Your rating of this hotel:
6.0
from 10
Hotel ratings by criteria:
Rooms:
9.0
Service:
6.0
Cleanliness:
8.0
Food:
8.0
Amenities:
6.0
Rested at the Aria Karpen Resort & SPA (Building 1.5 *, Durres, Albania (August 2021)).
To understand the peculiarities of such recreation, it is necessary to present the culture of Albanians. Dirty roadsides, garbage under the leather fence, the construction of small hotels are not fenced off. The beaches are municipal, clean, sunbeds are comfortable with brand new mattresses, reed umbrellas, but near the beach parking for local vacationers, just a dirt area with chaotic bushes. There are no locker rooms or showers on the beach. All this gives the impression of mismanagement. Local traders in corn, seeds, fruit and ice cream can go to the beach, teenagers can play football and hit the beach with a ball, and no one will comment on that. And from this rural landscape, against the background of abandoned and dusty areas where a couple of cows can graze, there is a brand new modern hotel in a tiny area.
If the hotel had a larger area, we simply would not have seen the chaos.
The hotel has almost everything stated. The pool is comfortable, the depth of a man, there are always free sunbeds in the shade and in the sun, shower by the pool, it is 50 m from the sea. The rooms are great. Cleaning daily. Towels were replaced only if they were dropped on the floor. There are no towels on the beach, you have to take your own. Terraces and balconies all overlook the sea and the hill on which the neighboring hotel stands. Cute landscape on Durres. Young palm trees are planted on the coastal area and along the hotel. The gym has 5 simulators (2 running, 2 bicycles, 1 step) - everything works, 3 machines for power management, barbell, karemati, 1 pair of dumbbells of 3 kg, large balls for stretching, there is also table football. Modestly, but enough.
They feed well and in a variety of ways. Everything is natural and has a taste.
Breakfast is always European standard: 2-3 fresh salads, soup, eggs (omelets, fried, boiled), sausages (fried and boiled), a couple of cheeses, a couple of sausages, baked vegetables, zucchini, eggplant, peppers, carrots, boiled ) or roasted cauliflower and broccoli - all wonderful and almost all of it at the same time), croissants, muesli, milk, juices. No porridge. Coffee with machine. Brewed coffee - for the money at the bar. Lunches and dinners are richer, a couple of soups, 2-3 types of meat and chicken, grilled fish or sauce, risotto and pasta daily with different sauces, french fries, grilled vegetables, etc. Great variety of pastries and desserts, watermelons and melons. The waiters are wonderful, the night receptionist is great, the cleaners and masseurs are great. Lounge bar on the roof is paid. Free alcohol included in the All-inc. - white and red dry wine (pleasant), beer, cognac and brandy, they stand on a separate table. Loud music on the roof is said to disturb those who have settled on the 5th floor.
It didn't reach us on the third.
Wi-Fi will catch even on the beach.
The biggest pain of this hotel is the management of the Aler Group (those who lead the Russian-speaking contingent of tourists. By the way, no one spoke Ukrainian to me, although it is stated that Ukrainian is served. ) Girls without experience and obviously without systematic guidance raise this car, and often with punctures. For example: 1) When we were taken from Tirana (and the flight was delayed, we arrived at 2 am), the escort went to the last hotel in Durres and warned that the driver will take us to the hotel (because it is on the outskirts and no one will bring it back) . It would be good if she also said that he was going to transfer us from the bus to the car (this is a common practice, I understand why drive the whole bus for 3 tourists).
