"Having visited in November and really enjoying it, we decided to book again for March for our anniversary. We emailed reception in advance to secure the same room which was graciously allocated.*
Going twice in such a short period meant that it would be natural to compare the two visits. We weren't expecting that much would change in a few months, but it actually had a bit.
The Cava on arrival was nice again after a long day of travel, and the room was, well, the same as last time; a sea view (albeit with no view of the sea) down near the Mara Bar. We liked the quiet location down there, so whilst ice were initially a bit annoyed by the lack of sea view (that you pay a premium for) we soon realised the room was worth it.
In November we had some issues with the smell of sewage from either the toilet or shower, which I raised a few times. The smell was actually worse this time round, but credit to Paul who offered to help us out with another room. We liked the location of the room we had so much that we just chose to stay put and it did improve.
From reading other reviews I thought they would have at the very least acknowledged our anniversary considering I mentioned it to them and we were returning customers, but nobody did.
The wifi in our room was exceptional. It rained a few days and I was able to stream football on Sky Go with no problems at all. This might be down to location so don't expect the entire hotel to be so good. The TV reception was hit and miss but does have all the home terrestrial channels when it works.
The reason we liked this hotel so much last time was due to the laid-back restaurant experience. We had gone off all-inclusive-type holidays with buffets years ago as found them to be too much like school canteens, struggling to get a table and people pushing in the queues. There was none of that in November - there was always plenty of room and hardly ever a queue for anything. It was the best buffet experience we've had in a hotel to be honest.
When checking in this time we were told that the hotel was full and thus they would be running 2 sittings for dinner (we chose 6.30-8.15pm.). The problem is that I think everybody who chose that option all went at 6.30pm on the dot so the place was very busy. We couldn't wait to get out of there of an evening to be honest. We ate out once to avoid it and also swapped dinner for lunch (which, despite some issues with the understanding of allergens) was very good. We should probably have done that more than once.
As far as these allergens are concerned, we have Coeliac disease so required a strictly gluten free diet. In November the choice was certainly better than it was this time round. The issue of all items not being fully labeled was the same on both visits. Most people wouldn't notice this small detail, but when you have a strict allergy you certainly do. To be fair, the maître d' (apologies, I forgot his name, but it certainly wasn't the woman who seems to like to hug everyone) walked us round and ensured separate portions could be made to avoid contamination if required.
The same Daim-type cake that we buy in asda remains the only real gluten free dessert option. Not complaining about that as most places wouldn't have any, just pointing out that it gets old quick.
We found ourselves going to breakfast for opening time (7am) to avoid queues as there was no separate sittings for that so guessed that by 9am it would be rammo in the main room. It was nice and quiet at 7am (bonus of getting up that time was some incredible sun-rises, see photos.) I wonder if they should limit the Cava at breakfast as we witnessed something we never have in any hotel (never mind a posh one) - some people drinking it like it was 7pm rather than 7am. Breakfast was certainly better in November I'd say.
The price of the drinks in the restaurant has gone up quite a bit in the past few months. I can't recall the exact amounts but I was quite shocked when I heard the prices.
We watched nearly all of the entertainment in November meaning that we actively avoided it this time round. This gets commented on by nearly everyone - Radisson really do need to take note and improve their offering here - they could get people spending more on drinks if there was a reason to hang round after dinner.
I must call out the excellent service provided to us by several members of staff. Our housemaid was excellent, and quickly got to know our love of lots of milk capsules! Paul the Guest Manager and the maître d' in the restaurant were fantastic too. Special thanks must be made to Juan Francisco on reception who really came through for us in time of need. Really went above and beyond.
We do like the Raddison Blu, and we love Costa Teguise (we've been coming here for years.) The busyness of the restaurant, however, put us off enough to unfortunately not plan to come back any time soon. If we do we would probably stick to November. But we would more likely look for a self catering Villa or something to avoid busy buffets.
*In a funny note, I noticed there was some Spanish text in the email chain between 'Experience Manager' Celia and reception, which I found a tiny bit rude when I translated it. No major issue, but people really shouldn't forward private conversations to customers..."
