Average review score: 7.7
Overlooking the Adriatic Sea, Family Hotel Smeraldo has something for everyone, from a swimming pool with diving board to a gym. You can relax on the private beach.
“Despite the fact that we were the first British family to stay there all year (yes really), the staff ensured that we had a really lovely experience; the barman, Gregory, was a fount of information about the local area, even offering to drive us to the local water park during his break), and the receptionist did everything she could to make us feel at home. Lunch is at 1pm at this hotel; we arrived at 2:20 and were immediately introduced to the maitre d' and shown to our table for lunch. When I explained that our son is autistic and likes his pasta served only with cheese, there was no hint of a problem and he was soon tucking into a plate of lunch.
Food here was delicious; we don't usually opt for anything other than breakfast, but the upgrade to full board was so ridiculously cheap that were were tempted to go for it. Every morning we were presented with the day's lunch and dinner options; we always went out for dinner because 8pm seems rather early, and sometimes we were still in the sea at that time. Lunch was a three course affair, with a lovely salad bar and complimentary wine and water. Service was courteous and friendly and there were several little extra treats during our stay, for example pre-lunch cocktails on the lawn one day, and a hog roast one evening which formed part of the traditional dinner from the Abruzzo region.
Bikes were available for free and were in plentiful supply. If you take them for over an hour you pay a euro for each hour; this is good value since the hotel is quite a long way from the town and buses are not desperately frequent.
The private beach is across the road; each room is allocated a parasol and two sunbeds for the duration of the stay. The hotel has two lifeguards, one for the pool and the other for the beach; both are friendly and go out of their way to be helpful.”
