"Disappointing stay – beautiful hotel, but very poor all-inclusive experience
We stayed at Sunrise Village Beach Hotel for two weeks and, unfortunately, found the overall experience extremely disappointing. The hotel itself is beautiful and the grounds are well maintained, but the service, facilities and all-inclusive offering fell far below what we expected.
The food was very repetitive, and mealtimes were extremely chaotic. It often felt like “feeding time at the zoo”, with not enough seating and large crowds all trying to get food at the same time. The pool bar snacks, served between 3pm and 5pm, were particularly poor. Once the food had gone, it was not replaced, even though the advertised snack period was still ongoing.
The all-inclusive drinks selection was also very limited. There were only around five alcoholic options, including beer that tasted more like weak shandy, wine, and two cocktails that tasted more like fizzy pop. The soft drinks included cola, Fanta and lemon and lime, but we found the taste of all the drinks unpleasant. Everything was served in very small plastic glasses or paper cups, some of which became soggy and started falling apart.
The rooms were standard and nothing special. There were also nowhere near enough sunbeds, or enough seating around the bar and restaurant. The water park and slides were only open twice a day for two hours at a time. Because the water park is quite small, restricting the opening times meant it became extremely busy and often felt unsafe. The lifeguard supervising the water park appeared do several other jobs throughout the day, one job been the man making pizzas during food service.
The path down to the beach was very uneven, with broken and unstable steps. The beach toilets did not flush. There were also serious issues with the toilets next to the hotel bar: the doors did not lock properly, but if you shut them fully, you could become locked inside. We reported this several times and were repeatedly told it would be fixed, but nothing was done during our stay.
We found some staff members rude and abrupt. Most of the entertainment appeared to be aimed at French guests. There was a French quiz every night, but nothing equivalent for English guests. Although there was a kids’ club, it felt more like a French kids’ club, as we were never approached or asked whether our children wanted to take part. English guests were given blue wristbands while other nationalities had different colours. At first, we thought this was a good way of identifying guests, but we soon felt that people wearing blue bands were often ignored. We spoke to other English people and they all said and thought the same.
The à la carte restaurant was also disappointing. Children were offered pizza and chips, while adults had a choice of beef or fish. The drinks choice was limited to canned beer or wine, which did not feel like a special dining experience.
We were also unhappy with how the England World Cup match was handled. When we arrived, we were told the match would be shown. Staff brought out the projector but then disappeared without setting it up. When we asked at reception what was happening, we were told, “Not our problem,” and the conversation was shut down. Staff returned after half-time, having been elsewhere doing another activity. We understand that staff have other duties, but it made no sense to bring out the projector and then leave without putting the match on. The night before, when France were playing, the projector was set up and running around 20 minutes before kick-off.
There was no lifeguard present up until Sadly, a woman drowned in the pool. The pool was closed and then reopened the following day with a lifeguard present. This was extremely upsetting and raised serious concerns about pool supervision.
The hotel is advertised as a 3-star-plus property, and we were charged £140 in tourist tax when leaving. Based on our experience, we would rate it closer to a 1- or 2-star hotel. The location is very remote, although we were aware of this when booking, so that is not a criticism.
On a positive note, some members of the animation team were friendly, spoke to English guests and made an effort to encourage people to join in with activities during the day.
Overall, two weeks was far too long to stay here. In our opinion, one day would have been enough. It is a real shame because the hotel and grounds are beautiful, but the poor food and drinks, lack of seating and sunbeds, limited facilities, safety concerns, unequal entertainment and disappointing customer service completely overshadowed the positives.
We would definitely not return."
