Riva Marina Resort

We just came back from a very pleasant all inclusive stay at Riva Marina Resort in Italy. We loved the clean room, food and friendly staff (eventhough most staff didn’t speak English). There was a playground and a separate swimming pool for babies/toddlers. We loved the free pizza every day at the swimming pool and the drinks. We had to pay for bottled water, chips and ice cream, but that was okay for us. The resort also had a private part on the beach, which was only a 5 minute drive away with the resort-train/bus. We have a lot of respect for the members of the animation team, who were always friendly and chearful. But also respect for the cleaning staff, restaurant staff and everybody else who are working very hard to keep the large number of guests happy. We had great time and we will definately return to Riva Marina Resort! *** Family room: Pros: * clean and spacious * air conditioning in both living and bed room * free wifi at request * free baby bed at request Cons: * dated shower Restaurant: Pros: * fixed table * extensive choice of food * friendly staff Cons: * noisy because of large number of guests

The hotel is lovely, so clean and very family friendly. This hotel is very popular with Italian families and you are in the minority if you aren't Italian, but after all you are in Italy. The pool is amazing, very clean and big. There ISN'T constant entertainment as previously commented. There is entertainment for a couple of hours in the morning and the afternoon. You do have to wear swimming caps you can buy these there for 2.5euros from the lifeguards, I would recommend buying them there as they are lot comfier than our swimming caps. The Italians would go for a siesta from about 1-4pm, so the pool was very quiet as these times. There is a little train that runs every 20 mins or so to the beach, its only a short journey. We didn't go to the beach much as the kids preferred the pool, but it was lovely. There is a little bar on the beach and toilets. The food was lovely, fresh pizzas during the day and buffet breakfast, lunch and dinner. They griddle fresh meat at lunch and dinner too. Not a massive selection, but what was on offer was lovely. You are assigned a table at the start of your holiday, which we thought was a fantastic idea so you were rushing down to get a table. Rooms- fantastic, very spacious and clean. we had a clothes horse outside which was perfect. I would highly recommend hiring a car, the hotel is only 20 minutes drive from Brindisi Airport. We visited Bari, Lecce, Monopoli, Brindisi and Alberbello which were all within an hour's drive from the hotel. It's very dissappointing reading some of the reviews having only given this lovely hotel 1 star because they wanted a relaxing break away with no children, surely thats not the hotels fault you haven't researched properly and why haven't you book adults only? Saying no one spoke English is not the case at ALL, the host Giarriamo (not sure about spelling) spoke multiple languages and a lot of the staff spoke a little English. If people bothered to learn basic sayings it would be a lot simpler for them. When staff spoke to my family in Italian we simply replied 'Non parla italiano' and they then replied 'English?'.....simple!

This hotel is definitely not what we had expected. Married couple, no kids. The website gives the illusion of a relaxing spa resort but it's very much geared around families. But it is excellent value for money! Good - very clean - nice spa facility - Great for local families with entertainment all day for kids - very very friendly staff - excellent value for money - fresh quality food - great pool - food available all day basically (the rules sound worse than they are) - amazing desserts - Peroni and wine on tap to help yourself during meals Bad - Food was a little repetitive. No cool themes - none of the rooms have balconies - have to prebook to use the spa facility !!! (Not treatments I mean the indoor steam room and jacuzzi) - the staff don't speak English at all (ok u are in italy afterall) but makes it hard to join in the fun unless you speak fluent italian - constant "entertainment" at the pool is not very relaxing (but we enjoyed it in the end!) - There is no adult pool... the kids use it. - worst for me was the use of plastic cups. You can't refill them so end up using about 10 per day (they are recyclable but most end up in normal bins). Other resorts usually use reusable plastic which can be washed. this was the throw away type. Very sad I recommend booking the roof terrace. The setting is nice and food is better. They should really make the roof terrace "adult only" so people without kids can have nice space and quiet time. We managed to figure out how to avoid the crowds/noise/excessive entertainment so overall had a good time but we wouldn't come back as it's more for italian families