Esperidi Park Hotel

Just returned from a week at Esperidi Park Hotel and the only stress I suffered was created by the few moaning Brits holidaying there..... What do you expect for £340, half-board? Given that the flights came to £110 , take away the commission to Hotelsbooked.com and the hotel is probably left with less than £ 200 to house and feed you for 7 nights, this doesn't even cover the price of the room....I certainly didn't expect miracles but I was surprised how inventive the menu could be given the cost constraints. One other option per course would have been better but sadly not possible. The Italian guests weren't favoured, they were probably on a different formula and had paid considerably more than us. Esperidi Park is the best 4 star hotel I have stayed at in Italy and by a long way, I have never been offered free internet access in Europe and the cocktails were certainly the cheapest I have had anywhere including Italy. The staff were very pleasant and when they could speak English they tried their best to be helpful. It was a good opportunity to try and speak their language in their country. I had a good time and made the most of the superb pool area. I agree with the comments made on the siting of the hotel but it's a good opportunity to have a taste of Sicily at a reasonable price.

All the above I agree with, The place looks fab, but that is it, downwards after that. I had previously told them of a food allergy son, (coeliac), another milk allergy and mine was easy... keep kiwi off my plate or I will die!!! Simple, you would have thought so. We waited until the 3rd day to get soya milk, luckyly I had bought some. My coeliac son, I had to state the fact every night and PROVIDE food for him to the chef, as in gluten free pasta. First they tried giving him rice every night, I wasn't having that!!!. But it is iritating having to repeat yourself the whole time.And they didn't seem to get it that I can't eat kiwi!!! Reception kept telling us they can provide but they didn't. The last straw was the last night.... I gave over our own pasta and they still came out with their own, then to top it, main course has breadcrumbs on it, (after being told no) and what I can only desribe as a pool of vomit on top of that, then possible cheese. I lost my cool.... marched into the kitchen and discovered the assistant chef spoke good English, having spent 4 yrs in UK. It is only after this that we as a whole table were served beautiful red snapper fish, (without the breadcrumbs and vomit)!!! Still the food though was in all for the week poor, I have now eaten carrots from a tin and processed peas the first in years... yuk!!! By the pool, a sulky attendant lurked... who told my mother when she pointed out the ladies had no toilet paper (this is a 4 star??), to use the gents!!! I did enjoy the private beach and the people down there were lovely, (it made a change from the pool). and no where else available!!! There is a serious lack of comunication between reception and the rest of the hotel.. On wanting to settle our bill, we discovered we were billed for things we never had, plus ice creams bought from lurky pool attendant at pool bar, was billed to our room.... someone is making extra from the cash they seem to be pocketing!!!. In all I refused to pay anything due to facilities and week of stress caused by this hotel. On arrival, I had to wait 2 days for a working safe in my room, no sky at all, and generally ignored for our requirments.......PRAISE... to Alex, he is a star, and does seem to work 24/7. Alex from the 3rd day, managed an omlette for my son for breakfast, who up to then had to have fruit and toast, (which i provided to be Gluten free). Thank you Alex. In the evening Casper tried very hard, so praise to you, but your english needs improving. A lanky waiter, needs to make himself inconspicous, felt he was continually over us at breakfast incase we would steal the crown jewels!!! I would say thanks to the assistant chef, though who had to be our intrepreter at reception, when dispute arose over final bill, (same poor chap who got my full on slaught earlier, lol. will I go back..? will I recommend ?hell will freeze over first!!!

