Antonio Montana
Hotel is an analogy for a terrible book in a beautiful cover.
From the outside and from inside the lobby, it looks fantastic. However, upon closer inspection it is terrible on multiple fronts.
Food - mediocre, unimaginative and of cheap quality.
Food Service - atrocious. There are 50+ people lining up before 6:30 p.m. dinner time to run in and grab tables. At 7:00 p.m. you cannot get a table. Lines to get food are very long.
Drink Service - facilities are understaffed and overworked leading to constant lines for drinks. Drinks at pool/beach bar are poured in paper pepsi glasses - great 4* experience. Drinks at Playa Larga bar are poured into glass, however, lines for those drinks take 5-10 minutes in the evening as there are only two bar tenders working.
Beach - hotel's beach is really non-existent, it is a tiny spot of sand between rocks. Most hotel guests either go left to the H10 Tindaya's beach or right to the wild beaches.
Room - clean, but feels cheap and hastily remodeled. Our room didn't even have a table or chairs to sit inside. Shower drain was very slow and shower was constantly flooding.
Hotel state - outside of the lobby and 100 meter shots, hotel shows extreme signs of lack of care. Paint is failing everywhere, lights flicker thoughout the hotel, there are multiple areas with extreme water leaks, stairs are cracked, multiple areas of the hotel appear to be mothballed, futniture in public areas is old/scratched/stained. It looks like hotel didn't have a major interior/exterior upgrade since 2003 and ownership is just milking it for money.
Sports facilities - gym is good and modern with decent selection of machines. Tennis court is atrocious with net being propped up by old chair and fencing around the court having holes so balls roll out. Basketball hoop is broken.
Entertainment team - average, barely anyone participated and activities were underwhelming.
Overall, 2/5. And that is a weak 2. Do not recommend, do not visit this hotel.
Chris Bruce
Just returned from a week's stay here,from the moment of our arrival we found the staff very friendly and very efficient. The room was a bit tired,but as others have said renovation is going on, the noise was an issue if you went back to your room later in the afternoon, before dinner ,on a couple of occasions work did go on until nearly 7pm. We had a very relaxing time the pools are lovely, a short stroll to the beach, the grounds are lovely ,colourful and well maintained,the sea view sunbeds which you can hire for the day are worth it ,with numbers 4, 5, 6, or 7 seeming to have the best views of the sea. The food was excellent, with a very good choice at every meal , my wife thought some of the food could have been a little hotter ,finding somethings luke warm, but was more than happy with the fresh crispy salads, for me it produced the best full English breakfast I have had outside the UK. We would be more than happy to return here hopefully in a refurbished room when the renovation is complete.
Vikki M
In short: I personally wouldn't stay in this area again or stay at another of this company's resort locations. Would absolutely not recommend for vegetarians. If you eat meat, aren't bothered about local culture, are looking to disconnect and want a bit of isolation (or speak German), then it might be ok for you.
Not so good:
A key factor when picking a hotel for me was WiFi availability, at this hotel it was grossly misleading! Initially there was patchy WiFi accessibility, very slow, however, after the first couple days it was completely out and just displayed "Internet not available" and remained that way for the rest of my trip. No attempt appeared to be made to resolve this, if Internet access is important for you and you don't have a decent data plan DO NOT book this hotel. Also be aware that data availability is pretty patchy, many areas of the Hotel and within the rooms have sporadic or no signal at all.
They've obviously recently done up the rooms, nice fancy smart tvs, but if you want to use them for anything "smart" it's very slow and temperamental because of the Internet issues. They do have fancy new plug sockets and switches, but some of the switches don't appear to do anything and the USB holes (in my room) didn't line up right so you can't actually use them.
Outside of breakfast and snacks the food was pretty awful, especially if you're vegetarian. I almost cried the day I walked up and found vegetable lasagne. What was more frustrating is that every day there would be "almost" vegetarian dishes, things you'd expect to be vegetarian like lentils, beans, chickpeas but then all would have sausage or bacon or something added unnecessarily (imo). When there are 20-30+ meat options, i don't see any need to be adding meat to other dishes that could so easily offer a single vegetarian option, or allow folk to add a meat of their choice if desired. Even many of the vegetable/ potato dishes had meat added to them. If you're vegetarian, make sure you get your protein at breakfast, because otherwise you're carb loading all day, be prepared to be VERY bloated. (Update: on my last day, as if they heard me writing my review: chickpeas with no meat; veg lasagne; mushrooms and egg; rice with veg and no meat. Was really hard not to over eat after a week of only white rice, chips and salad rolls for dinner. Actually more annoying knowing how capable they are of producing vegetarian options and that for most of my time here they just chose not to.)
The cocktail machine drinks were pretty awful, and other alcohol was very weak as it's pretty standard in these types of places. Coffee machines were AWFUL but in the main bar there is a proper coffee machine, available from 10:30am until midnight.
There are MANY notices to say loungers cannot be reserved but nothing is done to control this. So, as is typical with a large number of them, Germans will be Germans. About 75% of loungers seem to be permanently "reserved" and 30-50% of those will remain unused for the majority of the day, of course in the best spots.
Also, no kettles in the rooms, didn't realise how much I'd miss being able to make a cup of tea any time I like in my own room. Can only access hot water when the restaurants or bars are open
Anna Greathead
Just back from a trip here - we had a great time and the hotel provided us with everything we needed for this! The room was comfortable and clean, and everything worked! The staff were unfailingly friendly and working so hard. The location is fabulous with half a dozen wonderful beaches within ten minutes walk. The evening entertainment was actually great - we saw two live bands, a dance show, and a magic show. The food was typical for an All Inclusive at this price point - always something you can enjoy, but a little repetitive. The best night was 'Mexicano' night where there was more flavours. The garden was wonderfully kept and lovely to stroll in. The grounds generally were well maintained.
There were a couple of issues that some people might find to be more difficult than we did so I report them for information.
There are few lifts and a lot of steps! This is simply down to the terrain the hotel is built on but worth knowing if you are slightly less mobile.
The wifi in the hotel is spotty at best. Plus there are also data blackspots. This was not a concern for us especially but I know that some people might want to remain reliably connected.
Whilst the beer, sparkling wine, and general bar drinks were fine - the wine was not great, and the cocktails pre mixed and a bit watery. We opted for liqueurs, mixed long drinks and so on and it was fine.
The more picturesque of the nearby beaches are popular with naturists and there is a lot of nudity. Easy to avert the eyes if you don't like that kind of thing, but the main town beach might be the best thing for you if you really don't want to risk it!
Sonia Słodkowska
We had a really good time at this hotel. The food was excellent, with a wide selection for every meal, so everyone was sure to find something they liked. There was no problem with sunbeds.
Two negatives:
- the hotel is old, and our room had a terrible smell in the closet, so we couldn't unpack (renovations are currently underway, so maybe things will improve soon).
- no cleaning staff at the pool area (lemon slices and used straws were left in the same place for days, and the tables near the sunbeds were dirty and never cleaned, causing annoying flies).
My Booking
