"Recently returned home from a 2 week family break.
We had a room on the 5th floor. Room was spacious, made up of 2 single beds and sofa, TV, small kitchenette with sink, kettle and microwave, good storage space in main area then a double bed in the bedroom. Bathroom was large with great shower. Room was immaculately cleaned daily. Balcony was huge with access from both main lounge area and the bedroom. Air-con felt great during the day but all four of us were sweltering every morning on waking. We felt like air-con doesn't work well overnight (if that is possible?!).
We chose 9-9.45qm breakfast slot and 6-6.45pm evening meal slot. We was slightly late for evening meal on a few occasions due to meltdowns from 4yr old. Male staff at entrance of the restaurant disgruntled each time and told us we was late. I'll be honest, I ignored him each time. I understand why time slots are there, however, I did not like the pressure of being held to times on what is supposed to be a relaxing holiday. Food was okay, adults managed to eat well everyday. However, my son did not (this is not hotels fault). We did ask restaurant staff if they could make him chicken nuggets one night as I thought he would at least eat them (suspected Autism)..staff was very helpful and said she could whip up some turkey nuggets. They were delicious however, my son still wouldn't eat them but we was very impressed that we could request something that was not readily available and staff was more than happy to help.
Pools were great with slides for the children and a large bouncy pillow in the main pool which was well used by both children and adults. Most lifeguards appeared to be very 'on it', watching children like a hawk, ensuring they were safe and being safe.
Lots of activities throughout the day such as the water carpet, inflatable obstacle course on the water, aqua bikes/aerobics etc. Family day once a week where there are games dotted around pool area which included inflatable axe throwing, basketball etc. My son did not attend kids club as he did not want to. He was happy to play in the pool. However, if he did want to attend, I don't think I would have been confident in sending him. I am aware this may not be everybody's experience as I did see English children utilising clubs and joining in activities. However, during pool party evening, my son had his hand painted by entertainment staff and she was very abrupt with him. My son had few interactions with entertainment staff and each time, they seemed very abrupt with him. My son is not very confident with strangers, however, staff seem to take offence to this?!
Entertainment was in indoors every night apart from pool party evening which was on Thursdays during our stay. The entertainment bar is extremely warm inside, does not appear to have air-con or if it does, it's not very good. Mini disco was delivered in German (I think?), so, my son was never aware of what was going on. Very little English language used.. however, there did not appear to be many English customers here during our 1st week which is fine, however, it would have been nice to understand what was going on! It's amazing that many non-English are bilingual but, unfortunately, we are not bilingual and sadly only understand English and minimal words in other languages.
Location was great for us... short walk to the beach, down a very steep slope. We love the beach so didn't mind the walk back up the hill in the evening. Around a 15 minute walk to the Ventura centre where we shopped at the Spar. We also got a taxi a few times to Mercadonia which cost between €6-€8 each way. We had a lovely meal at Olympus at the Ventura, beach front.
We booked dolphin boat trip with Magic sailing. We was unlucky and did not get to see dolphins. Booked through the hotel, collected from the Gaviotas Playa at the back of the hotel.
We also got the Oasis bus to Oasis wildlife park whoch stopped at the entrance of the hotel. We did not book any tickets in advance. Would recommend catching the 9am bus rather than 10.20am due to it taking over an hour to get to the Oasis due to picking up others from hotels. We was given a ticket from the driver and paid for bus fare at ticket office at the zoo. Oasis was absolutely brilliant. Mostly shaded, lots of walking but lots of animals to see. Splash park and play park on large sand pit was enjoyed by my son. Great value for money.
On site shops..there are 2. Both sell very similar...lots of gifts, inflatables for the pool, swimming aids etc. The shop manned by a male...he was the sweetest man and very welcoming! The shop manned by the female stocked lady products.
Towels were easy to exchange every other day using machine. However, on our last day, unable to return via machine. Took towels back to reception and the lady told us to put them in a box.. we had to remind her of our room number/booking name to ensure we got deposit back.
Drinks are mainly branded, Baileys, Gordon's pink Gin, Archers peach schnapps to name a few and staff are not shy with measures!
All in all, great hotel, extremely clean and staff work tirelessly to keep grounds maintained and cleaned. Biggest gripe I had was how everything seemed more aimed at non-English but this could just me my interpretation as I know we are not a family that get overly involved with entertainment etc but it made me sad that my son wasn't able to thoroughly immerse himself due to lack of understanding."
