"We went as a family, 2 adults and a 10 year old. The hotel itself is very stylish and nicely decorated. Taurito itself is a little run down and dated. The beach is small but had a nice vibe, with soft sand and a nice cover style area to swim / paddle.
The views from this hotel are outstanding as you can see the sea and beach from your sun lounger up by the pool.
We had an escencia suite and liked the space, and room service. The lack of door to the shower and free standing bath did make it a bit awkward from a privacy point of view but we managed as there was plenty of other space for people to go to in the suite.
We liked the one restaurant for breakfast as it was nice and chilled with a lovely outdoor space to eat in.
Now for the downsides:
- food lacking taste and variety (even at the one restaurant in the evenings). At the one restaurant Staff are supposed to tell you what the specials are in the evening but fail to do so unless you ask. Breakfast at the one restaurant has nicely laid out cups and saucers on the table but no offer of fresh coffee / tea served from a pot / jug. Instead there are cups and saucers next to the self serve coffee machines.
One night my husband ordered steak cut chips, when they arrived they were cold. The staff took them back and my husband wandered in to get some more food from the self serve starters section, he saw the chef ‘shuffling his chips around with his bare hands on the plate under the hot heat lamps’. Another night we ordered a burger, the patty was so dry my son couldn’t eat it.
The food at the food market was very simple in terms of being sautéed, baked etc - lacking in flavour and spice. What I hated the most was that the sauces on the food had a gelatine like consistency (like you would get in some cheap Chinese restaurants). I also noticed one evening that the same tongs were being used for turning over uncooked fish and serving Cooked fish. This member of staff was wearing gloves and picking up raw fish fillets (with drips of liquid dripping off) and then using the same hand and gloves to then handle the tongs. In no hygiene expert but surely once you have handled raw fish those gloves need to come off and replaced before serving cooked food?
On the subject of sickness and diarrhoea we went well prepared with medicine having read reviews and washed and sanitised our hands constantly. Both myself and our son were fine (i am a pescatarian but are mostly veggie on this holiday, and our son is a typical 10 year old and a very plain eater). However, my husband had terrible cramps and diarrhoea from day 2-3 of the holiday. This wiped him out and left him feeling quite weak. He thinks this was from some chicken which when sliced into had a pink hue /tinge to it. He didn’t eat it but continued to eat from the same plate.
This whole issue of sickness and diarrhoea really marred the holiday and gave us anxiety before we went and when we were eating every meal.
From what I could see the cooking staff (nearly all Algerian men) lacked basic food safely awareness and didn’t seem too interested in the people they were serving as often they could be seen messing about and joking around (which is fine, but not when you are there in front of everyone for the 3 hour slot designed to cook properly and serve guests). The hotel needs the presence of a head chef ‘ manager in the restaurants to check on staff conduct / Fod quality and to reassure guests that there is some control and standards being applied/enforced.
The animation team didn’t run any activities and when they did it wasn’t widely known or promoted well. One afternoon my son was playing football with them and a group of kids, and he kicked the ball over the fence by accident. The team tutted and rolled their eyes, which upset my son and me. I asked if they had another ball and they said ‘no’. I find it hard to believe that one tatty old peeling leather ball is the extent of the hotel resource for football. Another afternoon there was a half hearted attempt to play water polo. The nets and the ball came out a few kids gathered and then the game never took place. No explanation.
The entertainment for older kids/teenagers in the day time doesn’t exist and could be a lot better with a more proactive and interested animation team. The Evening entertainment was also so dire we went up to our suite around 8pm instead.
The transfer with TUI was appalling. 2 hours each way. On the way there we sat on the bus for 1 hour even before it moved.
On the way home, we drove round, and round, and round various hills / valleys collecting other holidays makers. It felt like a never ending 2 hour nightmare. When we eventually checked in at the airport we only had one hour from the front check in desk to our plane departing (and our gate as we discovered was a 12 min walk away). This created a stressful end to our holiday and had we have known I would have got a taxi instead.
This hotel should and could be so much better, it’s placed in a stunning location and styled beautifully. Sadly, the lacking touches are as a result of the staff and management as only they can resolve the food and entertainment issues.
Obviously, the TUI transfer issue is specific to TUI."
