Apartaments LIVVO Puerto de Mogan

"I am writing this now we are more than half way through our 10 night stay at the Hotel LIVVO Puerto De Mogan. I feel like our experience here warrants going into detail as below Firstly the positives - The location - The area of Puerto De Mogan is absolutely stunning. Everywhere you look is a picture postcard setting. It is a much quieter resort area compared to neighbouring Puerto Rico and Maspalomas, and the beach is really calm and inviting. There is however only a limited amount of things to do/to walk to in the area and we have found that we are now running out of things to see and do at night etc. Rooms - We have a lovely room on the first floor, with a lovely balcony facing the beach and pool area. The rooms are spacious, modern and spotlessly clean. Housekeeping attends each day and are very nice and welcoming. The rooms have some really nice touches including Rituals toiletries, which are 1st class, and each night you get a Lindt Chocolate left on your bed for you to enjoy. Now the negatives - Apartment guest access/ non hotel guest access - The first point is that the hotel also has apartments which are located around the marina. This is separate from the hotel and have access to separate pool facilities. However, we noticed and found out that many appartment packages come with the bonus of having access to the hotel facilities. This to us is totally unacceptable! This means that the pool area, which is not very big anyway, was being completely overrun by guests and famiies from the appartments, meaning hotel guests struggled greatly, or could not get a bed etc. We feel the pool is also too small to accommodate this, especially as the appartment guests have their own pool area at the other side of the marina. Hotel guests are paying a premium to stay in the hotel, expecting a relaxing peaceful time, in facilities only for them. This is the same in the restaurant for breakfast and evening meal. Apartment guests have access to use these facilities too, which mean it is completely chaotic in the restaurant at times, also not acceptable in my opinion. We also discovered that non-resort guests can pay for a day pass to use the hotels pool facilities, which in my opinion is disgraceful, especially as it is already overrun. The back service gate which opens onto the car park at the marina, is left open mostly all the time, and we witnessed on several occasions non hotel guests walking in here and using the pool facilities, this is not acceptable! Pool area - The pool is lovely and warm, and there is steps which access the sea, which is a nice benefit. However, the sunbed rules are another frustrating issue. There are numerous signs saying sunbeds are not to be reserved, which we agree with in principle, but when there are apartments and non resort guests being allowed access too, there is no choice to put towels down if you want a bed. We did this one morning and we were approached by a staff member who stated we had to sit on the beds until 0900 if we put them down before this?? This is even though the pool doesnt officially open until 1000, which made no sense The pictures of the pool on travel agent sites show there is astroturf around the pool, which looked nice. However, by the end of each day, it is completely sodden and squelching when walked on, and some areas are sunken. So beware of tripping Balinese Beds - As hotel guests we got a 50% discount on a day at one of the Balinese beds. The original cost was €100, which we thought was steep anyway, and having found out they were much cheaper last year. This includes fruit bowl, beer/cava, tea, 2 bottles of water and some macaroons. However, we cancelled this after witnessing the 'cleaning' procedure for them. From our balcony, we witnessed that the sheets on the beds would only be changed each day if there was visible marks on them, even though it was different guests each day using them. And the pillows that are used get put in a cage overnight but dont appear to get wiped or cleaned either. The tables also dont get wiped down from the previous day either. For the cost, we dont feel thats acceptable Food - There is only Half Board option available when booking this hotel, but Bed and Breakfast is available to appartment guests?? We feel Bed and Breakfast would suit this hotel much more. Breakfast was good with egg station cooking lovely omelette, fried eggs, poached eggs etc, and lovely bread station etc. We did feel however that some of the hot food options were look warm and there could have been a better selection of jams and spreads etc The evening meal is where the the big negatives are. There are themed nights in the restaurant, which is to be expected. However, we felt the quality of the food was very poor and certainly not of a 4 star resort. Most food was look warm at best, and looked like it had been sitting for a while. Desserts are mostly identical every night, and the ice cream... more like 'gloop', with no cream options etc With there being many different food options just a few steps from the hotel, this is why we dont think there is a need for this offering at the hotel. If you are staying here, I recommend not even attempting the evening meal, save yourself the time and eat out. Pool Bar - The hotel works on some very strange times. The pool bar, the only main bar in the hotel, closes at 1745, even though the pool doesnt close until 1900. Meaning there is no access to a bar for any sort of drinks at the pool after that time, as the pool bar shares a bar with the restaurant, and this opens for evening meals at 1800. Eveningtime Seating and Bar - There is a rooftop bar which is lovely, but this only open 3/4 times per week, which i feel is madness as there is no other place to sit in the hotel and relax with a drink in the evening, other than the restaurant which I have already covered. Your options are to go out at night or sit in your room or balcony and get your own drink from the supermarket. For a 4 star hotel, I feel this is unacceptable. Hotel rules - Rules within the hotel, restaurant and pool area seem to change on a daily basis without any apparent reason. Overall, we have given the hotel 2 stars. This is mainly due to to issues highlighted above. We expected the hotel to be a calming place to relax and distress in the glorious sunshine. This is simply not the case, especially due to other people having access to the facilities and the food issues. The area really is stunning and would definitely recommend a 5 night stsy in the area, however, we sadly cant recommend this particular hotel due to the reasons above"

"Overall a lovely hotel and good location. Found most of the staff to be excellent . Cleanliness and room cleaning were excellent. We did find the pool area to be overcrowded during the day , which was a surprise for such a small hotel. We realised the the hotel could be used by there local apartments, but also found the hotel could be used by non residents on day pass."

