Hotel Resort "L 'Arco del Saracino"

I stayed in this property the last week of August with my family and a group of friends. The structure is not bad, the rooms are suitable for 3 to 4 people, we were 5 and we decided to stay in two apartments, otherwise the village provides a sofa bed, but in that case it is really too cramped. The bathroom is large but the shower cabin needs improvement. The reception staff is always very helpful, ready to promptly resolve any problems. The beach is quite far away and can be reached with a well-organised shuttle service. The recommended lido is really badly maintained and does not offer any service for customers, there are no showers or fountains, the bathroom is locked with a padlock in the afternoon (because it is known that certain needs are not fulfilled in the afternoon), c 'is a beach volleyball court (if you can call it that, because the net is assembled and disassembled as they please so as not to let the guests play too much, in agreement with the animation team), moreover it closes at 19.00 and there is no possibility of stay to see the sunset, the staff makes you anxious and invites you to move to the free beach. Dulcis in fundo the animation: the only village where you can't have too much fun. Non-existent speaker, repetitive music, totally disorganized tournaments (one never knew what tournaments there were, if there were, then we were a large group and we were told "there are too many of you, you can't participate"), the contact and involvement of the guests, almost all the animators at their first experience and without adequate guidance, the animation chief is completely absent. Repetitive evening shows that could not be defined as shows, given the alternation between Karaoke evenings and group dances that turned out badly. Really a disappointment this animation Maragu.

We stayed in this village in the week from 27 August to 3 September. Let's start by saying the positive things that concern first of all the catering which in my opinion is really of good quality both in terms of service and products. The first courses, second courses and dessert are served at the table, the day before you are given the opportunity to choose what to eat, while for the starter and fruit there is a buffet service. The second positive note is the reception always ready to satisfy needs and solve any problem that arises with extreme kindness. The sea is 5 minutes away by car but there is a shuttle service with train and coach that takes you directly to the beach and it is a fairly efficient service, we never had to wait more than 5 minutes. Unfortunately the beach is not very welcoming but it is not well managed, they don't even have a fountain to clean your feet. THE SORE NOTE, however, and which made me give it 3 stars because for me in a village it is fundamental (otherwise I would go to a hotel) was the Maragu entertainment, totally non-existent, I had read it in the reviews but I thought it was the usual exaggeration of people. They organized 3 evening shows in a week, 2 dancing and 1 singing where the protagonists were always and only them without ever involving the guests in any way. They didn't organize tournaments on the beach, they didn't involve us in any activities, they never came under the umbrella as has always happened in other animations to ask if we wanted to participate in the various activities to do in the afternoon. When we were leaving they thought we had arrived and twice, on Saturday evening and then also on Sunday morning, they came to introduce themselves. I was shocked because after years of living in the village, such an animation had never happened to me.

I have now been a guest several times at the Arco, a place of my heart, both for the fabulous sea and for the structure including entertainment staff and services. Unfortunately, I have to review my last stay in which I witnessed the poorest entertainment ever seen before. Very young kids who they tried to entertain without having the slightest preparation, often embarrassing and embarrassed, practically at risk in a high season period. The guests focus a lot on entertainment, the driving force behind the sense of choosing to stay in a village rather than in an apartment by spending a little more. Last year the entertainment was the icing on the cake of a wonderful holiday, but this year it ruined the stay of several families, especially with children aged 6 to 10. The beauty of the sea always undisputed♥️ Truly exceptional pool maintenance, cleanliness and staff! Obviously the entertainment guys are not to blame, on the contrary they made a huge effort to give something to the guests, but unfortunately without preparation and without guidance it was of little use.

The village is nice, the swimming pool large with a sufficient number of sunbeds and umbrellas. The staff were friendly and helpful, they provided us with a gas lighter for the kitchen. The animation is good and engaging, especially Gresia, I hope I wrote it well... The house is a flaw! As soon as you open the door of the house, the room has three beds, which we are still wondering how they can be opened given the lack of space, and a table with related chairs. In the corridor there is a kitchenette where you can barely make coffee, there is only one tray and the support surface does not exist. The bedroom is pleasant but the wardrobe next to the bed makes it impossible to open the doors completely and therefore it is not easy to use the drawers inside. Talking to the other guests I discovered that I was unlucky in being assigned the house, theirs were larger and more comfortable. A common problem for everyone was the cleanliness of the house, in fact I wasn't the only one who found the house not clean. The staff said they had problems with the cleaning company. Do I recommend it despite everything? Yes, because you are calm. Yes, because the lifeguards are always present and ready to intervene, in fact the boy dived in at full speed to help a lady in difficulty. And they cleaned constantly. Yes, because the staff, as far as possible, solves problems.