The driver is not very friendly with English, and we are not an academic level, so we did not understand when he dropped us off and said that we should continue to take a taxi. Instead of the word car, he used a "taxi", and we had a very unpleasant 5 minutes to clarify the relationship to understand that he meant his own car and he will take us (night, dark, goddamn in which field we were, no lantern ). Finally, he turned on the wonderful modern Ukrainian music so that we would not worry about this situation. But this is not his, but a managerial system error, as we found out later, communicating with other tourists. 2) Manager Alice is clearly out of place. She held an information meeting in the morning near the cluttered state, not realizing that her goal was to sell tours, not to come and say: “Well, who will go where? ", And then answer all the questions: " Wait for a message on Viber. "
We had to go on one of the excursions at 5 o'clock in the morning, and the day before at 9 o'clock she had not yet given us information that could be given orally: "Are you already going to bed? In short, no tact, no understanding of why she is there. The message on Viber never came. I had to go down at 4 am and ask the receptionist. Alban's manager (I may be wrong with her name, a girl with a native Russian, a local) respected that we had to pay the bill, insisting that it was ours. We did not order anything in the room, and the invoice did not say our number, but for some reason it did not bother her, she decided that I handed over the number, while it was my husband. The check was clearly not new and obscure. In short, 40 hotel rooms is an unacceptable management system. Of course, they try, but the experience there is minimal.
The best impressions of the Aler Group system - Gides Irina, a guide with exceptional information about the culture, history, political and social structure of the country, literate and just very positive and smiling 24/7 to tourists.
The sea is shallow and warm, as clean as a sandy sea can be, which is muddy near the shore. It takes a long time to go deep to swim, but it's worth it, the view of the land is beautiful, and the water there is cleaner. Some form of life will be a little off the coast all the time. My son and I received one severe burn, so we needed antihistamines and absorbents. The urticaria covered half of my thigh, my son's whole arm, in contact with that jellyfish (or whoever it was). Such tourists with burns are found on the beach. So it is better to have some appropriate simple drugs. The burn will take place during the day, although it is written on the Internet - up to 5 days. This can happen at any sea.
Walks near the hotel are possible only on the beach, there is no promenade, as well as high-profile companies, animation or something. So, if you want a secluded relatively quiet holiday, where there is almost no children's noise and youth night parties, this is an immediate choice. In the end, as you adjust, so you relax.
To understand the peculiarities of such recreation, it is necessary to present the culture of Albanians. Dirty roadsides, garbage under the leather fence, the construction of small hotels are not fenced off. The beaches are municipal, clean, sunbeds are comfortable with brand new mattresses, reed umbrellas, but near the beach parking for local vacationers, just a dirt area with chaotic bushes. There are no locker rooms or showers on the beach. All this gives the impression of mismanagement. Local traders in corn, seeds, fruit and ice cream can go to the beach, teenagers can play football and hit the beach with a ball, and no one will comment on that. And from this rural landscape, against the background of abandoned and dusty areas where a couple of cows can graze, there is a brand new modern hotel in a tiny area.
If the hotel had a larger area, we simply would not have seen the chaos.
The hotel has almost everything stated. The pool is comfortable, the depth of a man, there are always free sunbeds in the shade and in the sun, shower by the pool, it is 50 m from the sea. The rooms are great. Cleaning daily. Towels were replaced only if they were dropped on the floor. There are no towels on the beach, you have to take your own. Terraces and balconies all overlook the sea and the hill on which the neighboring hotel stands. Cute landscape on Durres. Young palm trees are planted on the coastal area and along the hotel. The gym has 5 simulators (2 running, 2 bicycles, 1 step) - everything works, 3 machines for power management, barbell, karemati, 1 pair of dumbbells of 3 kg, large balls for stretching, there is also table football. Modestly, but enough.
They feed well and in a variety of ways. Everything is natural and has a taste.