We booked this through Travelzoo and Hotelsbooked.com, so thankfully we didn't pay the full price that would normally be on offer. We got this for about £350 each half-board (not including transfers for £30 each from the hotel). For this price we didn't have the highest of expectations so fortunately we weren't entirely disappointed. The first criticism of the hotel is that it is located far away from the lively north coast. The area of Sicily in and around Castelvetrano and Selinunte is very remote and there is little to do unless you hire a car. Having said that, if you do hire a car, make sure you hire on BEFORE you arrive in Sicily, as this will keep the costs down dramatically. Have a look on price comparison sites for the best deals. A week's car hire will be worth it even if you only use it for 1-2 days. You really need to view this hotel as a base and get out and about in the car as much as possible to really experience what Sicily has to offer. Thankfully we met some wonderful English guests going through the same experiences as us and 2 of them gave us the opportunity to escape in their car and view some amazing sites. The hotel itself is beautiful. It is very clean, very well decorated, and the pool and other amenities are top class. The spa is not included in the purchase price (although I feel hotelsbooked.com weren't very clear about this) and some of the massage treatments can be costly (50 euros approx). There were plenty of sunbeds when we were there, although we were one of the first groups of guests to stay at the hotel and it did seem half-empty. The poolside bar was rarely manned and, given the pool is a bit of a walk from the hotel itself, it could get frustrating when ordering drinks. The food was a bit of a disappointment for me. We did go half-board and could only order off an 'a la carte' menu - 2 choices for starter, one main, and a desert. The portion sizes were sometimes small although there was good variety throughout the week (one night they served octopus, another 2 nights were squid). It was very hit or miss, and when it was a miss it was a big one. For Italian food (and especially Sicily), we expected better. One night inparticular we were served lamb chops that could only be seen under a magnifying glass! Obviously not, but a couple of nibbles and they were gone! Also I have had nicer tasting pasta dishes when I have used ketchup. The bar was expensive and we were hit quite hard by the bill to the room at the end of the week. A single spirit measure cost 5 euros, and the mixer was 2.50 euros. Therefore a martini and lemonade was 7.50 euros. However, that said, the staff behind the bar were very nice and entertaining, and a couple of times I was told that I didn't have to pay. So despite the high prices for some drinks, their relaxed attitude was brilliant! One major improvement for this hotel, as stated by others, is the desperate need for some night time entertainment. We stayed up drinking in the bar until quite late with the other guests, but a BBQ night or kareoke would add to the experience. This was another area where the hotel was sadly lacking. The real selling point for the hotel is the fact that it is brand new, and beautifully decorated. If you want a poolside holiday, and the chance to just relax in nice surroundings, this is it. However, for the more adventurous type, either book somewhere on the northern coast or, if you do come here (which I wouldn't say is too bad a thing), then hire a car.

I broke the cardinal rule for this holiday - didn't check tripadvisor! What a mistake that turned out to be. Everything has been said here before but I really do feel the need to reiterate. The hotel markets itself to an international clientele, but all the money has been spent on a few public areas (reception and unused lounges upstairs) but once you go past the facade the standard goes from 4* straight down to 2*. The rooms are basic, and that's being complimentary - for a hotel the sells itself on boutique chic that's really not acceptable. The location is awful without a car. There are train and bus links, but you're very limited by schedules and pricey taxis from the hotel. There are a couple of budget food shops a perilous walk along the main road away, but seeing as the quality of the food in the hotel is so bad, you don't really want to repeat that at lunch! Onto the food. Hands down the worse we've had in Italy. Or really anywhere. Appalling that they serve up such turgid, unpalatable food in a country with such a famous culinary history. One of the biggest disappointments of the trip - especially when you're half board! The breakfast was a joke - uncleared tables, lack of drinks and options, and no sign of any help from the staff. Another tip - whatever you do DON'T go to the beach provided by the hotel - it's a dirty and disgusting beach, even tho there are beautiful, clear watered beaches close in Selinute. The only redeeming feature of the hotel was the pool. Large, clean and well kept, you'll end up spending a lot of time there! Overall - beautiful country, lovely people - why the hell did we end up at Esperidi!?

All previous comments are valid so I'll summarize with some of my own observations. Good Points: Modern, contemporary common areas throughout hotel kept immaculately clean. Spacious room, comfortable king size bed, immaculately clean. Quite, well insulated room. Good quality, quiet a/c in room Huge new pool with plenty of space so sit/lie. Very comfortable water temperature. Drinkable local wine at 5 Euro per half litre. Bad points: Most staff had very poor spoken English. Location very remote requiring own transport if you expect anything besides lounging by the pool. Transport links from hotel very infrequent. Reception staff generally unhelpful and regularly gave incorrect information (opening times of shops etc). Hotel charges 45 Euro per day for simple car (50 Euro at local town for the same car). No facilities whatsoever other than spa and pool. Nothing for kids or teens. Small portions, cheap ingredients and no choice for evening meal. This was the hotels biggest failing and it created the most complaints. The management must improve this before they can expect positive reviews. (NB: Italian guest had different menu with multi choice and better quality courses). Poor breakfast with no cooked options. On several occasions all the food/coffee/juice ran out and were not replaced despite several guests waiting. Tables often not cleared so no often there was no-where clean to sit. Management and staff gave obvious priority to Italian guests. English tourists were definitely considered 2nd class and service provision reflected that clearly. Bedroom furniture was almost non-existing. No drawers and only five hangers. In summary: Nice building, shame about the management. They have no concept of providing for tourists – which is unforgivable considering the location. The provision of meals is appalling and would have to change – even if they up’d the cost a little. Earthstrider

