Hotel Pini in Sarande

We rented a scooter from Hotel Pini for two days. The seat lock was broken and it sounded like it had not been serviced too frequently, but it seemed otherwise ok and we took it. The scooter died 25km from the hotel and we pushed it to the closest gas station. We called the hotel, but they were very rude and insisted that we had broken their scooter by driving too many kilometres. After many phone calls they agreed to come pick it up (the next day). When they came, they did not as much as greet us. Not a word of apology, let alone refund. Actually we had to be very firm in order to get back our collateral ID without having to pay extra for "breaking their prima condition bike"!

I walked up the entrance stairs and was told to “HO! I got an angry look and was not allowed to go any further. When I said he could laugh the young man got angrier and “F#ck of” was the answer. Another kind of welcome. Next stop and good luck with the future of this hotel.

We didn’t manage to stay at this hotel so this review is about their fraud and lying. Just like many touristic companies and institutions in Albania, this hotel in the most touristic city in the country tried to make me cancel my reservation on *********** with very twisted ways and when they failed, they admitted that they overbooked the hotel but only one day before arrival By this time everything is booked in the area or is very expensive in august They could have been honest since the beginning or communicated well but both proper communication and directness is not in the skill set of people here including apparently touristic companies dealing with foreigners and making their vacations very hard for them This is the 4th problem we face in Albania in 4 days of this kind, very bad image these companies and people give to foreigners, they clearly still don’t understand the power of recommendations and reviews online but maybe they will one day Also clearly the majority of these companies don’t care if your trip is ruined or not because of them. I have visited every country in Europe including all smaller ones and Albania was my last and it’s a very unique country in how they treat tourists at hotels and tour operators with no care, with lies and disrespect, it doesn’t feel like Europe at all.