were less than 50% of what they should have been. When I asked the server, she explained that she was told to pour “two fingers,” but it wasn’t anywhere close to the 125ml we were supposed to receive. Another guest at a neighboring table expressed the same concern and requested the bottle to demonstrate what a proper pour should look like. We were being served around 50ml per pour. Please take a look at the attached receipt—we eventually bought two bottles, which ended up saving us hundreds of dollars. Pretty wild.
Annie and I are very easygoing, and it takes a lot to disappoint us. Having worked in hospitality myself, I understand they likely made a lot of money from the corporate event. Unfortunately, it came at our expense. I think it would be fair compensation to have one night comped and for the wine glass pours to be covered.