just got back - read the previous reviews - I guess by people who were staying the same time as us - and I must tend to agree with the majority of the comments. the hotel is new , well thought out and has all the facilities you would expect of a hotel aiming at 4 stars ( though strangely there were no tea or coffee making facilities in the rooms) and the so called sky tv was bbc news, al jazeera and lots of italian channels ( maybe i expected too much there!) The food - well almost everything has already been said - my wife has certain food alergies - we told the management and they said no problem - they would sort - guess what zero activity on that front. we have travelled extensively through italy and must say that the food at this hotel was by far the worst I have experienced. ( just picture a main course that consisted of rice cooked in what i can best describe as campells condensed mushrrom soup, then the following day there was pasta cooked in the same stuff) One night there was nearly a riot when the main course consisted of a very small piece of fish with about 5 baby carrots as the vegetables - that was it - I tell no lie!!! having chatted to the chef's assistant who spoke pretty good english I discovered that the chef has a budget of 3 euros per head per night. Now the staff in general were lovely - but very few spoke english and those that did had limited english at that - The manager spoke no english at all apart from " I don't speak English" on eyoung man - Alex - was a little star - nothing was too much trouble for him - and he seemed to work 24/7 the comments about the pool in previous reviews are spot on so i wont bore you about that. Location - unless you want to sit b the pool all week - you really need a car - a bus stops outside the Hotel and for 1 euro you can go to Seluhente or Castelventrano. The problem is that they run very infrequently and do not link with the buses going from Castelventrano or the trains. Basically you get the 10:00 bus from hotel then wait 1 1/2 hours for a bus to Palermo or a train to Trapani - ok you are on holiday - chill out have a coffee and wait - the problem is that the train gets to Trapani just before 1:00 when all the shops shut for 3 hours and if you want to get back to Castelventrano in time for the last bus to the hotel you have to get the 4:00 train ( just as the shops open). When we went to Palermo we were brave and got a later bus back arriving in Castelventrano at about 9:00pm trying to get a taxi proved impossible so we called the hotel who sorted one out ( for 6 of us) that had to make 2 journeys - cost 30 euros in fairness to the hotel I don't understand the comment about bar prices they were displayed at the bar so you knew what were letting yourself in for - and to be honest they were reasonabe in as far as you would normally expect to pay in a hotel. 1/2 litre of wine with meal did vary - we got charges 7 euros one night ,4 another and 5 another - different house wines i guess. This hotel is still finding it's feet - all it needs is to improve the food and have some way to book trips for us middle aged tourists. I must admit to not liking to appear so negative about a place that is so obviously trying to get it right I really do hope that they get their acts together and make it a success and future reviews have more positive comments - Steve and diane

Don't let the slick reception pictures seduce you. Your experience is about to slide downhill the moment you reach the reception area. Our first conversation was with a weary guest who was running out the door, with pretty nothing good to say about this place. In fact I recommend you don't even read the rest of this review, and avoid this hotel like your life depended on it, but here are a few things I wish I had known before I booked: Unhelpful and clueless staff No service behind the bar, either in the hotel or poolside (we had to go to reception to find anyone who could get us a drink) No snacks available at lunch, no menus (!), no Sky Channels, no hotel information, no air conditioning, yellow running water (apparently from a new boiler), repetitive, wrist slitting music blaring out from the bar, no atmosphere, a dreadful breaskfast service (we counted 6 plates of croissants and 1 old apple.) views from the front rooms overlooking a main road and a petrol station. On one night the guests organised their own party at the pool and had the hotel staff agreee to help. One management consultant we had coffee with was approached by one of the staff begging for some management advice! These people are just playing at running hotel, this place will do your head in, I promise.

