"Don't bother booking this hotel. We booked it because of its high score on TripAdvisor and it was the cheapest 4 Star hotel we could find for a family of 5. The good reviews relate to the hotel when it was under PREVIOUS OWNERSHIP. I can guarantee you, the reviews no longer apply to this cheapskate hotel. I had so many conversations with other disappointment guests and we all agreed. Here is a copy of my complaint to the hotel. Their response was an AI generated one, which was full of excuses. The only good thing really was the Beach, which isn't affiliated with the Hotel. I would never return here. Please take heed.
1. Lack of assistance with luggage
My 79-year-old father, who has undergone heart surgery, was left to carry his own luggage to our room. The route to the room was a considerable distance and involved sloping floors and stairs.
There was no porter available to assist him, nor was any assistance offered to any of us. Given his age and medical history, we found this particularly unacceptable.
At a four-star hotel, we would reasonably expect appropriate assistance to be available, particularly where an elderly guest is clearly struggling with luggage.
2. Persistent sewage smell
Throughout our stay, the rooms were affected by a strong and unpleasant sewage smell. This was not an isolated incident or a brief inconvenience; it was present throughout our stay and significantly affected our enjoyment and comfort.
3. Bar service and drinks
Although some members of staff were friendly and helpful, our experience with others was very different. In particular, the attitude of some staff in the bar during the evenings was extremely unwelcoming and intimidating.
The atmosphere became so uncomfortable that I eventually felt too uncomfortable to approach the bar to order drinks, despite having paid for an all-inclusive package. The worst offender as a man called Rafa. He was very rude to my father when he asked for his drink to be in a glass. My parents did make a complaint to reception but ultimately, nothing was done.
We were also extremely disappointed that drinks were served in plastic beakers. We raised this issue with staff, but they would not make any exception or offer an alternative. This made the experience feel very cheap and was neither enjoyable nor what we would expect from a four-star hotel.
The quality of the drinks was also extremely poor. The cocktails were dispensed from a machine and were, quite frankly, revolting. The drinks available appeared to be of the lowest quality.
Ultimately, we resorted to purchasing our own spirits from outside the hotel and simply ordering soft drinks to mix with them. This resulted in additional expense and completely undermined the purpose of having paid for an all-inclusive package.
4. Food quality and hygiene
The food was one of the biggest disappointments of the holiday and was some of the lowest quality we have ever experienced at a hotel.
There were numerous flies circulating around and landing on the food. We also repeatedly encountered food that was either cold or appeared to be undercooked. The hot plates did not appear to be operating effectively, meaning that food which should have been served hot was frequently cold or barely warm.
During the three days that we attempted to eat at the main restaurant, the experience became so unacceptable that we eventually gave up eating there.
Four members of our party subsequently suffered prolonged diarrhoea, while my father experienced severe sickness for two days. We cannot state definitively what caused these illnesses, but given the poor standard of food, the presence of flies and the issues with food temperature and cooking, we were sufficiently concerned that we decided we could no longer eat the hotel food.
After only three days, we therefore had to start eating outside the hotel. This resulted in considerable additional expense that we would not have incurred had the all-inclusive food service been of an acceptable standard.
The only occasion on which we found the food to be acceptable was at the hotel's pizza restaurant.
5. Restaurant service
The service in the restaurant was also extremely disappointing.
Tables were left uncleared for prolonged periods, and on numerous occasions we found ourselves having to clear tables ourselves before we could sit down and eat.
This is not what we would expect from a four-star hotel, particularly one operating an all-inclusive service.
6. Facilities and services advertised but not provided as advertised
We were also extremely disappointed by the facilities and services provided compared with what had been advertised to us when booking the holiday.
The hotel advertises a disco, but this facility did not exist during our stay.
The hotel also advertises two large swimming pools. In reality, the pools were considerably smaller than we had been led to expect and were frequently overcrowded.
We even purchased inflatables from the hotel's own shop, only to subsequently discover that we were not permitted to use them because of the size of the pool. This was particularly frustrating, as the hotel was selling these items to guests despite the restrictions on their use.
The hotel's advertising also stated that the pizzeria was open daily for lunch. This was not the case during our stay. The pizzeria was not available for an all-inclusive lunch service; the only option was to order from the menu and pay separately.
We consider this particularly misleading because the facility was advertised as part of what was available at the hotel, yet it was not actually available to all-inclusive guests as advertised. Had we known that the pizzeria was not included for lunch, we would not have considered it to be part of the all-inclusive offering.
7. Evening entertainment
The evening entertainment was also extremely disappointing and fell a long way short of what we would expect from a four-star all-inclusive hotel.
The entertainment was, at times, bordering on ridiculous and was extremely poor in quality. Much of what was presented consisted of a television screen showing singers or other performances, with hotel staff dancing around in front of it.
This was not what we would reasonably describe as proper evening entertainment at a four-star all-inclusive resort.
Entertainment is an important part of an all-inclusive holiday, and the standard provided was so poor that it offered little or no meaningful entertainment value during our evenings at the hotel.
8. Pool cleanliness and availability
The cleanliness of the external pool areas was also disappointing. The tiles around both pool areas were visibly dirty and did not give the impression that the areas were being adequately maintained.
One of the pools was also closed for an entire day because a guest had defecated in it. We appreciate that the incident itself was not the hotel's fault. However, the fact remains that one of the facilities we had paid to use was unavailable for an entire day.
This left the remaining pool extremely overcrowded and further reduced our ability to enjoy the facilities."
