Il Podere

Recent Reviews: 312

• User:JonathanB602

  Trip type: Couples

  A nice stay with a few hiccoughs

  31 Jul 2021

  I booked this as a last-minute getaway and things started off well enough. The structure itself is quite beautiful and very tastefully furnished and decorated with two wondeful pools. The very friendly receptionist informed us straight away that there were wedding banquets booked for both evenings we would be staying there, which didn't bother us at all, but I heard some other guests complaining the next morning at breakfast about not being able to sleep until late (from the looks of things, it seems like banquets are this place's bread-and-butter business). Unfortunately, even the the name is "Il Podere Hotel e Ristorante", we were also informed that the on-site restaurant is no longer in operation, so we had to venture out for our meals. Again, this was not a problem for us, but for anyone expecting to spend their entire stay on the premises, I can see how it would be an annoyance to make that discovery upon arrival. The evening/night receptionist was very helpful, even loaning us a phone charger that we had forgotten. Breakfast was fine, nothing out of this world, but all very good. The day before we were due to check out, I asked the morning/daytime receptionist if it would be a problem for us to spend a few hours at the hotel pool after checking out, and he acted as if it would be a huge inconvenience, telling us in the end that it would be OK "maybe for about an hour. Long story short, we turned up to check out the next morning well before the 11:00 deadline (at around 10:20) and he immediately informed us that, despite having told us (begrudgingly) that we'd be able to stay and use the hotel pool, due to "force majeure" (not sure he really knows the meaning of that term), we would not, in fact, be permitted to do so. We told him that this was the first time we had ever been denied the use of a hotel pool after checkout time, but he insisted that it just wasn't possible, due to the famous, aforementioned "force majeure". Irritated, but not wanting to spoil what had been an otherwise pleasant and charming getaway weekend, I didn't bother asking to speak with the manager but rather politely made sure he was aware of my displeasure and toom my leave.

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• User:Sandra P

  Trip type: Friends getaway

  Awful

  22 Oct 2018

  Arrived here with friends on a food and wine tour.Greeted by a friendly receptionist who informed us no food was available and the bar was shut.This was about 7.30 in the evening!!!!She did get us a couple of drinks from the closed bar and some crisps.We had been driving for over 3 hours so did not want to go out again as this hotel is in the middle of nowhere and a lot of the roads were flooded.The water was cold and it took a few visits to reception the next morning to finally get warm water.The safe in our room didn’t work and we were told it would be sorted but never was.Breakfast the next morning was really poor.Cold scrambled eggs and bacon which was never replenished and not enough for 6 people staying in the hotel!!!!!Miserable waiter who if he had smiled his face would have cracked.Very rude receptionist when we returned that afternoon telling us not to ring the bell at the gate and front door more than once !!!!!!!!The bar and restaurant were also closed that evening .Not that you would want to eat there anyway.....All 4 of us travel widely and have never stayed in such a dismal place.On the second day we were the only guests.I’m sure it’s a scam where they have taken money to restore these old farmhouses into hotels for a certain period of time and then say they are not a viable business so the owners get to revert them back to grand residences on government grants.The irony is they have a leaflet in the room saying you are not allowed to bring in your own food and drink !!!!Quite ironic as you can’t get anything to eat or drink.AVOID this place it’s dire Angelo L, Proprietario at Il Podere Hotel, responded to this review Dear Guests,Thank you for taking the time to review Il Podere Hotel Restaurant, I take note of your negative review but I urgently need to clarify few things.Firstly you arrived at 7:30pm, the bar was not closed but open because as you said the staff prepared for you some drinks, it's very disappointing and not true what you are saying. About the hotel location, we are located in the countryside, surrounded by orange, lemon trees and green land. When you made the reservation you could read that the hotel is far from the city center 8km so it was your choice to come to the countryside. The water was not just cold you only had to wait 5 minutes for the hot water to come so all the times you came to the reception it was only because you liked to chat with the receptionist. Just to let you know my staff has been carefully selected from many and they are all kind and capable people. About the breakfast, I just spoke to the waiter and he actually brought the eggs to your plate straight from the pan.At last dear Sandra before writing this kind of heresies you should at least try to get some information about the Hotel and the Owners. We never had help and money from the government. All you saw after driving through the gate it is the fruit of the sacrifice of my family and I hope one day you’ll have the same fortune.Kind regards

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• User:BenteEngesvangDK

  Trip type:

  Lovely hotel.

