HOTEL VENUS

I stayed from August 17 to August 22 with my husband and my small dog. A terrible experience. I chose it because it was advertised as excellent for four-legged friends. Nothing could be more untrue, so much so that I will no longer trust the advice on the 4-legged friends website. Paid a supplement of €20 per day for a dog-friendly area for breakfast/lunch/dinner (total €100 for 5 days). In reality, it's a bar area accessible to everyone with no reserved table near the road. The plastic placemats for lunch are dirty; for dinner, we found runners on the table that weren't always clean, and napkins that were worn and had holes. Table service should be requested to avoid piling up plates. Meatloaf was recycled for three days. Fried fish from lunch was re-introduced in sauce in the evening. Paid a supplement of €80 for extraordinary room cleaning, which was nothing extraordinary. The shower head in the bedroom was held in place with plastic ties on the rod. Small bathroom with a worn shower stall. The skirting board in the room is missing along the wall, the deckchair on the balcony is dirty and unusable. The mini-bar is empty and outdated. The website listed a fenced-off dog beach with every four loungers, but no dog lounger (they provided one upon explicit request on one out of five days). The hotel beach sold in the package is little more than a bowling green, with eight umbrellas and 17 loungers. Unrealistic. The number of loungers and umbrellas was double that advertised on the website, despite the space outside the fence and the possibility of extending the fenced area. The room air conditioning is centralized and managed by the hotel, with no way to adjust it in the room to our needs. The hotel paid for secure parking, which is actually small and unsecured; so small that the reception asks you for the key to move vehicles blocking the exits. The hotel website has other positive reviews, but they are from another hotel in Cattolica. The receipt issued states the same hotel in Cattolica, even though we stayed at the Hotel Venus Gabicce (i.e., not the hotel in Cattolica. The tourist tax paid is included on the same receipt). We requested a meeting with the hotel manager and explained all the issues and poor service. The proposed solution to the balance was a €100 voucher for the same hotel for 2026. This was refused!!! It's a complete rip-off. It's obvious we won't be returning. The poor service has also been reported by other guests, but no resolution has been found. Conclusion: it's not a pet-friendly hotel, it's definitely not up to the 4-star standard, but well below. It doesn't match the photos and images on the website. I'd add that the hotel advertises itself as a pet-friendly hotel, selling and exchanging the possibility of bringing your dog with you to the hotel with non-existent pet services "paid handsomely."

Unfortunately, our 12-day stay was a real disappointment. Deceived by the website, we chose this 4-star family hotel, which has very little to do with family or 4-star standards. The staff was completely disorganized, especially during breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The waiters were inexperienced and lacked any leadership, struggling to serve a hundred or so people in the dining room. The first few days, we witnessed the waiters and guests arguing with each other, using swear words and rude language. The quality of the food was perhaps the most satisfying aspect, even though the appetizer buffets were constantly being offered in a thousand different ways at lunch and dinner. The entertainment service was completely inconsistent with the various descriptions given on the website and by the hotel itself. In the mornings, they do some small tasks on the beach under the gazebo; in the afternoons, the girls sit around the pool watching the kids, mostly without organizing anything engaging; and in the evenings, they do some dancing and activities in a small room on the basement floor, without taking advantage of all the outdoor space. Everything seems very improvised and precarious. The rooms, which look spectacular on the website, are actually cramped, with old, dirty showers. The air conditioning filters in the rooms are terrifying, probably never cleaned. We spent 12 days listening to complaints from EVERYONE, just as dissatisfied as we were. If you have a dog, be aware that if you want to bring your puppy with you on the beach, you'll be put in a tiny fenced-in area, all huddled together. If you're happy to have your puppy with you during meals, you'll be isolated in another room downstairs for an extra €20 per day. I'll conclude by saying that on the last day before we left, the owner listened to our complaints and those of other guests, telling us he'd send us a voucher for a stay at his hotel in Cattolica. A very kind gesture to rectify the situation, but it's a shame we never received anything. I've never stayed in such a disappointing 4-star hotel.

The hotel is dated and needs a renovation and is definitely not a 4 star.