La Torre del Canonigo

We turned up to hotel La Torre having paid a significant rate. After taking some time to check us in, we came to a room where you couldn’t turn around or even leave a suitcase with major mould all through the ceiling. We asked to change rooms as I’m sensitive to mould, we told no other rooms were available and to go somewhere else if we didn’t like it. So we did, but not before having confirmed that our deposit will be refunded. Several emails later and the money hasn’t turned up and I’m not getting any answers, it’s now been several weeks - do yourself a favor and go somewhere else. The pool is ok, location not great and hard to get to and service terrible.

The good: - Gorgeous boutique hotel with stunning design details both in the rooms and around the grounds and gardens. - Le Labo products in the bathroom were a luxurious touch, and the bathroom towels were very thick and fluffy. - The pool area is beautiful and has fantastic views over the old town and port. - The location up the hill makes for a more quiet experience away from the noise of bars and revellers in the old town and port area. - We had an issue with noise coming from the restaurant above our room. The staff were helpful and assisted us by moving us into a new room which was much nicer and larger than the original (surprisingly, the new room was in the same price bracket). The not so good: - It is lovely to have the room cleaned each day, but we often had the Do Not Disturb sign up which was ignored by the hotel staff as they came in and cleaned anyway. - Service is not very prompt - we asked for fresh towels and they arrived at the room almost 6 hours later. - Also to this point, we were up at the pool at 8.30am and it had not been cleared and cleaned up from a party the night before. Glasses, rubbish and towels were strewn everywhere and not cleaned until 9.30am. I would think a 5 star hotel would sort this out well before any guests were awake and using the facilities. - It seems like a lot of the staff are just here for the summer season, and are not trained in hospitality to work in a 5 star hotel. A note about room categories and price brackets. Our original room (Superior Double) was shockingly small - the bathroom even smaller. When we were moved into another Superior Double due to a noise issue I was shocked at the larger size of the new room. The bedroom was larger, the bathroom much bigger, and it had a large terrace as well. I was very pleased to be moved into the better room, but also quite sad that we were lumped into the smaller one in the first instance which is considered to be of equal value. So be aware - each room is unique and of different size, and I guess it is luck of the draw which one you will be assigned. Overall a very nice hotel. However I would not say 5 star due to the high price point and the above mentioned discrepancies.