Meliá Durres Albania

We stayed for 10 days and the hotel is just gorgeous. Some of the reviews on here are so unbelievably petty and I am sure they are only trying to dishonestly leverage a discount. *Food and drink* The all inclusive package is very generous. The buffet at Merkado was the best all inclusive buffet I have ever experienced. Yes there was sometimes some chewy meat options (I have travelled Albania and I believe it is common to serve meat this way) but there was always other meat and veggie options as well. There is a big salad bar, selection of cured meats and cheese board and a massive range of desserts. The all inclusive red and white wine was very drinkable as was the cava. The margarita cocktail was the only one I tried but it was of a very high quality. We had three visits to the a la carte restaurants included in our stay which we were not expecting so that was a nice surprise. You could also get pizza to takeaway from one of them. There were freshly made biscuits and some cakes available from Elixyr throughout the day. The Grab and go had fresh fruit salad, pasta salad, toasted sandwiches but the quality of the cheeseburger and chicken nuggets was disappointing. *Facilities* The rooms are huge, very clean and comfortable. My room was serviced every day unless I asked for it not to be. We were travelling with a toddler and so did not want to go out too much therefore the peaceful location was perfect for us. The children's pool is lovely and was always quiet. There is also a sweet little outdoor playground. The beach was clean, with plenty of sun loungers available and has a wooden path for pushchairs. We sent out some laundry which was turned around quickly within 24 hours and the rate was reasonable. *Staff* All the staff were hardworking but some stood out as exceptional. At reception Bertha, Anxhela and Lauren were extremely helpful and professional. Irisa had the difficult job of managing restaurant reservations but managed it with amazing grace. Fabiola and Osman at the kids club were absolutely charming and I think my 2 year old son has had the time of his life with them. There were many more but I didn't catch their names. Some constructive feedback: The voucher system to book the a la carte restaurants is just terrible and completely antiquated. I felt so sorry for the staff having to deal with it and it was just so unnecessarily complicated. There was a lot of confusion about it with guests getting different messages from different members of staff. Cape Nao staff told us we could dine on such and such a date but then the reservations team said it was full. Casa Nostra team said one voucher was needed for two adults but the reservations team said we needed a voucher each as we were in separate rooms. The vouchers were needed to make the reservations but some of our party did not arrive until 3 days after us and did not get their vouchers until the day after that. It was all incredibly frustrating and tainted the experience. Please just get an online booking system! The Chromecast was not working in our room for our entire stay. This was disappointing as we were travelling with an older teenager that was hard to entertain and we were hoping to stream movies together. I found it odd that there was no ice cream available anywhere except on the side of desserts in the a la carte restaurants. Due to our flight being delayed we arrived around midnight and were starving but there was no food available. Not even room service. It would have been nice if we could have bought a sandwich. However, these points would not prevent us from returning again though and we are hoping to make a visit every year in the future from now on!! This level of tourism is great progress for Albania and I am excited for the future of this beautiful country.

love all about it

It was such a wonderful stay and Irena was so kind and took care of us must visit again.

Brikena is one of the happiest bar staff I have ever met in the sports bar. She is polite and helpful From mark of London

Beautiful modern hotel, the staff was very friendly! By far, the best hotel I ever stayed in. We loved the aquadance, the entertainment team did a great job! The pool is very recommended. We booked an extra night because it was wonderful. 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