La Sciara Resort Hotel in Stromboli

This was our third stay since 2018 and it pains me to say it, but La Sciara is not what it once was.

First the positives: the amazing pool, the view, the great location in a quiet area away from the port, close to beautiful beaches. Rooms are cleaned daily, very well, and the service is friendly.

Now the negatives: the breakfast was very sad. Frozen croissants, green bananas, grey-boiled eggs. The breakfast service was chaotic: messy tables that weren’t cleaned (or were abandoned half-cleaned), coffee and hot meal orders that never arrived. The breakfast staff seemed overwhelmed, but simultaneously kind of blasé. Considering there were never more than a handful of tables at a time, it was a bit of surprise.
We once had lunch at the pool bar and had the most depressing “Strombolana” salad: 15€ for a few green leaves, slices of tomato and olives.
The rooms are very basic – not in itself a problem – but are literally crumbling. After some rain, sections of the wall in our room literally dissolved into a powder. Our room had two bedside lamps, unplugged, with only one socket to plug them in – which required moving the bed. The lever-operated plug in the bathroom sink continually got stuck, meaning the basin wouldn’t drain. Our double bed was two single beds pushed together, held together with a flat sheet. (I'm not naive, I know this is done everywhere, but for the love of god put a double mattress topper on it.) I could go on.

The price is in line with other accommodation: for August, on an island in Italy, you won’t pay less. But it felt exorbitant considering the lack of quality and care in the service.

Sadly, I think we’ve made our last visit to the Sciara.

Structure with potential but not exploited to be renovated