Hotel & Spa Tino Sveti Stefan

Recently stayed here for a week as part of a TUI package with breakfast included. Really enjoyed our stay- the hotel was clean, pool area was clean and the waiting staff were very friendly and nice. We ate at the restaurant most days and the food was really good, cheap and great portion sizes. Had a great week here

Not recommended. We were here with Titan/Saga. We were lucky to get a large lake facing room… others got very small rear facing rooms which aren’t great. Other than our better room, everything else is average to poor. Firstly the pool. It is advertised at 9am opening. But it doesn’t open till 10am. So there’s nothing to do after breakfast (advertised as ‘from 7’ but again it’s actually 7:30). Never ever stayed in a hotel with no outdoor pool/lounger access til so late in the day. Receptions response was basically ‘tough’. Pool tends to play loud dance type music. It totally missed its audience who were typically 60 to 80 year olds just wanting to sit, relax and read. The bar staff were friendly and efficient. Location. It’s too far out of Ohrid. The guide suggests a pleasant stroll along the lake to reach the centre. We did it once. Expect a 45 minute walk with little shade, no sight of the lake, just the backs of hotels with no access before finally getting to a view of the lake and another 15 to 30 minutes to the centre. So realistically you need a taxi each time. Below the hotel there is a tacky beach with ugly bars and hotels. Really down market. Food/Restaurant. Luke warm and unimaginative breakfast and evening meal buffets. Repetitive, overcooked and dry. For example the ‘hot’ breakfast choice this morning was cold fried egg, eggy bread, boiled egg, and a type of sausage which is neigh on impossible to cut through its outer plasticky casing. So. Egg/egg/egg I was very annoyed one night. Having had my meal, and having never been asked to sign any chitty on any day of my stay I went to bed and at 11:30pm was awakened by the restaurant who told me off for not signing a chitty. I wasn’t alone with this. Apparently their management had told their staff off for not getting signatures so, rather than leaving it to the morning to resolve, they instead phoned sleeping clients to remonstrate with them. I was furious. Especially the next day when the waiter again tried to tell me off. I’d already paid the whole bill to that date and now pay as I go. There are several signs and notifications all about charges for missing towels/any damage etc etc. just shows the attitude of the management. Our shower holder was almost falling off the wall. There’s a fridge in the room but if you take out the key card all electricity turns off so if you are away for the day then anything in there is warm when you return. Would I stay here again? Wrong location, poor food, some unhelpful staff. Lucky to get a good view. But no. I wouldn’t.

Although it had a lovely view of the Lake (from the top floor), the twin-bedded room we requested was small and barely adequate for two tallish people. There were very few hangers on which to hang clothes. More were requested but they did not appear the next day as promised and we had to ask again. Apart from this, there was only one large drawers and two small bedside table drawers. Inadequate provision all round. There was a balcony (if you didn't mind being subjected to other guests' cigarette smoke). However, the only places to sit in the actual room, apart from the bed, were two small cube pouffes squashed by a tiny table. If someone used one, then it was difficult to squash past the end of the bed. Returning to the bed, the twin beds were two singles pushed together, no gap in between them and one sheet tightly stretched over the top of them, resulting in it popping off in the night. On to the bathroom - the door barely cleared the end of the toilet and made access difficult. Poor maintenance of the shower screen (missing end cap), resulted in me cutting my foot on the first night when going out to the toilet. I reported this to reception the following morning, along with the fact that the toilet seat had come apart. (It turns out that a few people in my tour group had the same issue). A promise to repair was made. At no point was I asked if the cut on my foot need medical attention! The toilet seat was repaired but I had to put in a further request to rectify the sharp end of the shower screen. A shower mat was provided 2 days into the visit but it certainly did nothing to help the slipping situation. Staff in the restaurant were made aware of my onion intolerance on the first night but no-one took the time to time to check food ingredients for me and I had to find someone to help me every night. I got used to looking our for a particular waiter, who was an absolute star (regret not getting his name - he was pale ginger haired). The food was of mediocre quality - overcooked fish, frozen cooked mixed vegetables, very repetitive use of starters and side dishes. Fruit selection was usually watermelon or a hard apple. Occasionally there were hard nectarines or peaches. The desserts were not replenished once people had dug into them. Much more effort needed in respect of the food - very lazy catering. An à la carte menu was available for people prepared to pay. This food looked excellent, so the kitchen obviously could do better at a cost. Two nights out of the six we stayed there, part of the restaurant was rented out for what turned out to be prom celebrations for local pupils. The rest of us diners were squashed 4 to a table usually meant for 2 in an effort to get everyone seated. Quite obvious where the hotel's priorities were. A further observation is that the hotel lacks a conducive social area. Guests could sit on the limited seating in the reception area but there is no bar as such. There was room for one