"We generally enjoyed our stay at GF Gran Costa Adeje and there were certainly positives to our holiday. However, there were a number of things which, taken together, meant that for us the overall experience didn’t quite feel like the five-star standard we had expected.
The food was okay and there was generally a reasonable choice, although we didn’t find it particularly outstanding for a five-star hotel.
One relatively small thing that became frustrating was the service for tea and coffee at breakfast. There was no self-service option, meaning you had to wait for a member of staff to come over to take your hot drink order. On several mornings we were left waiting quite a long time before even being acknowledged, simply to get a cup of tea or coffee. A self-service tea and coffee station would make such a difference.
We were also surprised that there weren’t easily accessible water refill stations where guests could fill their own bottles. These may sound like small things individually, but they’re the little conveniences and touches that, for us, help distinguish a true five-star experience.
Unfortunately, our biggest disappointment came on our final day and involved my sister’s medical needs.
My sister has epilepsy and the hotel had been informed of her medical condition by TUI prior to our stay. Our checkout was at 12pm, but we weren’t leaving for the airport until approximately 3:30pm. I had therefore been asking for several days during our holiday whether something could be arranged so that she would have somewhere safe, quiet and dark where she could lie down and rest before travelling, particularly as tiredness can trigger a seizure for her.
Despite raising this several times in advance, I was repeatedly told to ask again closer to departure.
On our departure morning, I explained the situation again and was told that retaining our room for approximately another 3.5 hours would cost €65.
I want to be clear that our disappointment isn’t simply because we were charged for late checkout. We understand that late checkout is normally chargeable and subject to availability. Nor were we expecting to keep our room for free simply because we wanted to extend our holiday by a few hours.
This was about a genuine medical need.
I explained that it didn’t even have to be our existing room and asked whether there was any other suitable room or private space where my sister could lie down if necessary. We would have been perfectly happy with any appropriate alternative. No consideration was given at all.
The alternative suggested was a shower room. Unfortunately, there was no bed or suitable place for her to lie down, so although we appreciated that something had been suggested, it simply didn’t address the medical need we had explained.
In the end, we paid the €65 late-checkout charge so that my sister could have the room and somewhere to rest before our flight.
Unfortunately, when we returned to the room, the beds had been left raised up — presumably so that underneath them could be cleaned. We then had to wait for somebody to come and put them back down. Considering the entire reason we had paid the additional charge was so that my sister could lie down and rest before travelling, this was particularly frustrating and defeated the purpose of having paid to retain the room until it was eventually sorted.
When a gentleman came to fix the beds, he knocked on the door but then entered before we had been given a reasonable opportunity to get to the door and answer it. There were three women in the room in towels at the time and we felt extremely uncomfortable.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t the only incident involving somebody entering our room unexpectedly that day. At around 12pm, a lady carrying a clipboard and pen opened our room door to check whether we had left. She did not knock first, and I was in the process of getting changed.
This was particularly surprising because by this point we had already arranged and paid for our late checkout, so the hotel should have been aware that the room was still occupied.
We fully appreciate that staff need to check rooms and that maintenance staff may need access when something needs fixing. Our issue is simply that guests should be given the opportunity to answer the door before somebody enters, particularly when the hotel knows the room is still occupied. Being walked in on while getting changed and then later while the three of us were in towels made us feel very uncomfortable.
I do want to mention something positive regarding housekeeping. The lady who cleaned our room throughout the week always did a lovely job, and we were very happy with how she looked after the room. Our concerns about the incidents on our final day shouldn’t detract from the good service she personally provided.
The whole situation was just a really disappointing way to finish the holiday. After trying for several days to make suitable arrangements because of my sister’s medical condition, eventually paying the €65, returning to find the beds raised and unusable, having to wait for that to be rectified and experiencing two uncomfortable incidents involving people entering the room, we were honestly more than ready to leave by the time our transfer arrived.
That’s such a shame, because we did enjoy aspects of our stay and I don’t want this review to suggest that the entire holiday was bad — it wasn’t.
However, between the breakfast service, lack of convenient water refill facilities and, most importantly, the way our final day was handled, there were a number of aspects that didn’t quite live up to what we personally expect from a five-star hotel.
For us, five-star isn’t only about how a hotel looks or the facilities it has. It’s also about the little touches, attentiveness, privacy and how guests are looked after when they genuinely need some additional help.
Unfortunately, what should have been a relaxed final few hours before travelling home instead left us feeling disappointed, uncomfortable and ultimately more than ready to leave, which is not how you want to feel at the end of a holiday you had otherwise enjoyed.
I hope the hotel takes this feedback constructively, particularly regarding how guests with medical needs are supported and ensuring staff give guests sufficient opportunity to answer the door before entering an occupied room."
