Zafiro Palace Palmanova

Couldn’t have asked for a better experience of an excellent hotel

This was our first holiday abroad with our 5 month old daughter. We were attracted to the hotel because of the great facilities for babies and families - Microwave in room to sterilise bottles, bedside travel cot in room (Although I would not like to put a baby less than about 4 months in it), baby bath provided, plus being a 5* hotel. The hotel is well suited to families with babies and young children. When we arrived at the hotel, we were very impressed by the design and furniture and had high expectations for our stay. The hotel left me a cake and bottle of wine in our room for my birthday on arrival day which was a lovely touch. Thank you. The staff at the hotel are lovely and helpful. I fractured a bone in my foot before coming on holiday and a staff member saw me struggling carrying a large 5 litre bottle of water and insisted on carrying it to our room. The overall layout of the hotel is amazing and the pools are great. The main pools were cold but it was October so that is to be expected. I felt the temperature of the swim up rooms and it was lovely and warm. If you feel the dinner time is too late (18.30) with having a baby you can swap it to lunch time, thats if you are half board. 18.30 is far too late to start evening meal in a family friendly hotel. If it was earlier it might not result in so many naggy children crying in the restaurant. We knew when booking the hotel the bathroom was open plan with the room. However, after experiencing this we realised it is not practical with a baby and won't book a hotel designed like it again - To go to the toilet in the night you need to use your phone torch otherwise the whole room lights up and disturbs everyone else. There is a noise coming from the drains of the shower until around 11pm when it finally stops - Maybe a pump? The location of the hotel is perfect. The biggest downfall for me was the quality and standard of the food in the buffet restaurant. Breakfast had a wide variety of foods, however, it was always cold. We went first thing at 07.30am on going home day hoping that it would be fresh and warm yet it was still cold. By cold I mean cold. Evening meal was warm, however, for me there was far too many foods that contained some sort of fish. The head chef must love fish. It was Mexican night and I thought I would manage to get a good meal, however, again most of the foods had fish in it. I lived off salads, pizza, chips and steak - I paid good money for a 5* hotel to eat foods I can easily make at home. I also found it very strange that carrots, peas and potato were served at breakfast but not for dinner. One night, I was served chicken off the show cooking and thought it seemed quick being served it. I cut into it and it still had slight elements of being raw. I went to the show cooking station and showed the chef, he apologised and cooked another and again when I got back to the table cut the chicken in half it was completely raw in the middle. We informed reception after dinner about this. Not the standard we expect from a 5* hotel. Some staff were laid off for the winter season during our stay, that is sadly when standards started to drop. It would be nice for the cleaning staff to sweep and mop the room floor because our feet got very dirty after walking on the floor daily. Some days the bins were not emptied. When we woke in the morning and opened the sliding door onto the balcony there was a strong smell of drains so we had to close it. This was daily and cleared by around 09.30am. The whole building needs a fresh paint because there is weather stains from the rain on the buildings from the drains which run off the corridors. We were walking back to the hotel one afternoon and I said to my partner that I wouldn't like to stay at that hotel there, look at the state of the paint on the building. We could not believe it was the Zafiro Palace when we got onto the grounds of the hotel. That is when we noticed the whole building needs painting. Based on the facilities of the hotel we planned to return next year and did plan on coming back for Easter 2027. This was before we arrived. However, after experiencing the layout of the room together with the food at this hotel we sadly will not be returning. Which is a shame.