"We recently stayed at this hotel and overall had a very mixed experience. There are some genuinely lovely parts of the hotel, but also several things that were disappointing. Upgrading to Essencia after three days completely changed the holiday for the better.
The pool areas and layout are beautiful, and the hotel itself is very attractive with lovely sea views. The pools were always very clean, including a nice heated pool which was great. Some of the renovated areas of the hotel are stunning and clearly done to a much higher standard.
There were also some excellent staff members who really stood out. Ruben on reception was 10/10, extremely helpful and easily the best member of staff we encountered during our stay. Vicktor at the bar was also fantastic, very friendly and great fun. We also had some very nice massages during our stay although the room advertised is not where you have a massage.
The hotel has a small shop inside which is convenient, although expensive. Luckily there are cheaper shops less than a five-minute walk away.
Unfortunately, the standard rooms felt very tired and in need of proper maintenance. Ours had a toilet seat that was half hanging off and overall the room felt worn and poorly finished. The corridors were also very noisy at night – on floor 5 I could even hear the person in the room next to me snoring.
One of the biggest disappointments was the “all inclusive” package, which felt quite misleading. There were many restrictions on food and drinks unless you upgraded to a different package. I have never stayed at an all-inclusive hotel where you couldn’t even take a bottle of water to your room at night, which was very frustrating.
The hotel also promotes itself as environmentally conscious, which makes it even more surprising that foie gras is served on the menu. For a hotel that claims to care about sustainability and ethical practices, this felt completely at odds with the message they promote!!
Another issue was how the hotel amenities are described. The website suggests guests have multiple bars and facilities to choose from, but in reality this wasn’t the case. For example, the hotel advertises four bars, yet in the evenings only one bar was open. During the day certain bars can only be used if you have a specific wristband or upgraded package. This made the experience feel far more restricted than what the description online suggests.
Food was another weak point. The evening food at The One Restaurant was disappointing, with very limited vegetarian options. Buffet food was occasionally mislabeled and there was obvious cross contamination from guests serving themselves, which made it difficult to find safe meals. I also experienced an upset stomach within a day of eating the food.
The self-service drink areas weren’t always pleasant, with some cups smelling stagnant and drip trays giving off a bad smell. Cocktails also tasted very watered down, more like batch-made juice.
There were a few other issues including:
• a noticeable sewer smell outside the front of the hotel
• sunbeds needing a proper clean, including in the Essencia area
• being overcharged for drinks a few times
• difficulty upgrading our room and drinks package, which we were told couldn’t be done for several days due to staff being too busy
One thing that didn’t sit well with me was how the lifeguard enforced the Essencia sunbed rules. He was very strict with most guests but allowed two particular guests to stay due to their beautiful looks without question, which felt inconsistent and unfair.
The bar also closes quite early, and extending it to around 11:30pm would make the evenings more enjoyable.
Would I stay here again?
Possibly, but only with an Essencia room and Essencia access. Once we upgraded, the experience improved significantly and felt much closer to the holiday we expected when booking.
Without that upgrade, the stay would have been far less enjoyable. It’s a very low 4 starts if you ask me, the start of the holiday I would’ve rated it as 3 stars."
