"Paradisus Salinas Lanzarote – A Good Holiday, But Not the 5-Star Experience We Expected
We enjoyed our holiday in the Canary Islands overall, and I made a conscious decision throughout our stay not to let the issues we encountered drag the holiday down. We were there to relax, enjoy ourselves and make memories — not to spend our holiday going back and forth to the front desk complaining day after day.
That said, I feel it is important to give an honest and balanced review of Paradisus Salinas Lanzarote, particularly because this is a hotel marketed as a 5-star resort. Unfortunately, in a number of areas, our experience fell significantly short of what we would expect from that standard.
Overall Maintenance & Aesthetics
There are undoubtedly parts of the hotel that are beautiful, impressive and spotless. However, other areas looked noticeably tired. We saw flaking paint, cracks in walls and areas around the pool where the paint had completely worn away. Some outdoor areas that had been hosed down still had visible soil marks afterwards.
The fixed parasols around the pool area were another example. They were of a thatched design, but several had large, very noticeable holes in the thatching which were clearly visible. They looked as though they were overdue for repair or re-thatching. Again, this contributes to an overall impression of a property that isn't being maintained to the standard we would expect from a 5-star resort.
Having stayed at several Meliá properties previously, we have always associated the brand with a high standard of presentation and maintenance, so seeing these things at a property carrying a 5-star rating was disappointing.
Staff & The 'Shack' Incident
I want to be fair here because around 95% of the staff we encountered were absolutely brilliant. They were friendly, helpful and genuinely contributed to making us feel like we were on holiday.
Unfortunately, a small minority let the experience down.
On one occasion at The Shack, my wife hesitated briefly when it was our turn to order because she had changed her mind about which drink she wanted. A member of staff inside the bar made a rude comment in Spanish to a colleague, and they both laughed. What he didn't realise was that my wife understood considerably more Spanish than he apparently assumed.
My wife didn't want me to raise the issue because we were on holiday and she didn't want a confrontation. However, it upset her enough that she refused to return to The Shack for several days.
We also noticed that this particular staff member, along with a couple of others, could have had a much better manner with guests, with things sometimes being handled rather carelessly and noisily, including barging around and slamming things down.
Arrival & The Bracelet Issue
On arrival, we were given woven bracelets that were intended to function as room keys, gate passes and tier identifiers. Unfortunately, our first bracelet would not open our room door or any of the electronic gates leading towards the promenade and beach.
Reception explained that a faulty batch had accidentally been mixed in with a new batch. We appreciate that mistakes happen, but something as simple as testing the bracelets before handing them to guests would surely have identified the problem.
We also saw other guests experiencing the same issue and having to ask strangers to let them through the gates.
For a 5-star resort, having to carry a separate key card because the bracelet provided doesn't work is frustrating and not the seamless arrival experience we expected.
Late-Night Dining
On our first night, we arrived at around 10:30pm after a long day of travelling. We asked a member of the bar staff what food options were available and were told that we could have chips, olives and hummus.
We ordered chips and olives. One portion of chips arrived stone cold, while the other was fine, and the olives never arrived.
There were QR codes around the hotel providing access to more extensive digital menus, but as tired and hungry new arrivals, we trusted the recommendation given to us by the staff member. We ate what we could and, again, decided not to make an issue of it.
Restaurant Booking Nightmare
This was probably the biggest frustration of our stay.
We were told that all of the à la carte restaurants had to be booked through a QR code, two days in advance, with bookings opening just after midnight.
For an entire week, every attempt we made resulted in "NO AVAILABILITY."
On one occasion, after spending around 20 minutes repeatedly trying to make a booking after midnight, I went to the front desk. I was told that someone from reservations would contact us. That call never came.
The following morning, a member of the team spoke to us. We had deliberately remained polite despite our frustration because our objective was simply to get the problem resolved.
It turned out there was a small login icon within the app that we had never been told about on arrival. We were also told that other guests had been experiencing similar problems.
Even after discovering this, the system still wouldn't allow me to log in. I showed the issue to a member of the reservations team, who very kindly tried to resolve it herself. She restarted the app and checked our details against her computer, but she couldn't get it working either.
She did eventually book two restaurants for our final days, which we appreciated. However, there was no real acknowledgement or apology for the lack of information at check-in or for the booking system itself not working.
