We booked the Costa Azzurra as we wanted a change from the large, impersonal five star hotels we usually go to and we were not disappointed,this hotel had everything and more. We stayed in a garden room and although not luxurious the banana and lemon trees outside our door more than made up for it. It is friendly family run hotel where nothing is too much trouble. The owner is on site and the grounds, hotel and rooms are kept spotlessly clean. Guests were mainly Italian, with some German and French and just a handful of Brits who all got along very well especially after the sangria flowed at Calbrigia night at the hotel. (Although this meant excursions were unavailable as COSMOS only book an English speaking guide if more than ten Brit couples book.) Food was fine -but some guests were a little too enthusiastic when the salad buffet opened and you needed elbows not salad servers to get a look in. Staff were always friendly and helpful especially the receptionist who made you feel you were part of the family, and of course the pool bar staff. They served perfect Gin and Tonics. Wine was not to be sniffed at either - at 4 euros a half a litre. The beach is great, but you do need to take the free hotel shuttle bus - it is too steep to walk. The prices for the sunbeds at the hotel stretch were also steep at 19 euros for two sunbeds and a parasol. But wine at the bar there was 1 euro a glass. Eating out is also recommended. A large pizza, tuna salad, litre of wine, bread, olives, on a balcony watching the sun set on Stromboli - priceless - well 35 euros. There are only a handful of bars and a few restaurants at Capo Vaticano - I would recommend the Honolulu bar. There's plenty to see and do if you want to. Tropea is delightful, Prezzo for the best ice-cream eating experience you will ever have. We don't usually go back to a place but we think the Costa Azzurra will be the exception It ticked all our boxes. It was our first trip to Southern Italy - and it couldn't have been better. Last word - take the choo choo into Tropea -its an experience that you will never forget.

In our opinion this area of Italy is not geared up yet for English tourists. the main nationality within the hotel was German. In some respects this was completely different type of holiday for us but the whole area was closed up (with the exception of the wonderful icecream/ coffee shop across the road which was owned by a lovely guy who had worked in New York and London and made the most amazing pastries) by 10pm.

We are happy to immerse ourselves in whatever culture and experiences we encounter when on holiday but there really was very little to do of interest here. There were excursions to a number of places - we went to the monastery on a coach where we were a minority of 2 in a group of 80 German tourists and the guides were only geared up for them with little or no English spoken. the lunch break on this tour was worse than Fawlty Towers and had to be experienced to be believed. We discovered that there has to be at least 10 people from any one nationality before a guide speaking that language will be provided.

The food in the hotel was traditional Italian home cooking which had to be ordered at breakfast from a very limited choice. if you are vegetarian then be prepared to eat lots of salad and nothing much more. we were only offered a proper dessert once during the week the rest of the time the offerings were either 'nothing' or tinned fruit - not very inspiring. Be prepared to look in cupboards for crockery which is often not provided ie bowls for cereals, saucers for cups!

Our room was quite small and was in one of the main buildings. If we were to go again we would request a garden room. there was no bath and the shower was something that would have been provided in Spain 30 years ago. a very small, square shower tray with just a flimsy plastic curtain. the water took absolutely ages to get hot but when it did the supply was plentiful. The rooms were cleaned daily and fresh towels were always available.

The pool area was very nice and the staff in the outside bar were most accommodating. there was no problem with people reserving sunbeds even though we felt that the hotel was almost full.

The hotel is run by a lovely family who are very accommodating and helpful. the father was on duty in reception in the evenings, the son drove the minibus into Tropea. another guy drove the minibus backwards and forwards to the beach but the timings were not very good. the road to the beach is extremely steep - not bad going down but horrendous coming back! The lady on reception during the day was really lovely and spoke good English.

All in all a beautiful area but before it can be part of the English holiday destinations the tour operators need to do some research into what is and what is not expected by their client group.

Our representative was a German girl and obviously not used to English people but having said that even though she only attended the hotel twice in the week she was available on her mobile at all times and we did contact her using this method and she responded immediately which was very good.

Please do not be put off by this review as we had a very enjoyable week at this hotel. However, we would have been most unhappy had we chosen to stay any longer.