Hotel Hermitage in Portoferraio

i was attending a conference at hermitage, so while i didn’t stay at the hotel, the conference hall, and lunch and dinner were served at hermitage.

the site was beautiful, the hotel was easy to get around, and very close to the beach, but that is where my positive experience ends.

the servers for lunches and dinner were incredibly rude. the lunches themselves didn’t have many vegetarian options. i eat halal, so i typically choose vegetarian at locations like this since it can already be difficult to communicate my dietary requirements.

on multiple occasions, when asking a server at the buffet lunch which options were suitable for vegetarian, i was recommended an option containing ham. when i realised it looked like there was ham in my food, and asked the server what i was eating, they explained the name and history of the dish, completely neglecting the fact that there was meat. not that i expect everyone to be aware, but i am visibly muslim as i wear a hijab.

one incident i actually ATE the ham before realising, and had to ask three different servers what the small pink cubes in my dish were until i got a response. i told the manager that i couldn’t eat the ham, and that i was told this was vegetarian and asked him to take away my plate. he came back later and asked if everything was okay. i said no and explained the problem, and he walked off in the middle of me talking.

on another occasion, at one of the dinners with a set menu, i was served a meat option and politely asked for the vegetarian menu, to which a server left to go swap my dish. another server then came up to me and placed the same meat dish in front of me. when i explained that i had asked for vegetarian, and that the other server was on his way with another plate, another server came from behind this one and yelled at me. he claimed they didn’t know i wanted vegetarian, and that i need to tell them for next time. this was so bad, others at the table next to me had to ask him to stop and just get me a vegetarian option. mind you, there was another vegetarian and vegan at the table who had no issues getting the suitable menus (both were white, i don’t know if this has something to do with the situation, i will leave that to the readers discretion). i cried at the table infront of everyone in response to this.

i did not enjoy meal times at this conference, as i was anxious i would eat something i couldn’t eat, i was worried i would upset the servers, and i felt as though i was always doing something wrong.

again, i cannot speak on the stay itself, but the dining experience is enough to deter me from ever coming back.