My husband and I were celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary alongside our friends, who were on their honeymoon. We are all in our late 40s/early 50s. Stella Island is utterly beautiful - both to look at - so well tended and thoughtfully put together, but also because of the wonderful, friendly and attentive staff. We had been warned that April could be grey/cold, but we hit the jackpot with 7 days of sunshine, blue skies and 24 degree heat. It was perfect... in the day time, but COLD at night! (All the summery evening dresses I had brought went home unworn, leaving me wishing I'd packed more socks and jumpers!) The 3 a la Carte restaurants were absolutely top notch - We had incredible meals in all of them. The flavours were perfect and exciting, with presentation to match. There were so many good meals, but special mentions go to: Grouper Tartar at La Parrilla (lunch menu) Shrimp Orzo Pasta at La Parrilla (lunch menu) Umami House Special Nikkei at Umami Veal/Aubergine/Quinoa at Makuti (Brunch Menu) The evening buffet was fine - not sure what was missing as the food was fresh and plentiful... it just didn't match the incredible food we ate elsewhere. Breakfast there was wonderful though and I had to stop myself from over eating (the bread is really tasty, as is the greek yoghurt and honey). As mentioned, the staff were so friendly and charming (shout outs to Kristianos who served the pool from the Cabana bar, Georgio at La Parrilla and Georgios at Makuti). We also really appreciated the attention to detail, even down to the staff uniforms. Everything was so beautifully cut, very elegant and it suited all body shapes. Really smart. Things I would change? This is probably my age, but there are Instagrammers littering the place; using phones over dinner, using their partners as photographers to capture the perfect moment but then ignoring them away when from the camera. Retaking the same shot over and over because an eyelash was misplaced... it was quite entertaining (and baffling) to watch, but it was also a bit much. If you timed crossing the bridge wrong, you could get caught behind a photoshoot and be stuck for a while! Also - the taps! These were overly complicated and had a slightly different mechanism in each location, so you had to re-learn how to turn them on! Finally - there are no lights by any mirrors in the room, so you cannot see properly to put on make up or shave. And, something that drove me mad - there are only 2 hooks in the room but you are provided with 2 robes, 2 bath mats, 2 beach towels plus 2 bath sheets and 2 face towels per room! As a result your personal decked area outside the room is littered with drying towels, as there's nowhere else to hang them! However, these are really minor things and came no where near spoiling this beautiful, tranquil resort.
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