"We have really enjoyed aspects of our stay at LIVVO Puerto de Mogán Hotel. The hotel is pleasant, the location is excellent, and the pool itself is small but lovely. Unfortunately, the way the hotel and pool area are managed has been one of the most frustrating parts of our holiday. The biggest issue is the constant inconsistency in the rules and how they are communicated and enforced. One day, children can use small balls in the pool, then the next day they are apparently banned. Small floats are allowed, then suddenly they aren’t. There seems to be no clear, consistently communicated policy, leaving guests wondering what is and isn’t permitted from one day to the next. The rooftop terrace provides another example of this inconsistency. During the day, there is a clear 18+ sign indicating that the area is for adults only. However, in practice, children are sometimes allowed up there and sometimes they are not. Again, the issue isn't necessarily the rule itself. If the rooftop terrace is intended to be adults only, that is perfectly understandable. The problem is that the rule does not appear to be consistently communicated or enforced. On some occasions we have seen children using the area, while on others it appears that children are not permitted. If an area is 18+ during the day, that should be clearly communicated to all guests and consistently enforced. Equally, if children are permitted at certain times or under certain circumstances, that information should be made clear. Instead, it is yet another situation where guests are left trying to work out what the actual rules are. The sunbed policy is another example. A notice attached to the sunbeds states that if a sunbed is not used for 30 minutes, staff will remove personal belongings and towels and take them to reception. I completely understand the hotel’s desire to prevent guests from reserving sunbeds all day, particularly given the relatively small pool area and the fact that the hotel has only around 52 rooms. However, enforcing a strict 30 minute rule creates an obvious problem. If you want to leave the pool area to have lunch, for example, you potentially risk returning to find your belongings removed. Unless you’re prepared to eat very quickly, it effectively discourages guests from leaving the pool at all. What makes this even more frustrating is that the hotel appears to allow guests from the LIVVO Apartments to purchase day access to the pool area. At the same time that paying hotel guests are being subjected to strict rules regarding sunbeds and pool use, there appears to be very little control over who is actually entering the pool area. There is a proper glass entrance through reception, yet the black rear service gate is regularly left open. We have seen people simply walk in through this gate, take a towel, bypass reception and the entrance controls, and settle themselves around the pool. If the hotel is going to introduce and strictly enforce rules on its paying guests, surely the first priority should be ensuring that access to the pool is properly controlled. The issue isn’t necessarily that the hotel has rules. It is that the rules don’t appear to be consistently applied, consistently communicated or consistently enforced. That lack of structure creates unnecessary frustration, particularly for families with children who simply want to have a little fun in the pool without constantly wondering whether something that was permitted yesterday is suddenly prohibited. Another disappointment has been the lack of entertainment or organised activities for guests. We appreciate that this is not necessarily a hotel for people looking for constant entertainment, but there is very little offered, and when something is organised, the communication and execution have been disappointing. A particularly frustrating example was the rooftop event advertised for hotel guests to watch the solar eclipse. The hotel promoted the event and guests were told that protective glasses would be provided. However, only a few hours before the event, it was cancelled because the hotel had apparently been unable to obtain the promised protective glasses. Safety obviously has to come first, and nobody would expect the hotel to proceed with an eclipse viewing event without appropriate eye protection. However, cancelling the entire event only hours beforehand because the essential equipment had not been secured beforehand suggests another lack of planning and organisation. Even the question of whether children could attend demonstrated the same communication problems. We asked in advance and received completely different answers from different members of reception. One receptionist told us that children had to be 16 or over, while another said the minimum age was 12. The posters advertising the event did not make the age restriction clear, and ultimately nobody seemed to know what the actual rule was. The event was then cancelled anyway. This is particularly disappointing because events like this should be an opportunity for a hotel to create a memorable experience for its guests. Instead, it became another example of unclear information, conflicting answers from staff and poor execution. There is a lot to like about this hotel. The location is fantastic, the hotel itself is nice and the pool area is attractive. However, these positives are being undermined by what appears to be a significant lack of coordination, consistency and communication within the hotel team. Some members of staff have also been extremely unhelpful and, at times, surprisingly dismissive when guests have tried to understand the rules. The attitude of certain staff members has been disappointing and does little to resolve what is essentially a management and communication problem. Hopefully management will take this feedback constructively. Clear, written rules that are communicated to all guests, consistently enforced by all staff, and applied equally to hotel guests and day visitors would make a huge difference. At present, the problem isn’t that there are too many rules. The problem is that nobody seems to know what the rules are, when they apply, or whether they will be enforced consistently. For a hotel where guests are paying to relax and enjoy their holiday, that level of inconsistency is extremely frustrating."