Hotel Hermitage

Hotel Hermitage is built on the nicest part of a beautiful sandy beach. The water is clear and blue and the bay is protected from rougher currents. There are a few jellyfish and a bit of seaweed but nothing compared to other parts of the island. The hotel rooms and buildings climb a small hill and are surrounded by woods and well-tended plant life. Unfortunately, this is the extent of the positive things I have to say about this establishment. We stayed for about a week, during which time the hotel lost electricity over night. It was the only hotel on the beach to lose power and it did not come back on until the evening. Despite being a five star hotel, the staff responded to repeated questions about the power with exasperated shrugs, saying, "The technicians say one more hour." This was repeated so many times it became an inside joke among the guests during our stay. There was also no acknowledgment of the incident or apology from the management or staff. The hotel did not offer any solutions besides offering a single room in a nearby hotel so that people could shower before dinner. During our stay the hotel hosted well over a hundred people, many of them families with young children. Imagine lining up for that shared shower! In addition to losing power, our room was one of the many affected by the air conditioning breakdown a few days later. I played phone tag with the front desk for an hour while trying to figure out what was being done to fix the issue before being told that no one was coming to inspect our unit and that technicians were already at work on the main line. These two experiences highlight a broader fact about the hotel: namely, the buildings are old, shoddy, and falling apart. The air conditioning units, even when working, are ancient and hardly work. Lots of the detailing in rooms is chipping or worn, which contributes to the general sense of dilapidation. Ants are frequent visitors, as they are encouraged by the room service trays left outside rooms all night (despite repeated calls for someone to pick them up). Wine bottles and glass water bottles are frequently left (by staff?) outside of rooms for days on end and you will often spot them as you traipse from one end of the hotel grounds to the other, trying to find your way through the maze of stairs and stone pathways that sling up and down the hillside. The prices are sky-high. 18 euros will get you a cocktail on the beach or at the pool bar. 40 euros will buy you two orders of french fries. A half-liter bottle of water (which is all they offer) will run you 4 euros 50. A full liter will cost you 6. It's important to note that there is very little in the way of other options in terms of food or drink. Room service is generally limited to what is offered by the hotel's main restaurant. There's nowhere to get a newspaper. The half-pension option (i.e. breakfast and dinner included) is by no means worth it except, perhaps, for families. The breakfast spread is good but the dinners are somewhat hectic affairs. Servers often forget or omit orders and the food is edible but uninspiring. Another service issue is the state of the poolside bathrooms, which are regularly filthy. If you ask the hotel to call you a taxi, they will summon a private driver with whom they have an understanding. These drivers don't have meters and will try to charge 50 euros or more for very short trips. Finally, the bed bugs at Hotel Hermitage are vicious -- and this is the part of our trip that is truly inexcusable. Three of our group suffered repeated bites from bed bugs which we only diagnosed after returning from the hotel (otherwise we would have departed early). We stayed in different rooms and all three suffered the same bites (in all three cases, these were small raised bites in clusters and lines on parts of the body that were not accessible to mosquitoes). Bed bugs are a grave problem for hotels and cannot be discounted easily. Anyone considering a stay at Hotel Hermitage deserves to know about this and I hope the proprietors see this and respond to the issue with the seriousness it deserves. This hotel does not deserve to carry five stars. The location is certainly worthy but the customer service, dilapidated buildings, and bed bugs (!!!) point to a hotel in dire need of better management.

My friends and I went on a girls trip to Italy and we spent two nights at Hotel Hermitage in Isola d’Elba in early June, and boy were we in for a treat! The hotel is located on the most beautiful stretch of white sandy beaches with crystal clear waters and breathtaking views. Upon checking in, we were upgraded to the sea-view suites, with two full bathrooms each! The rooms are tastefully decorated, reflecting the authentic vibe and rich history of the island. We were pleasantly surprised to find that beach chaise lounges are reserved by room numbers, so there’s no need to head to the beach early in the morning to reserve your spots, and there’s no worry about anyone taking your chairs if you leave the beach and come back later. Your chairs are always assigned to you by your room number, and that was such a relief. There are four restaurants in the hotel, as well as beachside dining. We tried all four restaurants and ordered food to tte beach, and not once were we disappointed. The food was excellent with some delicious and exquisite island staples, and the breakfast buffet was rich with lots of variety and healthy selections, as well as gluten-free options. The pool bar offers some excellent drinks too! The staff was extremely professional and courteous, promptly accommodating our needs and requests, and offering tips on where to go and what to do. I highly recommend this hotel if you’re looking to spend some relaxing time on the beach in a beautiful laid back Italian seaside setting with magical sunset views. I’m grateful for the wonderful time we had there and the amazing service and treatment we received. The owner Gian Luca was so attentive to his guests and made sure everyone was enjoying their time at the hotel. I would gladly go back there with friends or family.

Hermitage is a hidden gem in Elba with great tennis, golf and beach with good service. The food is also good. If you are expecting a professional boat rental and water sports centre you will be disappointed as that is far below what you can expect from a 5-star beach resort.

Food was good as they catered for my husband's vegan, gluten free diet. Service was friendly. Rooms nice and clean but felt the website was not honest in not saying that there was a charge to use the spa. Even on their sister hotel website that does not have a spa it says you can use the their spa hence we chose this one for the spa. Other hotels that do charge for the spa always allow you to use it for free once you have a massage there. Despite my husband and I paying €240 for a massage, they still wanted us to pay a further €100 to use the spa for one hour only. When i emailed my complaint they did not bother to respond.

A disappointing stay. A beautiful location on Biodola Beach with impressive facilities but sadly the first thing we noticed upon arrival was that the sea water directly outside the hotel was a v unnatural almost luminous looking yellow/green, so much so that my children did not want to swim. We walked further down the beach to find that the water was crystal clear, so we were wondering why the section directly outside the hotel seemed to be contaminated with this unsightly discolouration. On the last morning, we spotted a black pipe hidden away at the side of the hotel which was pumping out cloudy water from the hotel directly into the sea. The colour of the seawater transformed & took on a milky hue. When we asked the hotel staff they showed little concern & said it was purely water from the hotel pool, a salt water pool that has gone through a chlorination process before being pumped into the sea. The impact on marine life of chlorine emission is concerning but it was also visually revolting and stopped you from wanting to swim! Not ideal for a beach hotel. We did speak to the Management team & they assured us that the water has undergone analysis. However, to me and other guests we spoke to who were sharing the hotel beachfront the milky water was concerning and uninviting. To make matters worse, we spotted a large rat in the small located in the beach restaurant, not far from the kitchen area where all the food was served. None of the staff had noticed it so whilst I am appreciative of the stunning location within nature, I would expect hygiene levels in the restaurant/kitchen area to be higher. For this reason, we did not eat at the hotel. Disappointing when paying a premium for a luxury hotel.