"Me and my partner booked this hotel for a treat getaway to relax before i start my new job. We thought with the 4.3 star reviews, 5 star rating and pictures advertised we were in for a good treat, however, the treat was leaving to come home. Starting off with some positives. The room was lovely and clean, could not fault except the balcony door was very stiff & bit broken, it was very difficult to close & open. The sun loungers were comfortable and nice, clean pool areas. Now going onto our issues with this hotel...
FOOD! I am a slightly fussy eater so i did expect to struggle a little bit, but not as much as i did. For breakfast there were lovely fresh omelettes, hot local buffet food, fresh pastries, etc. Pretty good, only fault i would say the fresh orange juice needed to be topped up more often, was always empty/near empty when i would see it. Lunch options, not ideal, food was cold, pizza tasted off. Again, not topped up enough. Down from reception at the bar lounge area there were pastry options, with sandwiches and chicken nuggets, however the nuggets were freezing, i also didn't think all the food left out in there was very hygienic. Dinner buffet was a bit shocking, again pizza tasted funny almost like a chemical taste, honestly no great options for a fussy eater other than the fresh pasta bar. On our second night the chef was lovely making the pasta, one of the only staff members who really made a positive impact on our experience and engaged with us. Alot of cross contamination however with making the pasta, i would have residue/peppers etc in mines from the last dish made. There was not enough seats for everybody to eat at, we came in march, so wouldn't like to imagine the struggle to get a seat to eat in the later peak season. We felt we were wondering around with our plates looking for somewhere to sit to eat, time we get a seat our food is cold. The sprite and fanta tasted awful and always flat. The food images online are also unlike the reality of the food. Everyone is different and i'm sure people who are adventures with food and like everything would enjoy it, but for us, it was a real struggle to not be hungry the whole trip/get full up and be satisfied. The hotel does have a mini shop inside, with souvenirs, spices and snack options, however, i'd advise bringing your own snacks unless you are prepared to spend the equivalent of £8 on a tiny bag of cookies.
DRINKS!!! The false advertisement on the online pictures for the cocktails/drinks is shocking! Pictures of glass cocktails, a strawberry daquari in one? Don't be fooled. 5 absolutely rubbish cocktail options, made from a machine and cheap unbranded spirits? Handed out in a tiny plastic cup. So poor and disappointing. Something you would expect from a 3 star.
MISLEADING!
After the disappointment with the hotel buffet, we decided to book one of the "onsite" a la carte restaurants. We booked the Karmoussa restaurant, we followed the AWFUL signs in the hotel to direct us to this restaurant, after 10 minutes of going round the resort we were unable to find it, we asked a member of staff, to be told we need to take the shuttle bus. We were not made aware of that when booking the restaurant. We arrive at the karmoussa restaurant, it was the deadest atmosphere i've ever sat in, only 3 others around us and no music. Along with no music, no alcoholic beverages available? Food was good, i personally had the lamb chops and they were lovely, however the awkwardness and silence was a unpleasant experience. Obviously not the hotel's fault nobody is dining at the same time as us but a bit of music or something to create an atmosphere would have been nice.
Spa staff approached us while sat at the pool, and we decided to book a massage, we were told to go to reception at time of my appointment to get taken to the spa. When we go to reception, the receptionist seemed a bit stand off ish asking who told us to go there, we were confused and told to go down to get a cart to take us. We did not get a cart to take us there as nobody was there and no carts driving around. So we walked, no other choice. Again the directions are shocking, the most misleading directions, if it wasn't for a random man in a shop helping us, goodness knows how we would have found our way. Spa seemed a bit eerie? I was taken to the room for my massage, i'm sure the spa therapist was named Latifa, she was lovely. I did think the price for what i got was very much worth it, Latifa done an amazing job.
No disclaimer on construction work at pool!! Once sat down on our sun lounger ready to relax, we were severely disturbed by the loud drilling construction happening beside the pool. It seemed they tried to turn up the music to cover the drilling but it actually made it worse and a more uncomfortable atmosphere. This was very disappointing and frustrating, you come on holiday to relax, not to listen to drilling, very LOUD drilling.
NOISE!!!! The bedroom door's must be made out of paper, you could hear a pindrop from outside the room door. Again, i understand it is out of the hotel's control people making noise in the halls, but a better door with a bit of noise cancelling would help this matter.
We had issues from day 1 with the people in the room above us, the noise was TERRIBLE. I'll never understand how someone feels a need to move furniture around a room CONSTANTLY. As we were only staying 3 nights, we just put up with it and did not want to cause a fuss. However, our last night was terrible with furniture movement and screaming/shouting. We had enough and called reception, we were asked if we wanted to move room, i did not want to as it was our last night, it was late (11pm), why should i have to inconveniently move room because the room above is causing a racket. Reception supposedly sent security to their room, nothing changed, went on for an hour. After 2 reception visits and 3 reception phone calls, eventually a proper security team came in and dealt with it, we got a decent bit of sleep, however i was very scared and shaken up with what i had to listen to from the room above. Noise started again at 2am, then at 7am. We weren't the only room complaining about this issue. Although they did deal with it eventually, i felt like it could have been handled better first time, not after 4 times contacting them. I do understand this isn't completely the hotel's fault, they cannot control the noise guests make, although it was a-lot more than just noise. Our main issue with all this which is why i explained all that, was the receptionist when checking out. Our last morning being woken up at 7am with the room above again, we called reception to ask for a later check out as due to the issue with the noise we did not have a decent sleep, receptionist spoke to manager and said all was okay, we can check out at 3pm instead of 12pm. We collected our new room key and receptionist was lovely and sympathetic about the situation. When later checking out, a new receptionist lady told us we had to pay a late check out fee, i replied back explaining, we were not made aware of any charge and we asked for it due to the issue with the room above us disturbing our sleep, in response, the receptionist was beyond rude and demanding us to pay, i explained again the situation and she asked who arranged it. Rather than confirming the information we told her she still was demanding us to pay. Considering what we had to put up with and how disappointing the hotel was, the receptionists bad attitude towards us was disgusting and added to our distress and disappointment. A male receptionist de-escalated the situation and said all was okay and we did not need to pay, we then left.
To sum up all of that, this hotel is absolutely nowhere near other 5 star resorts we have stayed in. It is unfortunate, as i feel it does have so much potential. It comes across as elegant and luxurious but from our experience it just was not that or even close."
