Butrinti Apartments

When we decided to re-visit Corfu after less than impressive trip in 2007, we thought it a good idea to try and tick another country off our list and make a short two night visit to Sarande in Albania (since it is only 40 minutes away on the fast passenger ferry). When looking for a place to stay, this hotel looked like the sort of place we would choose, the clean and modern lines, a pool and sea views. I was though a little put off by the low rating this hotel has on TripAdvisor. It did seem that a lot of the reviews were not recent and the photos attached to the reviews did not match with those on the booking site. Upon arrival and now having stayed at hotel, Butrinti Hotel should definitely be rated in the top five of the area. It's easily the most imposing of all of the hotels on the bay, it enjoys and elevated view and looks well maintained, very clean, and arranged in a way that ensures a relaxing stay. Except the main entrance did not appear to have any disabled access, yet inside there was a chair lift from the reception level to the lifts. How this hotel isn't rated no.1 in Sarande I do not know. I really liked the decor of the public areas and will attach photos as this hotel deserves to have itself shown in it's true light compared to the other traveller photos currently showing (these must be pre-renovation photos) We were allocated room 205 which looked out over the front driveway, road and sea as well as the bay of Sarande. The room was a twin and was a little small, but more than adequate. The beds were comfortable, we had air-conditiong which came in very handy, a safety deposit box, which we couldn't work and a mini-bar which was stocked, but had space for a few of our own drinks. The prices were very reasonable as far as mini-bars go. Our bathroom was small and compact with shower cubicle toilet and sink with a lighted vanity mirror. All very modern and impeccably clean. The cleaning staff were very friendly, and even when asked not to clean, they insisted on bringing fresh towels. We were there only two nights! The pool area is quite large and features a good variety of shaded and sunny spots to sunbathe in single beds or larger Balinese style beds. The pool was very clean, had a children's splash section as well as a swim-up bar. The outside bar had an extensive terrace with views over the bay. Seating at tables and chairs as well as sofa style seating. The pool area offers freshly made pizza from the oven right by the bar, these are exceptional value and very tasty. The wait staff are efficient, but they seem very task-focussed, there doesn't seem any interaction in any kind of informal way. I wasn't rude however. I thought the pool area and bar terrace were a great asset to this hotel. A fantastic spot to sit for sundown or "Golden hour" with views over the Corfu. The breakfast which was included featured an extensive range of continental options and fried or scrambled egg with hot-dog style sausages. It was fine, and

Hmmm…looks good but a bit of an odd place. Can’t put things on your bill for example…almost there but no quite….it says 5* but in what country. There are a lot of hotels in the area, maybe look at them first.

This hotel displays images of the beach, but when inquired about beach locations, they only respond with poorly spoken English, saying, "I don't know." On the final day, my friends took one wine and one coke from the minibar. However, after checking out, the reception insisted that they had taken two wines and two cokes. It was an unpleasant experience. My friends that are not Albanians will never come back to any albanian beach! Just like me as an Albanian I will never visit this corrupt Hotel again.

Our recent stay at this hotel was far from satisfactory. A particular incident marred our experience, involving the minibar charges. Despite only consuming one Coke and one bottle of wine from the minibar, we were inexplicably charged double the price. Despite explaining this oversight to the staff, they remained unyielding in their stance, insisting on the inflated payment. Regrettably, it seemed that other guests had encountered similar issues. On a positive note, our room offered a nice and clean environment with a lovely view of the sea. Amidst the challenges, it's worth noting that one staff member was notably friendly and helpful. However, the overall unfriendly attitude of the staff and the absence of essential supplies like first aid items underscored the lackluster service we received. Such occurrences are incredibly unprofessional, particularly in the context of a 5-star hotel. These issues undoubtedly impacted our overall perception of the stay. It is my fervent hope that the hotel management treats these concerns with the gravity they deserve and takes substantial steps to rectify these shortcomings. Ensuring a more enjoyable and seamless experience for future patrons.

Where do I even start… overpriced, poor quality & awful customer service! This hotel is soo expensive, we were booked into the Junior Suite for 3 adults. Every single day, we had to request for an extra towel, extra mug & extra key because these were removed from our room every day. We were celebrating a birthday, I was promised champagne flutes in the room, arrived to none. Day staff don’t communicate with night staff. Staff have no clue what’s going on yet there are so many staff members walking around?! The only benefit is the pool area & breakfast which is light but lovely!

Extremely dissapointed, the service was horrible would not recommend it. The rooms were extremely small, and they would only give out ”better” rooms out to people who didn’t speak albanian. The staff were disrespectful and the rooms were dirty from what we saw in our rooms. Had to go complain lots of times for a change of room because of how poor they were in terms of quality, not worth your money.

We ordered a room with balcony and when we got here, they demanded we pay b4 we got the room, when we got to the room, it was a room without a balcony. we talked to the reception and they told us they will fix it they made a mistake they told us use the room til we move you to your room. After waiting for 3 hours, They did not change the room and said to the manager that they never said they were going to fix it. In the end we got two options, to leave the next day or pay 80 euros extra per day for the balcony, than we told them that we just leave to another hotel we would like our money back, then they told us we will charge you for the night because you guys used the room they first put us in 🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️ Sneaky people that try to milk money of you, with their own lies and mistakes! Carefull if you decide to come here. We don’t recommend at all👎🏻

The customer service is non-existing, and we have never felt so unwanted and not welcome in our lives before. It was truly shocking. My husband and I, booked a stay for 8 nights at this hotel, as the hotel looked appealing to us. To our great surprise, when we arrived at the hotel we were met by a rude man by the entrance. He starts the conversation off right away by saying “We are fully booked. Do you have a reservation?”. We show him the receipt, and he asks us to wait for the check-in at 14:00/2 o’clock. As we waited in the reception, the 2 receptionists kept staring at us. We walked up the desk and explained that we were waiting for our turn to check in. They then proceed to tell us that they cannot find our reservation, even though we showed them the confirmation. We then asked to speak to the manager, as the receptionist was not helpful and did not seem to care at all. The manager then arrived, and she was even ruder. She told us that if we want to stay we have to pay even more, even though, as previously mentioned, we already had our booking and confirmation in place. We explained to her that this was not okay, and she did not want to admit that it was their mistake. We ended up leaving the hotel, as they obviously tried to scam us, and unfortunately they were not understanding of our situation at all. I cannot recommend this hotel to anyone, unless you want to be treated very poorly and be looked upon and talked to in a very rude and disrespectful manner.