"This was my first time staying at this hotel and Riu chain, so I had high expectations. Whilst in the most it was a good stay, the food for me (as a vegetarian) was a let down.
Whilst there is many things I can praise the hotel on, I thought I would speak about my food experience first as I feel that is the most important factor for me.
Throughout our 11 night stay, I want to say in the most was in the most good quality, however, from a vegetarian perspective, it was very repetitive.
The main issue we found on day 10 of our stay from a member of staff at Pepe's was that the chips are not vegetarian and had been cooked in the same oil as meat items.
This for me was very shocking and I felt quite disgusted. I immediately raised my concerns with management and they did advise that they would never advice a vegetarian to eat at the pool bars.
This would mean that vegetarian guests wouldn't be able to get snacks in between meals.
Whilst I was given the option for fresh food to be made but I was put off by what I had learnt.
I was reassured that food was cooked separately at the main and specialist restaurant and the manager took the time to reassure me when we went to the Asian restaurant that evening.
Whilst I trusted what was told of me about the separation of cooking between meat and vegetarian food, on return to the buffet section for a 2nd plate, I witnessed cross contamination of vegetarian food being cooked on the meat griddle and then meat fat being scraped off the griddle via the vegetarian side only.
The manager witnessed this as well as seeing how guests mixed meat tongs on vegetarian food, which is something really hard to control.
The manager was happy to listen to my suggestions and ideas, and I truly hope that whilst might be the minority as guests, we should be able to trust the labels on food.
SO MY ADVICE IS, IF YOU'RE VEGETARIAN ASK FOR FRESHLY MADE FOOD!! AND DON'T EAT AT THE POOL BARS!!
Other comments about our stay:
Room:
I would say its average, or at least ours was, it felt like a dated and tired room, however, due to the location of the room, we chose not to move. The beds were really comfy and shower was very powerful.
Being a ground floor room, we did get ants on the balcony floor. Soon as we raises the issue, a lady came round with bug spray, which was effective.
We also had mosquitos in our room so did get bit a few times, which wasn't a great experience.
Room amenities were good with a fridge and free safe.
Pools:
Overall pools were good, especially the heated pools. I also couldn't praise the Riu more for the easy access into the pools with actual steps as I have been at other hotels where those less able have been unable to get into the pool as the only access was with ladders.
Whilst no lack of sunbeds, there's a large number of guests who will reserve the sunbeds at the crack of dawn and not appear until mid morning.
Staff: they were all friendly and good service delivered.
Entertainment: As with many holidays for me, the entertainment team can make or break a holiday, but I can say this team were absolutely fabulous, both in their day time activities and evening entertainment.
Location: great location just off the beach, whcih can be accessed by a key swipe door near the pools. Close location to the town and some great restaurants.
Other: there is also the Riu Art room where you can spend time creating some art. We chose to do acrylic painting, and we just had to pay for the canvas and spend as much time as we wanted to work on our painting. You then get 121 support and guidance with anything your stuck on.
Summary:
If it wasn't for the food issue, I would have scored the hotel higher, but for me the cross-contamination was a big issue for me."
