"I recently stayed at the Paradise Island Hotel in Playa Blanca, Lanzarote, and overall found it to be a pleasant hotel that offers good value for money. Whilst there are some areas where improvements could be made, my overall experience was positive.
The standout feature of the hotel is undoubtedly its staff. Throughout my stay, every member of staff I encountered was friendly, helpful, polite and professional. Whether in reception, the restaurant, bars or housekeeping, the customer service was consistently excellent and made for a welcoming atmosphere. Sonia on reception was fabulous.
The accommodation is spacious and comfortable. The rooms are well laid out, with air conditioning in the main bedroom and a generous balcony providing a pleasant outdoor space. The hotel itself is attractive, with extensive planting and well-maintained gardens creating a picturesque setting. The accommodation blocks are only two storeys high (ground and first floor), giving the resort an open and relaxed feel.
The pool area is large and generally provides plenty of sun loungers throughout the day. As is common in many holiday resorts, guests begin reserving loungers with towels from around 7:30 am, but despite this, I rarely struggled to find a place to relax. During our stay, the pool was cordoned off twice once because of damage to the pool bottom where somebody cut their foot and the other where somebody had a No.2 in the pool.
The poolside snack bar offers a simple selection of food including burgers, sausages, chips and potato wedges, which is perfectly adequate for lunchtime snacks.
The main restaurant offers a wide variety of food, with a good choice available at each meal. The quality is generally good, and the restaurant staff deserve praise for their efficiency in clearing tables and maintaining a clean and welcoming dining environment.
The hotel also benefits from an on-site water park, making it an excellent choice for families with young children and teenagers. In parts this looks tired.
There is a good selection of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks included within the all-inclusive package. Premium spirits are available for an additional charge, as are drinks ordered outside the all-inclusive service times.
There are, however, some areas where I believe improvements would enhance the guest experience.
The cleanliness of the pool surrounds is average and could be improved. Each morning the maintenance team appears to hose down the area, but during my stay I saw no evidence of any deep cleaning programme for either the pool surrounds or the sun loungers. Likewise, I did not observe routine underwater cleaning or vacuuming of the pool itself. I was down at the pool every morning by 0715.
Throughout the day, there was a noticeable build-up of used cups, plates and other litter around the pool area. These items were often left for extended periods and were not routinely cleared by staff during the day, resulting in an untidy appearance. In many cases, the accumulated debris remained until the following morning when it was removed by the maintenance team. More frequent clearing of the poolside throughout the day would significantly improve both cleanliness and the overall guest experience.
The poolside toilet facilities also require greater attention. They were not cleaned regularly throughout the day during my stay, and on several occasions there was no hand soap or paper towels available. Given the number of guests using these facilities, more frequent cleaning and replenishment of essential hygiene supplies would be expected.
Room servicing was also inconsistent. Although housekeeping attended the room, the cleaning schedule appeared intermittent, as did the replacement of fresh towels. In addition, the external area around our apartment remained unswept and uncleaned throughout our stay. The same leaves, dirt and other debris remained in place from our arrival until our departure, suggesting that these communal areas were not included within a regular cleaning programme.
My principal concern relates to pool safety. Given the size of the swimming pool complex, I believe there are insufficient lifeguards on duty to provide effective supervision. During my stay, lifeguards were also responsible for issuing pool towels and emptying litter bins, duties which inevitably distract them from their primary responsibility of monitoring swimmers. In my opinion, these additional tasks should be undertaken by other staff, allowing lifeguards to concentrate solely on water safety. Adequate supervision of hotel swimming pools is an important aspect of guest safety and should remain the priority.
There are also several areas of the hotel that would benefit from routine maintenance and refurbishment. Whilst none of these issues significantly affected my stay, addressing them would improve the overall appearance and presentation of the resort.
Overall, Paradise Island is a pleasant, family-friendly hotel offering good value for money. It provides spacious accommodation, attractive surroundings, good food of a reasonable quality, and exceptional customer service from friendly, helpful and hardworking staff.
Would I stay here again? Possibly, if improvements were made. The hotel represents good value for the price paid. However, improvements to cleanliness—particularly around the pool, communal areas and toilet facilities—together with more consistent housekeeping, better maintenance and ensuring that lifeguards are dedicated solely to supervising the swimming pools, would considerably enhance the overall guest experience. These are relatively straightforward improvements that would elevate the hotel from being good value for money to an even better holiday destination."
