"We stayed here for 11 nights at the end of April. We booked a last minute package with Tui, which included return flights from Manchester UK and transfers.
Overall 4/5. A very nice quality hotel in a lovely location. Superb staff in all areas.
Check in 15:00. Check out 12:00. Despite a few problems, we would definitely stay here again.
Arrival 5/5. It’s a 20 minute taxi ride from the airport. Our Tui transfer took nearly 45 minutes though, as we were the last drop off. Check in was swift and friendly. Reception give you a lot of verbal information regarding specialty restaurants, the Riu App, Wi-Fi etc. Impossible to take it all in at the time, but they give you a useful information sheet about wifi, restaurant opening times etc. You are given 2 tokens per couple for the collection of pool towels. We were in our room within 10 minutes of arrival.
Room 5/5. We stayed in room 98 on the ground floor. A pleasant room with a garden view, though we’ve stayed in better at Rui hotels in Mexico and Dominican Republic. Comfy twin beds and very quiet - we slept well. Bedside cabinets with light switches and sockets above. Aircon and ceiling fan. Kettle and fridge with mini bar. Sofa and table. Large tv with UK Sky News. Full length mirror. Plenty of wardrobe space and hangers. Easy to use digital safe. We had read that the room safe was chargeable (a crazy idea) but thankfully it's complimentary now. Small balcony, with a table and 2 chairs. Iron and board. The aircon and bathroom extraction were not working on arrival, but fixed promptly (see later).
Bathroom 4/5. Large bathroom with twin sinks, very nice quality tiles and a fab large shower. We did have a few problems though - the 2 extraction fans were not working when we arrived and one of the sink plugs would not retract easily and needed to be forced. The light in the shower was not working. Reported these via the Riu app. - all fixed promptly. We never really felt the extraction was worked well during our stay and the bathroom always filled up with steam during and after a shower. It was so bad that we always had to leave the door open during showering. I did report it again and it was supposedly fixed, but it never improved during our stay. My wife continued to be unable to use one of the sink plugs. Also the shower drained poorly.
Location 5/5. Located directly next to Las Dunas sand dunes. From the hotel, they look majestic, especially from the Oasis Restaurant and the nearby bar seating area. It’s a 3 minute walk to the dunes from Reception. You can walk to the sea via a path through the dunes, which takes about 20 minutes. You an also walk via a path to Maspalomas Lighthouse. Both walks are over sand dunes and are challenging. There are always taxis outside the hotel and there are frequent buses to various locations. The bus stop is a 2 minute walk from the hotel - ask at reception for bus times etc. There is a very handy and well stocked supermarket opposite the hotel. Shops, restaurants are all nearby.
Breakfast buffet 5/5. Lots of choices. Large selection of everything you could think of. I especially enjoyed the fruit, sliced meats and the fried eggs. It can get a bit busy between 8-9 am, though we never had problems finding a table indoor or outdoor. Very, very attentive staff.
Evening buffet 5/5 - all very good with lots of choice and cooking stations. Lots of hot and cold choices. I particularly enjoyed the fish. Again busy at peak times. Wines are reasonably priced and you can buy by the glass, small carafe or bottle. All the ones we tried were nice. Again the staff were very attentive.
Specialty Restaurants 5/5. We enjoyed both Krystal (International) and Oasis (Spanish). The cooking and menu choices are not exceptional at either restaurant, but we found the food at both very pleasant and the service good. As it was early season, neither restaurant was open every night. There is no charge for either and unlimited booking per room. This might change in peak season. Service was at 18:30 and 20:45. The views of the dunes from Oasis is exceptional. You can book via the app, which we found very easy or via reception. They make a very pleasant change from the buffet. We alternated between the 3. Always more choice in the buffet, but it is nice to be served.
Other 4/5. We found the Wi-Fi reception to be fine throughout the hotel and generally fast, though we were only using our phones. We did encounter difficulty logging in at the start and were then locked out after a few days. We could not reconnect and even reception struggled to access the Wi-Fi from our phones. It’s all too complicated, but Reception eventually sorted it out. Most hotels now only use your name as a username and your room as a password."
