Grand Hotel Flora

We had to delay booking our sorrento trip due to my husbands work schedule (doctor). I will be honest, by this point the hotels with better reviews had all gone. It was a choice between Flora or paying a price equivalent to a decent family car for a ‘big deal’ hotel right in the centre and given our 5 year old was with us and just wanted a big pool I figured I would take the risk. I’m so glad that I did. The pool/restaurant are lovely. Plenty of sunbeds, good service, nice staff. We are there a few times and the food was lovely. The pool is large and mostly quiet we only ever had 5-6 other people in it and given its size this felt very quiet. I will say, even at the ‘shallow’ end it’s quite deep for kids but our 5 year old can swim so it wasn’t a problem. We stayed in one of the older rooms. I knew this beforehand and it was heavily reflected in the price compared to other sorrento options. We got a really good deal. The room was, in our opinion, lovely. High ceilings lots of natural light. We had two balconies with beautiful sea views and honestly we preferred the flower tiles/brass fittings to the ultra modern soulless style that’s become so popular. It felt classically Italian and waking up to that view every morning was amazing. The toilet seat was a bit wobbly but honestly I’d rather that than paying £2-3k more for a room with views like that in tue other hotels. Breakfast was lovely, hubby was sad to leave and the staff made a huge fuss of my 5 year old daughter who loved the attention. We didn’t feel like there was a ‘tier’ system or that we were treated any differently because of our room. We have travelled a fair amount around Italy and Europe and we do (pre kids especially lean towards pricier luxury hotels in general) but honestly we really liked Flora and for that price we wee very happy! It’s a 15 minute walk into the center but our 5 year old managed it fine.

We stayed at the Grand Hotel Flora for eight nights and unfortunately our experience was extremely disappointing. We paid a premium for a sea view room, but the room we were allocated did not have a genuine sea view. The hotel insisted that it did, despite the view being largely obstructed and nothing like what was advertised. Rather than acknowledging the issue or attempting to resolve it, the reception staff were dismissive and unwilling to accept that the room had been mis-sold. Their attitude throughout our stay was unhelpful, defensive and, at times, quite rude. Anyone considering booking should also be aware that the hotel is currently undergoing major refurbishment. Some of the newly renovated rooms appear to be of a good standard, but many of the older rooms are tired, dated and, in my opinion, fall well short of what you would expect from a four-star hotel. The pool area is lovely, but the opening hours are very limited (10 am – 7 pm) and feel quite regimented. Also there is a villa next door being renovated and the building noise is relentless. On a more positive note, the restaurant waiting staff were friendly. Sorrento itself is beautiful, but our experience at this hotel was overshadowed by the poor customer service. Even if every room in the hotel were fully refurbished, I would not stay here again because exceptionally poor customer service. My advice to prospective guests is simple: book with caution.

This really was the tale of two contrasting hotel wings,which was not mention mentioned to us during our booking. We saw a beautiful refurbished room selection,alongside a brief glance of what we discovered was an older section of the complex. We arrived and had no real welcome,were given our key cards and off we trotted. The room was small on the top floor,it was old fashioned but did have some beautiful tiles and furniture.The air con wasnt working,the toilet seat wasnt fixed down properly and there was lots of mould in the shower. Disappointed at the lack of similarity to the pictures we had been shown really doesnt decribe how we felt. We returned to reception to complain and were met with a dismisive rude response and were told there was no other rooms available and if we wanted to change the next morning it would cost 100 euros more a night. We were also told we had booked economy/ classic room but on our booking form it simply stated twin room We tried to get hold of our rep-impossible but we will take this up with the company. After about an hour my husband approached a different member of staff who immediately showed me another room in the same block.which we accepted but alas not what we had expected. The room was on the road side and next to a noisy lift but was pretty clean. There definately seemed to be a two tier service,most of the staff were grumpy and appeared miserable apart from Edwardo and Antonella. We were barely acknowledge by many staff.Our travel agent did offer £50 as compensation. The breakfast was good and there were loads of Sunbeds around the pool but no umberellas? This wasnt a cheap hotel and I would rate it as a 3 * not a 4* especially if you are in the " classic/ budget section. The staff let it down and the service was dire at times. Do not get seduced by the beautiful referbed section and end up with what we got

There's advertising and then there is dishonesty. You decide. At booking,with a large European holiday booker (they like the colour blue) and feel that they have a reputation to defend, we were shown and feel that we had been emphasised a relative paradise, from the pictures of the new part of this hotel that were presenting. Very nice, we thought... as have others. So, we pay and go. It wasn't cheap. Yes some packages were more,but this wasn't exactly pocket change either. On arrival, we were treated as second rate, because we had booked 'economy'. Somewhat shocked, as the room wasn't even safe ... the toilet seat fell off in use! There was a fair growth if mould in the shower... Let alone that the reality wasn't quite as portrayed from the agency, we attempted to address this with the young male desk clerk: A On looking at the young arrogant and clueless desk clerk with bewilderment, he changed this description to: 'a classic room' and insisted that we got the room that we chose and booked. We'd strongly dispute that, you look at the brochures for yourself. He didn't acknowledge the room defects, no, not even the broken bog! No. 'you came economy, that's what you get!' Nice... We weren't led to understand that we'd be booking in the old part of the hotel at all. I advise that you go to look at Google street maps and examine the view carefully. Look at the smart exterior if the Flora in Sorrento, but look just to the right and see that shabby off white unkempt building... adjoined by a thing looking like a shed, well... if you book in the UK with that blue travel agency, that's likely where you'll end up! Shocking isn't it. Whilst on street maps spin around: see the petrol station. And realise that the train line is also there. Also... see the very busy and noisy road, rejoice in the regular Italian police sirens and motorbike noises.... all day and all night. It isn't peace and tranquility. The sales presentation and the reality are not the same in our current experience. And I'm writing this from our room in the hotel during stay. Mean while, back at the reception, the guests in the new part are in 'first class' (as far as this hotel is concerned). But you will be second ( maybe less) class. And some of the staff.... Young male arrogant 'A' especially... will make you reconsider your choices. There are nice staff Antonella was a star, and Edwardo in the dining room shone too. BUT.... If comparison is the thief of joy, then this place wrecks you're arrival... and clouds your experience and leaves a bitter taste ( by the way, that isn't from the delicious local citrus fruit). We found that the Flora was sold to us as 4 star hotel. I say: think again. This older part was not without some charm, the original 1960s fittings had some period value for the nostalgic, don't get me wrong, but its a two star hotel in the 'classic part', at the very most, and very much over priced, over rated and over sold at that please be warned. I advise that you give this a wide miss.