"We stayed at the Estival Centurion as a family for a special holiday celebrating my dad’s 60th birthday. Sadly, although we had a great family holiday overall, our experience at this hotel was extremely disappointing and we would not return.
On the positive side, the rooms were clean and the housekeeping team were brilliant. The breakfast buffet also offered a wide selection of food, including enough dairy-free alternatives for my son, who has allergies. The pool area was very clean, and the pool toilets were cleaned regularly, which was appreciated.
Unfortunately, the positives were completely overshadowed by the attitude and service from a number of staff members. We found the service incredibly rude and unwelcoming. We made genuine attempts to converse in Spanish, but these attempts were met with derision and arrogance rather than encouragement. One waitress in particular, who is heavily tattooed, was exceptionally rude and arrogant and treated us as though we were a complete inconvenience.
The only member of staff who consistently smiled and made us feel welcome was an older gentleman on the front desk, whom we spoke to when asking about the dinner service.
The pool rules also appeared completely disjointed and inconsistently enforced. It seemed that if your face fitted, you could behave however you liked. We experienced this particularly with the sunbeds. On one occasion, we arrived at around 9:45am and put towels on a sunbed in the shade for my sister’s young baby. Only our towels were given an arrival-time sticker, despite other sunbeds having clearly been reserved much earlier, at around 8:30am, with no stickers at all.
The only obvious difference between us and those other guests was our nationality. Sadly, exactly the same thing happened again on another day to another family, who were also British. At that point, it was very difficult not to conclude that British guests were being treated differently.
We also found the bar service extremely uncomfortable. We had to repeatedly go to the bar ourselves to get drinks, while other guests were receiving table service — and, notably, with smiles and much friendlier treatment.
Our supposed sea-view room was another disappointment. We specifically requested and paid extra for a sea view. Yes, technically we could see the sea, but only if we leaned over the balcony at a dangerous angle. We never used the balcony because the street below was absolutely revolting and constantly smelled of a mixture of rotten seafood and sewage.
It is a huge shame because we genuinely had a great family holiday despite the hotel, and this trip was particularly special as we were celebrating my dad’s 60th birthday. The hotel unfortunately left a very sour impression on what should have been a memorable celebration.
I have contacted TUI to make them aware of our experience and suggested that they seriously reconsider having this hotel on their programme, as there appears to be a significant issue with the way British guests are treated.
Overall, while the cleanliness of the hotel, housekeeping and breakfast were good, the consistently rude and unwelcoming service completely ruined our experience. We felt extremely unwelcome throughout our stay.
I would never stay at the Estival Centurion again and, based on our experience, I would not recommend this hotel or the surrounding area to anyone."