Breakfast is always European standard: 2-3 fresh salads, soup, eggs (omelets, fried, boiled), sausages (fried and boiled), a couple of cheeses, a couple of sausages, baked vegetables, zucchini, eggplant, peppers, carrots, boiled ) or roasted cauliflower and broccoli - all wonderful and almost all of it at the same time), croissants, muesli, milk, juices. No porridge. Coffee with machine. Brewed coffee - for the money at the bar. Lunches and dinners are richer, a couple of soups, 2-3 types of meat and chicken, grilled fish or sauce, risotto and pasta daily with different sauces, french fries, grilled vegetables, etc. Great variety of pastries and desserts, watermelons and melons. The waiters are wonderful, the night receptionist is great, the cleaners and masseurs are great. Lounge bar on the roof is paid. Free alcohol included in the All-inc. - white and red dry wine (pleasant), beer, cognac and brandy, they stand on a separate table. Loud music on the roof is said to disturb those who have settled on the 5th floor.
It didn't reach us on the third.
Wi-Fi will catch even on the beach.
The biggest pain of this hotel is the management of the Aler Group (those who lead the Russian-speaking contingent of tourists. By the way, no one spoke Ukrainian to me, although it is stated that Ukrainian is served. ) Girls without experience and obviously without systematic guidance raise this car, and often with punctures. For example: 1) When we were taken from Tirana (and the flight was delayed, we arrived at 2 am), the escort went to the last hotel in Durres and warned that the driver will take us to the hotel (because it is on the outskirts and no one will bring it back) . It would be good if she also said that he was going to transfer us from the bus to the car (this is a common practice, I understand why drive the whole bus for 3 tourists).
The driver is not very friendly with English, and we are not an academic level, so we did not understand when he dropped us off and said that we should continue to take a taxi. Instead of the word car, he used a "taxi", and we had a very unpleasant 5 minutes to clarify the relationship to understand that he meant his own car and he will take us (night, dark, goddamn in which field we were, no lantern ). Finally, he turned on the wonderful modern Ukrainian music so that we would not worry about this situation. But this is not his, but a managerial system error, as we found out later, communicating with other tourists. 2) Manager Alice is clearly out of place. She held an information meeting in the morning near the cluttered state, not realizing that her goal was to sell tours, not to come and say: “Well, who will go where? ", And then answer all the questions: " Wait for a message on Viber. "
We had to go on one of the excursions at 5 o'clock in the morning, and the day before at 9 o'clock she had not yet given us information that could be given orally: "Are you already going to bed? In short, no tact, no understanding of why she is there. The message on Viber never came. I had to go down at 4 am and ask the receptionist. Alban's manager (I may be wrong with her name, a girl with a native Russian, a local) respected that we had to pay the bill, insisting that it was ours. We did not order anything in the room, and the invoice did not say our number, but for some reason it did not bother her, she decided that I handed over the number, while it was my husband. The check was clearly not new and obscure. In short, 40 hotel rooms is an unacceptable management system. Of course, they try, but the experience there is minimal.
The best impressions of the Aler Group system - Gides Irina, a guide with exceptional information about the culture, history, political and social structure of the country, literate and just very positive and smiling 24/7 to tourists.
The sea is shallow and warm, as clean as a sandy sea can be, which is muddy near the shore. It takes a long time to go deep to swim, but it's worth it, the view of the land is beautiful, and the water there is cleaner. Some form of life will be a little off the coast all the time. My son and I received one severe burn, so we needed antihistamines and absorbents. The urticaria covered half of my thigh, my son's whole arm, in contact with that jellyfish (or whoever it was). Such tourists with burns are found on the beach. So it is better to have some appropriate simple drugs. The burn will take place during the day, although it is written on the Internet - up to 5 days. This can happen at any sea.
Walks near the hotel are possible only on the beach, there is no promenade, as well as high-profile companies, animation or something. So, if you want a secluded relatively quiet holiday, where there is almost no children's noise and youth night parties, this is an immediate choice. In the end, as you adjust, so you relax.
Translated automatically from Ukrainian. View original
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OTHER REVIEWS ABOUT THE HOTEL
- Beautiful, but small territory, and behind it - the usual Albanian chaos
- The hotel is terrible, how can you give such hotels 5 *
- The hotel is brand new and needs a lot of improvement
- Terrible service, disgusting attitude
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