Grotta Palazzese Beach Hotel

My husband and I stayed here for our 15th anniversary. This hotel is nice, but not a 5-star hotel. I don't know how they received this rating. There is no pool, spa, or bar, and the restaurant offers a limited selection of options. Also, the private beach they advertise is far from the truth. The beach is a very small area shared with another hotel, which made it very chaotic and loud at times. The rooms are nice but could use better cleaning. We stayed in a suite with a jacuzzi on the terrace, which was very nice, but, as I said previously, the cleaning and maintenance of the rooms could be improved. I wouldn't recommend this hotel with the current price tag. I've stayed in better 5-star establishments.

The hotel is quite beautiful but it's most definitely very overpriced. Breakfast had a very limited selection. Dinner is a €150 set menu for some average Sushi if I'm honest, on top of that they charge you €5 to sit at a table which is quite obsurd. The beach is not private but it's beautiful, it should be advertised as semi private. The rooms are very pretty but this isn't a five star, I left very disappointed in the dinner.

I would have given this five stars, however, on our first night, after we checked in to our second level suite, the temp would not go below 28.8 C. We had little to no sleep that night, as the room was so hot and humid. We loved the look of the room. It was large and had a beautiful outdoor terrace with sun loungers and chairs. The bathroom was enormous, with a huge walk in shower, double since and Bulgari hair and body products. After complaining the next morning, they moved us to a ground floor, non descript room. This room had no view, no outdoor space and was just an “average” room. A huge let down. Plus, the A/C in this room, while better, never got below 25 C, which for us, was still a bit uncomfortable. My warning to those staying here, especially during the hot summer months, that you check on reviews and with the hotel directly to determine how well the air conditioning functions (if you have trouble sleeping in warm, sticky, humid rooms). The Manager on Duty did make an accomodation for us at checkout, which was very kind of her to do so. As for other comments about the hotel: service was exceptional, both the front of house, at the beach and the breakfast servers. Everyone was so attentive, kind and polite. We used their shuttle service to dine in the Grotto, located in Polignano a Mare center. That, in and of itself, was an exceptional meal and overall fantastic experience. Surprised that this hotel did not offer any sort of fitness center (ie cardio equipment, weights, etc.). Given that this location is pretty remote and isolated, having a fitness center would have been nice, but not a big deal.