to be five-star. The staff were generally unwelcoming and often impolite; hardly anyone smiled, and even the most basic level of service you would expect from a three-star hotel was missing.
There is only one restaurant, which they say needs to be booked in advance, making the whole experience unnecessarily complicated for hotel guests. We also felt that local Albanian guests were treated noticeably more warmly than foreign tourists, which left a very unpleasant impression.
The facilities are equally disappointing. The gym is extremely small, windowless and poorly equipped. The manicure/hairdressing area nearby felt dated, poorly maintained and not particularly clean. Overall, the property itself looks old and in need of serious renovation.
Everything inside the hotel is also very expensive compared with local prices, without the quality or service to justify it.
Several other international guests we spoke to were equally disappointed, and some even decided to shorten their stay. Unfortunately, we did the same with our trip in Albania.
This property may carry a five-star label, but the service, facilities and overall experience are nowhere near five-star standards. I absolutely would not recommend it. There is a lot of work to do before the experience matches the prices and positioning.