Firstly, its important to note that the 'so-called' Grand Hotel Flora has delusions of grandeour. This hotel claims to be of a 4 star quality, its a 3 star at best - possibly 30 years ago, but certainly not now. Reading other reviews, it seems to me that people are being overly kind and giving the hotel the benefit of the doubt. However, I think they're missing the point - this is your holiday! its the only holiday you maybe able to afford a year and is consequently precious. So in my opinion there can be no excuses.

Firstly, let me start with the positives. The hotel is clean and tidy and about a 10 minute walk from the centre of Sorrento - this is the main reason we booked into this hotel. The restaurant is impressive (not the decor!) with a good selection and standard of food on offer, with the waiters friendly and attentive. There is clearly a split between the way the restaurant is run and the hotel. Sadly, that is where the positives end and the problems begin.

A little background - My girlfriend and I stayed at the hotel from the 13th to the 20th of June. During the day we visited stunningly beautiful places such as Pompeii, Amalfi, Vesuvius, Positano, Napoli (only kidding! Napoli is awful - be warned, there is a problem at the moment with rubbish collection and the city bins are overflowing on to the streets and roads. Absolutely disgusting and I've never seen anything like it) and of course Sorrento itself. It was hot, about 85degF. This was just the sort of climate we were looking for. However, after a day in the sun, we were both looking forward to getting back to the hotel and cooling down in our air conditioned room (?). All the rooms apparantly have controls for air conditioning - be warned, they are a facade and do nothing. The guests cannot control the temperature of their room - only the hotel can do this. The hotel will basically dictate to you what temperature your room should be at! Worst still, the air conditioning only switches on at certain times of the day! Every time you want your room air conditioned, you have to ask reception. I must have asked atleast 10-15 times. This usually involves an argument as they will resist and pretend they don't understand you. Obviously this is a cynical way of saving the hotel money. Do not take no for an answer, air conditioning should be included in the price of your room and you should be able to use it whenever you want to!! Also note that Reception are particularly apathetic and indifferent to any and all requests for assistence e.g. tv, fridge (which costs 10 euros, along with the safe just to use! - don't pay it!) not working and air conditioning restrictions.

We were given a room on the first floor, road side. Believe me when I say that the noise is ridiculous - this is the main road into Sorrento and is busy day and night with mopeds, buses, lorries and cars. There is also a 24/7 garage right across the road from the hotel and a rail way line slightly further up which all add to the general racket. Forgot any notion of sitting out on the balcany or even keeping the road side window open at night. The noise even drowns out conversation. However, with the air conditioning restrictions and the humidity, the window inevitably had to be opened at night and little sleep was had. Admittedly, the double glazing did work fairly well, the only problem we had with the windows was in the toilet where you could almost poke your finger through the gap between the window frame and the wall, not to mension the mould - poorly maintained and certainly not 4 star quality. Other reviews pointed out the sky box (which we had problems with during our stay - surprise, surprise) as worth having, but I should mension that 90% of the channels are either in Italian or dubbed into Italian. Thank goodness for the BBC news channel as my Italian is poor! Also note, that apart from the Thompson welcome pack (about Sorrento and the surrounding area, not particulary about the hotel itself) there is no information in the room from the hotel itself about the facilities available or even the number to dial to get reception! certainly no tea/coffee facilities. On the day of our departure, the hotel asks guests to vacate the rooms by 10am, our pick up to take us to the airport wasn't due until until 4pm. We didn't fancy dragging out luggage around Sorrento or sitting in the hotel lobby for 6 hours - or leaving our luggage unattended to be watched over by Reception! this was actually suggested by the Thompson Rep! The hotel has no left luggage room. The left luggage wasn't even within line of sight of reception! So we asked the recpetion if we could have a late check out (3pm), which they surprisingly offered for 30 euros. If you don't ask, you don't get at the Hotel Flora. This service was not advertised anywhere and was a prime example of how little information is available to the guests.

Sorrento and the surrounding area (Naples aside) is incredibly beautiful and despite being let down by this Hotel, we didn't let it spoil our holiday! With so many great hotels (you only realise that when you get there!) in Sorrento (for the same money or less!), why would anyone want to waste there precious holiday time staying here? Best avoided - it should be removed from the Thomsons holiday brochure.

P.S. Watch out for mopeds!!

We booked our 7 night holiday at the Flora through Thompsons flying from Birmingham.On arrival at Naples airport we heard that there was a baggage handlers strike and feared the worse but the staff from Thompsons did the job themselves and we were on our free transfer coach very quickly.

On arrival at the hotel we were allocated our room imeadiatley and were very pleased with it, we had booked a sea view with balcony which was a side view but had the bonus of french doors with a juliet balcony over looking the pool and the bay of Naples with Versuvius in the background The room was very a very large corner room with a double bed and a single (we had requested a double rather than twin when we booked). The bathroom was also large with a bath and shower.Linen and towels were always clean and the house keeping excellent ( My husband would have you believe I'm an OCD clean freak so cleanliness is a big thing).

The breakfast menu was as normal for the continent ie;bread rolls, hams, cheeses, cereal and fruit etc,the evening meal was enjoyable to and we were able to have a table for 4 so our friends who had booked seperately could join us every mealtime. If you know you have an early start for trips or wont be back for evening dinner the waiters will order you a packed lunch if you ask the night before.Gala night was fun and also our waiter Franco who was great, found out it was my birthday and I was presented with a lovely cake and seranade We booked our trips through the Thompson rep who was most helpful and did not find them to cost much more than booking locally but we did have the advantage of an english speaking guide and whilst on trips to Pompiie/versuvius and the Amalfi coast were taken to restraunts for lunch for 11 euros a head with wine and no waiting. The thermal spas at Ischica are wonderful and well worth the time and money. I will definatley be returning to The Grand Hotel Flora

Positives:
Had ocean view suite on the top floor, could see Mount Vesuvious and the landscape of Sorrento.

Had decent cable

Negatives:

Hotel food is gross if you have taste buds.

A/C was broken and no one came to attempt to fix the unit..so it was humid in our room. Could not leave the balcony door open because of the gnats would swarm our room.

Majority of the guests were 58+, felt like we were in a retirement community.

We have just returned from a week's stay at this hotel. Let's start with the postives!!

The hotel is clean and bright, the pool area is lovely and catches the sun nicely in the afternoon, the rooms are a good size and cleaned very well every day, the staff are courteous and friendly, especially Charmine and the lovely woman in the bar! The view from the 5th floor restaurant towards the Bay of Naples is fantastic and the Freeview box is useful when you feel like an early night!

As mentioned in many reviews the noise from the main road is a problem-it's not relaxing to sit out on your balcony when the M62 runs past the hotel-with the doors closed it's not a problem but if you fancy a bit of an unwind with your Campari and soda whilst drying your knickers you'll be dissapointed !

The restaurant is fine but there wasn't a lot ot Italian food on the menu! The hotel offers a selection of 4 main and 4 starters but during our stay only 1 of each selection was Italian! The other choices may have been flowered with restaurant speak but the other choices were basically meat and 2 veg! A fine example of pandering to the British tourist market!

There were no basic tea and coffee making facilites in the room-which means everytime you fancy a brew you have to pay and there was no information in the room about the hotel and its services!

Not an awful place to stay by any means but for 4 stars you would expect that little bit more!