"We were to the understanding that as a Royal Level guest we had to go to a separate reception as this was perceived to be a premium level of accommodation or service at this hotel. We walked into the hotel where there was clear signage to go left to the Royal Level reception and right to the general reception. We went left and found the desks for the Royal Level reception unattended. We subsequently attended at the general reception to be told the Royal Level reception closes at 19:00. I accept that there may be minimal guests arriving after that time but surely they know what guests are arriving from their and the Jet2 bookings system – the point I am making is the confusion for customers, the reception staff who checked us in were friendly and helpful.
On booking the holiday we were advised that we had booked Royal Level Deluxe room with sea view on an all exclusive basis. The Jet2 website shows photos with the nice rooms with comfortable sofa’s or chairs, indicates that the rooms have whirlpool baths or showers. More crucially indicated that complimentary early check in and late check out (subject to availability).
We choose this package to benefit from the extra comfort of the room. A nice area to sit to relax and a whirlpool bath to relax – this was not the case there was one swivel seat in the room and two bench type seats with no back which were not appropriate for relaxing. There was a shower and a bath, but the bath was a standard back rather than a whirlpool – the bath leaked onto the hall floor but was reported and promptly repaired by the maintenance team.
The food generally was very good, as Royal Level customers we benefited from the separate Royal Level restaurant as well as other areas for snacks. The al a carte menu in the Royal Level restaurant was good, however, the food was a hit and a miss I suppose depending on the chef on duty – I received a meal that was not cooked and was returned where at the other end of the scale I had steak which was delicious. We were able to use the buffet in the general restaurant which was very good in terms of variety but there did not appear to be any themed nights as other Barcelo hotels we have stayed at.
On of the biggest assets this hotel has is its staff, ranging from the housekeeping staff who do an excellent job, the bar and restaurant staff – in particularly the restaurant staff in the Royal Level restaurant, a special call out must be given to Mabel who provided me with first aid after cutting my finger so caring and professional.
The Royal Level allows guests access to a gated separate pool and bar area accessed via a fob / card, there is a second access gate approximately 50 metres away for staff access. This pool area is tranquil with lots of sunbeds, bean bag type beds and a couple of large double sun beds. The waiting and bar staff are fantastic, friendly and attentive.
On the first day the gate access fob worked well but on day two and three it did not open the gate so we relied on other guests to let us in, I did get another access card from reception but that did not work either. On the next day, we could not access the pool area as the fob / card did not function – no one was in the immediate vicinity so I decided to access the pool using the staff gate where I could reach over and operate the handle from inside.
On doing this I stepped into the area, with my wristband showing I was entitled to be in that area – I was rudely challenged by an unidentified female manager and spoken to like a two year old telling me that I should step out the area and how dare I be in there, I explained the issue with the gate and she told me I was wrong and should get out the area – at that point I looked over and another guest was at the main guest gate and the he could not access the pool area. This manager them backtracked and said I could go in – I am not being childish on this point but the poor level of customer service, the arrogant manner I was spoken to and treated was not good. I was merely trying to access the area which I was entitled to use to access.
One of the biggest points I want to draw out is the check out time for rooms, the check out time is 12:00 but I have asked for a late check out on the two days prior to departure being told to attend after 18:00 on the day before departure. I did this and was informed that there was no possibility of extending the room – this goes against the spirit of the Jet2 website and I suppose the hotels own advertisements. I know the hotel may be getting busy but this is an important note for any guests who have a late flight home – we had a 21:15 flight and getting picked up at 18:45. We would not have picked this hotel or flight times had we been aware of that the possibility of a room extension on the day of departure was zero."
