Where do I start with this place? OK, the hotel itself, is absolutely top class, it is kept spotlessly clean inside & out. The grounds are absolutely beautiful, I & my (now) wife got married on the 4th of June 2009 here & the photographs we have, well, there is nowhere else you could get them. The flower arrangements in the lobby to the tree’s & gardens outside are fantastic. The view, from so many available angles of the hotel, are second to none, you won’t beat them. Now the Staff, The hotel owners are so easy going, helpful, polite & beautiful people, I could not believe they were the owners of such a grand hotel. All the staff are so helpful & polite, from the girls in reception to the waiters in the restaurant (especially the head, a true gentleman), to the cleaning staff, & most of all Andrei in the bar (hope I spelt your name correct), this man is a robot, we really did not think he ever slept. Infact everyone who attended is wondering if they have cloned Andrei, as he was everywhere at the same time, asking if he could do anything for you. In my opinion he is a really big asset to the hotel. There was absolutely nothing they would not do for us. If you are a food lover, Ohhh lord, you are gonna love eating here, i still have dreams about the dinners. I would recommend if your staying, go full board if you can, you will be glad you did. If you plan on going to stay here, there is one thing I suggest, rent yourself a car, you will need it. Now the staff are more than happy to provide a taxi service with there own cars, but you will really want to get around yourself, as it is isolated and all the roads are fairly dangerous to be walking down (there are no footpaths). They do have one or two cars to rent but at peak season I would imagine they would be booked already, so maybe book one from Lamezia & drive the hour up yourself. The views will be worth it anyway. A 30/45 minutes drive north to nearby towns (Diamante, Maratea) is well worth the trip. The local people in Cetraro and surrounding towns are again most helpful and again so polite. As I said, we got married in this hotel & my God did it exceed our expectations. This could never have happened without the work of everyone at Slow Dreams Janie & Bill could not have made getting married any easier. I really do not think they sleep either, as when I sent them a mail, I would check to see if I had got a reply about an hour later & there it would be, this could be anytime of day or night. There responses were so quick, neither myself nor my wife to be, could believe it. It was so simple, they gave me all the links for legal work & who to contact etc. The only thing slow dreams could not do was say “I do” for us on the alter. And even at that, Lucia who works on behalf of them in Italy, was by our sides the whole way through prompting everyone “discreetly” as to what they should be doing.. I can not praise Lucia enough for all she done, even two months after the wedding i had questions about legal things & as always Lucia acted on them straight away. Both I & Sinead are eternally grateful to them for all they done. I could write for the next day praising the Grand Hotel San Michele & Slow Dreams, so we will just leave you with: From Denis & Sinead in Ireland, thank you so much for the best time & we will never forget you.............
Denis & Sinead
2009
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