  18 Jun 2018

  Il Podere Hotel is a lovely hotel situated in a beautiful countryside. The view to that was beautiful from my bedroom. There is a nice swimming pool with cosy surroundings and a playground for the children. The breakfast and the service was very good.

• User:William P

  Trip type: Couples

  Podere in need of Attention/Upgrade.

  19 Apr 2018

  Overrated. Lovely countryside location, but......Room does not have wired wifi or wireless wifi. Only in common areas.Bedroom - we upgraded to a suite, but Air conditioner didn't work, bathroom needed huge upgrade. Plastic shower screen, hair dryer that burnt your hands. Up one step to help with water flow ! TV was in a cupboard, smallest ever in a hotel, with remote not working (turned out to be no batteries), which they knew about before we arrived.Huge wooden furniture - lovely to look at but enormous.We got used to the man in the next room snoring, but the animal in the roof space was interesting. Soundproofing limited.They have a great pool area, but....they let anyone in on a Sunday !!! And they are geared up for weddings - so avoid a weekend stay.Restaurant menu is limited and they didn't have some things on the menu, even though we were first in a very quiet dining room, but they wanted us to book.Breakfast was very basic- 2 star at best. Cooked food on our first morning, nothing the second morning. Basic continental, with cold meats, cereals, breads and cakes, with some fruit and yogurts.4 star - on the surface it looks like it, lovely setting and grounds, with the ambience of a 4 star, but in reality - far less.Staff were lovely and engaging, but they need to offer more and have far less rigid rules.Would we stay again - NO, but if they upgraded their facilities yes.

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• User:Denise F

  Trip type: Family

  Displeasing ... the service, shortages and no air conditioner!

  18 Jun 2017

  We were on an all-around Siciliy family holiday and we decided to stay for the night at a hotel close to Syracuse. We were looking at various hotels available around the area but were quite amazed by the alluring pictures and reviewes of this hotel, so we decided to book it.Walking in to and around this hotel felt like a walk in paradise, but soon after it turned into hell. We booked a Junior Suite for 4 adults, but when we walked in we immediatley noticed that this could only accomodate 3 adults. It consisted of a double bed and a single seater sofa bed. We politely asked the receptionist how come the room provided is for 3 and not 4 and if perhaps another single seater sofa bed can be provided. The receptionist offered us another double room, for which we were going to be charged additionally. Obviously, we weren't happy to pay more, but if that was the only solution, we were happy to proceed. But before accepting the offer, we asked if there is another room available with a double sofa bed and she immediately said yes, we have one on the ground floor. So I thought, why weren't we offered this immediately?We moved all of our stuff to the new room and settled in. We were quite happy with it, even though we noticed some shortages, which in our opinion shouldn't be visible in a 4 star hotel. There were big chunks of wall plaster underneath the window, basically this was coming off. The bathroom had no ventilation whatsover and the extractor was not even plugged in. We didn't complain about these shortages as we felt that they would not really impact us. When we were back to our room after dinner, we switched on the AC as the room was quite hot and stuffy. We noted that this wasn't functioning properly so we asked the recptionist about it. She informed us, that AC's are switched on from the rooms but it will be activated by the receptionist. Quite strange, never experienced such thing. We went to sleep and it turned out to be the most disturbing night ever. The AC was not functioning properly, the room felt like a sauna, the temprature inside the room was reading 31degrees. Half way through the night, I went to the reception desk to ask for a fan. There was nobody at the desk, but i could hear snorring coming from the hall. I looked around and found the receptionist on duty sleeping on the sofa. Funnily enough the ones who paid (i.e. us) could not get any sleep cause of the heat but the one who was getting paid was having the deepest sleep ever. I tried calling him but wasn't successful.When I went back to the room the others got really upset about this, so one of us, went back and managed to walk the receptionist up. He came to our room and apologised about the matter. He was very understanding and showed empathy. He said I can understand that the room was too hot to sleep in and that they do not have any fans to provide us with. He offered us another room but it only had one double bed. 1 bed for 4 adults isn't really a good solution, so instead, we left the door open as the corridor had lots of cold air. He also told us that he will speak to the managment in the morning and give us a discount for the inconvience casued.We managed to sleep from 5am till 8.30am (with the door open). That morning we packed our bags and left. During the check out we informed the receptionist about how bad the situation was etc. and that we had been told by the receptionist on night duty that we will be given a discount. She kept on insisting that a discount will not be given and in fact we weren't. At the reception desk, there were other clients who had the same issue and they complained about it too.

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