Let me start by saying that I gave 4 stars because there is always room for improvement. The accommodation we were assigned was in line with our request. Excellent cleaning of the rooms carried out every day with linen change and thorough cleaning of the environment. The shuttle to and from the beach was always fast with runs every ten minutes, a few times we had the possibility to choose between the train and the minibus. The beach is beautiful and spacious, it's a shame that there isn't much privacy between the sunbeds, they are a little too close together. Unfortunately the beach was not cleaned because we found some staff who remained there for a week. The animation, alas, doesn't work, perhaps due to the organisation's fault. The lead animator was absent and did not involve his animators. The animation guys are very young and need to be directed. There was an entertainer called Nicola who we heard several times talking bad about everything to the customers and he didn't make an effort to involve them in a friendly way. We would like to give applause to the restaurant room where the director Pierpaolo was, who was always present and very good at directing the waiters, including Miriam, even though she was very young, she seemed like the deputy director and managed to please all the guests with kindness. clients. We give a negative point to the appetizer buffet, although very good they were repetitive. Breakfast was plentiful although some mornings we found the cappuccino machine not producing coffee, and serving dishes were missing. The swimming pool is beautiful, it's a shame about the presence of some rude person who occupied the deckchair even in the afternoon with towels and other things left to occupy the place. At the pool's DJ station there was an entertainer who thought he would have a disco every day by turning up the bass volume to the maximum with audio distortion that was quite disturbing. The Saracen bow can improve and become an excellence of Salento.

Let's start from the positive aspects: the director Pierpaolo is a kind, humble and very professional person. The wonderful sea ideal for children. The negative aspects concern everything else. Animation completely absent, rating 0. You can't do a "musical" (that's how they define it) by showing YouTube videos and dancing to them. Waiters with no previous experience and sometimes not very polite. Repetitive food, with the same starters present for all days of the stay. Travel to and from the sea is terrible. Dirty beach (incivility due to the guests) which in any case was not cleaned given that upon our arrival we informed those in charge that some beach toys had been left under our sunbeds which were only moved on the last day of our stay. I will definitely never take my holidays in this facility again.

An excellent experience. In the Hotel service we had a two-room apartment (requested when booking), not very large but it was equipped with everything, a small kitchenette complete with dishes, a bunk bed, a double bedroom, a bathroom with shower and a dressing room with a second sink, beautiful terrace, which was not very clean upon our arrival, but was promptly cleaned upon our request. The room was cleaned every day with beds made and towels changed (on request). The village is a few years old but is well kept, well-kept gardens and has a nice children's playground. Although not very important the TV in the room worked and hiccups, fault of the signal. Entertainment: very good even if very young with beautiful evenings and games on the beach, very discreet and never intrusive. Applause for the catering, very good, very kind, always available, the kitchen always up to the task with evenings even with live cooking; thanks to the Director (chef for special occasions) always ready to satisfy every request and to the Head Chef Luca. Sea reachable by train in 5 minutes or by car, free parking available for about twenty cars or large paid parking.

I'm disappointed, I found a village that is falling down. First of all, the welcome welcome was absent, not even a glass of water upon arrival. Apartment cleaning absent, my son allergic to dust did nothing but sneeze. It's 2023, it's not possible that a 4-star resort doesn't have WF in the village, they said you could only use it by the pool, but it didn't work. The TV had serious problems and couldn't be seen in several apartments, in fact it couldn't be seen in mine. The intercom to call the resepscion for any problem is not working. Poor animation. Costs that are now unaffordable on everything, starting from coffee at the bar. And much, much more, but only in the negative. So what can I say... too bad. If the structure does not want to have a dramatic decline it should do so quickly.