"Check in, or rather, finding the hotel was an issue. But this was Easyjet Holidays fault not the hotel. You need to get out at the sister hotel - Bahia Playa. Then you check in there.
The only thing the Romantic Fantasia Suites have is a bar, a pool and green areas. For dinner you need to go to the Bahia Playa (Main) hotel. The same for entertainment if you want it. The main hotel has 2 pools although I never used or sat by them.
Food is amazing. Definitely something for everything. Everything is clearly labelled for allergens/sensitivities which was a god send for me, being that I'm lactose intolerant. It always worries me, and I avoid anything I'm unsure of if it isn't labelled. But not here. Massive variety of food for people like me.
On a downside, one of the female servers just doesn't seem to want to be there. If you approach (usually the meat and fish section) she glares, and gives you the smallest portion after sorting through them. I get the impression she feels she's doing me a favour by serving me at all! After the 4th night, I avoided her section or waiting for someone else to come along. This business is not a good suit for her.
All the waitresses and waiters are outstanding though. Always a smile, sometimes a joke
Ana, the chamber maid, likes to leave towels on the bed folded like origami into various shapes of animals. We loved this and it was a delight to see what she would do next. One of the days, I forgot to lift my sunglasses, and Ana incorporated them into her latest creation. When I went back to the room to get my sunglasses, I burst out laughing. She's the best. We met her on occasion - always upbeat and a winning smile.
Other staff are always friendly and have a smile for you.
Quiet and peaceful. Not much to do which is exactly what we wanted. Except, there's a Disco! (Main hotel) Yes, a Disco. Sometimes it has live performers, other nights it's dance music.
Great to see people up dancing. If you want peace and quiet, come to the Romantic Fantasia Suites. If you want a party atmosphere, head to the main hotel. It's great to have a choice!
The main hotel has a games room with board games and 4 tables to play them on, tv showing sports and a pool table.
Palm trees all over the show and other plants as well as grass areas - they are looked after really well. Everything looks amazing. But because of the plants and grass, mosquitoes are everywhere, so you might want to bring some form of repellent. Ants were in our room, but only about half a dozen and only on the first night.
Cockroaches also live here.
First one we saw was by the outside bar, next one was the next morning in my room! Then another the next night. They aren't huge and are easy enough to remove with a glass and a bit of card - we used our 'do not disturb' sign. And of course washed the glass after. We didn't come across any more after this.
Noise of the bathroom extractor fan was awful - a constant low drone and sounded like it was ramping up and down all the time. After about 10 minutes, it seemed to even out. I just felt sorry for my neighbours in case the sound was travelling through the wall. Lighting in the bathroom wouldn't be great either - at least one light should be above the mirror, instead it was more behind where you stand. There is only one mirror, and that is in the bathroom, and because of the bad lighting, rendered it a little useless, especially when it streamed up after a shower. You could use the hair dryer, but it's a bit lacklustre so takes forever.
Room could do with updating. Wrong shade of paint used to cover up what might have been water damage. It looks awful and cheap.
Door and door frame clearly had water damage in the past and just left like that.
Also, the shower curtain has been installed way too high, so water cascades out underneath it.
Cats! Loads of cats around the hotel grounds and a few actually make into the main bar. I enjoyed lots of cuddles while reading my book. They are clearly looked after because they are healthy and don't have fleas. I was in heaven!
Lifeguards are on duty during certain hours, always watching and alert. Except for one man on the Sunday we were there (25th).
He thought it was far more important to send and receive voice notes on his phone all day long, rather than do his job.
Also, it's meant to be a relaxing holiday, but listening to that pretty much all day, was very frustrating, to say the least.
He didn't seem to care one bit about watching out for swimmers. And he was loud!
Pretty much all the tables in the dining area wobble, to the extent that my glass nearly spilt its contents on most occasions.
Most of the tables have a little blue wedge underneath. I'm not sure if the tables are at fault or the floor wasn't laid properly.
Tv channels appear to be mostly German. The only one I could find that had Dual audio (broadcast in Spanish and Original language) was a channel called Neox (34). You have to go to this channel, hit Q Menu on the remote, cycle through until you come to the logo with an 'M' in the middle of it, press the OK button on the remote, and select Original. Obviously this will only work if the programme was made in English, but they do show a lot of American TV shows and movies.
Bring your own tea and coffee, although you'll have to go to the Spar and get milk anyway. The Spar should have everything you need and is only a 5-minute walk away.
Buy a water bottle or 2 while you're there. There are lots of water bottle refilling stations around the hotel. You can't drink the tap water but it's fine for showering, brushing your teeth etc.
Marta at the pool bar is a godsend. She always remembered our drinks, which varied due to the time of day/night. Always service with a smile and so friendly. Marta and Ana were the absolute highlights where the staff are concerned, although all were nice and friendly, but those 2 - made our holiday special!
The area is due for an upgrade in the future, and it does need it, and I hope the R2 group see sense and upgrade this hotel to match. It really needs a hefty cash injection to bring it up to what it could be. The hotel has so much potential, and could be so much more than it is now. I'm not trying to take away from the hotel as it is amazing in the right places, but others not so much and I wouldn't hesitate to stay here again. This could very easily be a 5-star hotel!!!
We went in late October, and the weather was around 23-28 degrees, with a wet and windy day in between. It was still great, though.
Get this hotel booked!"