For a 5-star resort, guests should not have to spend their evenings battling an app just to secure a restaurant reservation.
Room & Air Conditioning
The room itself was very nice, but the air conditioning was a major disappointment.
Although it made the appropriate noise, it never really produced the cold, refreshing air we expected after spending time in the hot Lanzarote sun. This was particularly noticeable because the public areas of the hotel and the main bar were lovely and cool.
My wife also noticed a damp smell in the room, almost as though it had been unoccupied for some time, and wondered whether the air conditioning system needed attention.
Interestingly, we noticed two air-conditioning service vans leaving the hotel on the very day we checked out.
Balcony
We were particularly looking forward to using the balcony in the evenings, with its pool and distant cove views.
Unfortunately, when we arrived, it wasn't really usable. The chairs were dirty, the table had sticky glass rings on it, the floor had visible uncleaned spillages and the glass partition was also dirty.
We assumed housekeeping would notice and deal with it, but even after a half-hearted wipe later in the week, the table remained dusty and dirty.
This was particularly disappointing because we had a lovely bottle of Cava and a birthday note left in our room for my birthday. We would have loved to sit outside and enjoy it, but the condition of the balcony meant we ended up leaving it there.
For a 5-star property, these are the sorts of details that should be picked up proactively rather than requiring the guest to complain.
Housekeeping & Amenities
Over our 14-day stay, there were three separate days when we were not provided with fresh pool towels.
The shower shampoo dispenser also ran empty and was not refilled for three consecutive days, right up until we checked out.
Again, these aren't things that ruined our holiday, but they are details that you wouldn't expect to repeatedly encounter at a hotel marketed as 5-star.
Departure
The final experience was perhaps an unfortunate way to end the stay.
Our transfer was collecting us from outside the hotel gates. We were given our suitcases at the front of the lobby, and I had to carry them myself down the steps to the transfer point.
After everything else, it felt like a rather fitting end to our "5-star" experience.
Final Thoughts
Despite everything I have outlined, we did enjoy our holiday. That is important to say because we made a conscious decision not to allow the issues we experienced to take over the trip.
We could have spent a considerable amount of our 14 days repeatedly visiting the front desk, making complaints and chasing solutions. We chose not to do that. We were on holiday, and our priority was to relax, enjoy our time together and make the most of our stay.
However, choosing not to complain at the time should not mean that these issues cannot be mentioned honestly afterwards.
The majority of the staff were fantastic, the hotel has some genuinely beautiful areas, and we did have a good holiday. But a true 5-star Meliá resort should be far more consistent in its standard of service, maintenance and attention to detail.
What disappointed us most was not one isolated incident. It was the cumulative effect of repeated issues throughout our 14-day stay — from the condition of the hotel and the damaged thatched parasols, to the balcony not being properly cleaned, missing pool towels, an empty shampoo dispenser, ineffective air conditioning, problems with the room-access bracelets, the late-night food experience, the difficulties with restaurant bookings, and aspects of the service and guest assistance.
Individually, some of these issues might have been easy to overlook. But experiencing this number of problems during a two-week stay inevitably affected our overall impression of the hotel and the standard of experience we received.
What makes this particularly disappointing is that we have stayed at other Meliá properties and have always associated the brand with a high level of service, presentation and attention to detail. That was the standard we expected when choosing Paradisus Salinas Lanzarote.
We weren't expecting perfection. We were expecting consistency, attention to detail and a level of service and presentation that matched the 5-star positioning of the resort.
Instead, we found ourselves repeatedly making allowances and telling ourselves that individual issues weren't important enough to let them affect our holiday. We chose to let things go because we were there to enjoy ourselves — but that doesn't mean the issues weren't disappointing or that they shouldn't be acknowledged in an honest review.
For us, the biggest issue is that the experience simply did not feel consistently 5-star. There were too many occasions where the standard fell short, and too many things that should have been noticed and dealt with by the hotel before they became the guest's problem.
Ultimately, Paradisus Salinas Lanzarote has the location, facilities and potential to be a genuinely outstanding 5-star resort. There are also many things we enjoyed about our stay, and the majority of the staff were excellent.
However, the level of maintenance, attention to detail and consistency of service during our 14 days did not live up to the 5-star experience we had paid for and expected.
We enjoyed our holiday. We simply don't feel that the hotel consistently delivered the standard that its 5-star rating and Paradisus brand led us to expect."
