Hotel Girasole in Sorrento

We were given a ground floor rear room. Corridor horrid, the room was very basic, the shower room was unhygenic. There was a slow seepage from the base of the loo when it was flushed a couple of times in quick succession. The shower tray was crazed at the back and the tray itself had ingrained brown in the middle. There was a shower curtain - very unhygenic. The radiator was rusty at the bottom and the top was dirty. When we arrived it was 23oC but the heating was on. The air conditioning did not work. We had to leave the french doors open even overnight because it was so stuffy. The shutters could not be locked from the inside securely because you could just lift a slat in the shutter, put your hand through and open it. The road noise was horrendous. For the first 2 nights we had extremely little sleep. This was a 2* room. We were then transferred to the first floor where the room was 3*, totally different. Proper furniture rather than white formica, the shower room was altogether better although as a size 12, the shower doors opened wide enough to let me get in sideways. Another lady said she had not been able to wash her feet because the shower tray size is very small and she could not bend over in the shower. On the bright side, there are pleasant gardens with lemon and orange trees and a good seating area. The pool is very clean and a good size. Plenty of loungers and a seating area and small bar. This outdoor area was excellent. The food - breakfast was mainly cakes and sweet things. Dinner was okay, a good starter, a very small main and a pudding. The food was of reasonable quality but forget your 5 a day! We were also put on a shared table of 6, got this reduced to 4 and then finally a table for the 2 of us.

Hotel Girasole – Sorrento: Please take the time to read the reviews for this hotel before booking. Unfortunately, we did not do so, and yet our experience closely reflected the concerns raised by many other guests. My friend and I were booked into Hotel Girasole by our tour operator, Citalia. Although we have travelled extensively over the past ten years, this was the first holiday we felt we had no choice but to cut short. We requested to be moved to alternative accommodation but were advised by Citalia that this would incur additional costs of over £2,000, or we could find our own accommodation. Having already paid £4,600 for this holiday, we were not in a position to make any further payment, and as two elderly travellers, we also did not feel safe wandering the streets of Sorrento late at night, to find somewhere else to stay. The situation caused us considerable stress, and as a result, we stayed only one night before returning home on the earliest available flight. Although our booking was half board, we chose not to eat at the hotel. The accommodation did not meet our expectations for either cleanliness or comfort. After raising our concerns, a member of the housekeeping staff insisted that we had been allocated one of the hotel’s better rooms. This was particularly distressing given the condition of the room and the fact that our long-anticipated trip to Sorrento was effectively ruined. Hotel Girasole is dated and situated on a very busy main road. The constant traffic noise and fumes were overwhelming, and the narrow pavement made walking to nearby restaurants uncomfortable and unsafe. In our opinion, this location is not suitable for families with young children. The room itself had visible dirt in the corners, a shower room we found unhygienic, and extremely limited space around the toilet, which could only be used by sitting sideways. There was minimal bedding and only one electrical socket. Overall, the standard fell far below what we expected given the overall cost of our trip. We share this review in the hope that others do not make the same mistake we did.