We have just come back from a weeks stay at this hotel and the hotel is beautiful - brand new.....BUT it is in the middle of nowhere - no bars, restaurants, shops etc for at least 15 mins on a bus (which stops early evening). The pool area is stunning and no fighting for sun loungers every morning - the only problem was the lack of staff at the poolside bar - as soon as you saw someone you had to run to catch them, also the music was a bit of a problem towards the end of the day when the staff were blasting out "Euro style" trash!! I thought that the evening meal was alright, but it certainly lacked a choice. You get 3 choices and have to choose 2 of them (starter & main course). I'm a veggie (will eat fish) and also 5 months pregnant and cant eat some shell fish and this ended up with a real lack of choice for the evening. You almost couldnt be bothered to go down for dinner because you knew you werent getting anything fantastic and to be honest that's the best part about going on holiday to Italy is the food!! Breakfast was simple but that got a bit the same towards the end of the week. The rooms are lovely and very very clean, but I feel that this was a conference hotel that couldnt get off the ground and has now tried it's luck as a tourist hotel. The staff are helpful but dont speak hardly any English. With a few tweeks I think the hotel could be a success - they need to have BBQ nights, themed nights etc with lots of menu choices - better service at the poolside bar with lunchtime snacks and organised trips from the hotel. It was certainly a relaxing holiday but only because there was nowhere to go!!!

Hi we just got back from Espiridi park hotel. We had a lovely week although a lot of people there were dissappointed at the location of the hotel. The hotel is very lovely, brand new, the food is great although limited choice. For half board you choose 2 out of a choice of 3 courses to start then dessert. If you are vegetarian like me they provide some alternatives (luckily I eat fish). The pool area is lovely, its all brand new. I cant stress this enough: it is REMOTE. If you want a week by the pool, good food, cheapish drinks (7 euro for half litre wine with dinner), its great. There was lots of english people in the hotel and we made lots of friends. Some of the evenings were very quiet in the hotel and theres no where else to go, but at the end of the week we were drinking in the bar til late with the people we had met. Dont expect a great nightlife unless you make it! The spa was lovely but you have to pay 30 euro for one hour to use it. I used the sauna only for 10 euro. massages range from around 25-50 euro. the gym is ok (brand new) and its free, but in my opinion the best part of the hotel is the pool. We hired a car from the hotel (very limited choice, we could only get something similar to a panda 1.1 for 38 euro a day). You can also hire a scooter for 20 euro a day plus 30 euro drop off fee, but everything is too far away for a scooter unless you want to drive for hours. There is a bus outside the hotel, for 1 euro you can go to silenunte which is ok but we were bored after a few hours. There is a beach, some monuments which we didnt see but I've heard they are nice. You cannot hire a car yourslef from castlevetrano!! (believe me we tried!). With hindsight if we had landed at a decent hour we should have hired a car from the airport but we were too tired to drive, it takes over an hour. A taxi one way costs 120 euro, get the hotel transfer for 30 quid return!! we were so glad that we did. Another day we got a boat from trapani to the island of favignana which was beautiful, clear waters, nice beach lots of restaurants (eat lunch before 3.30pm before they close!!). It took over an hour to drive to trapani (but well signposted), the boat was about 18 euro return each. Dont attempt to drive to mount etna as its about 5 hours away. As long as you dont expect too much and just want to relax you will have a good holiday but if we were to go back again I'd go to the other side of the island and see Taomina etc. It is a luxury hotel but not a resort atmosphere. Happy holidays!

A new hotel built to the highest specification but in my view poorly managed. Appears not to know who its target customers are and how to look after them. The hotel is in the middle of nowhere. No general hotel, area or tourist information offered. No price list for food or drink posted anywhere, all added to the room to be billed at final checkout. I asked on several occasions how much the beer was and was just asked for my room number (language issue rather than avoidance I think). It can come as a shock to find you are paying €3.50 for a bottle of beer and €2.50 for water! A beautiful swimming pool area with a bar that was rarely open during our stay and when it was, the person on duty (one in particular) blasted out music for their own entertainment and not the customers. People frequently had to ask to turn it down or took it into their own hands by turning the amp down when the staff did one of their frequent disappearing acts. Most people were on half board with the usual continental type breakfast. The evening meal was very poor. A fixed menu from which you could choose 2 of 3 courses. Portion sizes were tiny and quality variable, though there was some improvement on our last day after several complaints were made. There was no ability to buy snacks or simple food at midday (a slice of pizza at pool bar for instance, assuming it was open!). Most people ended up taking their life in their hands walking to a supermarket (no pavement or crossing!) to buy bread, cheese, salami, beer, water etc. The advertised private beach should be avoided at all costs. The hotel take you there in a van (and if unlucky like us, forget to pick you up!). The beach is dirty and all that is there is a 1(?) star hotel that the Esperidi has some agreement with. If you are after a beach, take the public bus to Selinunte. Some decent restaurants and a good beach.