"Unfortunately, I left this TUI BLUE hotel feeling quite disappointed, particularly as I don’t feel it lived up to the 4-star standard I was expecting.
One of the first things I noticed was that the water in the room fridge wasn’t replenished every day, meaning we had to get our own. For a TUI BLUE hotel, I expected a little more attention to these details.
I was also disappointed with the drinks and cocktails. The cocktails were pre-made rather than freshly made, and there were no frozen cocktails available. Again, for a TUI BLUE hotel, I expected a better choice and quality of drinks.
The pool area was another major issue. There didn’t seem to be anyone monitoring the sunbeds, and guests were getting up as early as 5:30am to reserve them. If you weren’t down by around 8am, it was very difficult to find a sunbed. Some people were even sleeping on the sunbeds under the roofed area by the pool just to keep them reserved. There were also people reserving sunbeds the night before, which I felt was extremely unfair to other guests. I really think the hotel needs to have a much stricter sunbed policy and actually enforce it.
The evening entertainment and facilities were also quite limited. There was no pool table or table football, the entertainment finished around 11pm and the bar closed at midnight, with nowhere really to go afterwards. I like having the option to carry on socialising somewhere within the hotel once the entertainment has finished. Having stayed at Riu hotels previously, I found this a big difference, as they offer more options, including 24-hour bars and games such as pool and table football.
The White Party was also a huge disappointment. Having experienced White Parties at other Riu hotels, I was expecting a proper themed event. Unfortunately, this felt more like a normal evening with a DJ and a couple of inflatables in the pool. Compared with previous Riu White Parties I’ve attended, where there have been balloons, acrobats and people on stilts walking around, this really didn’t feel like a White Party at all. It was one of the things I was particularly looking forward to, so it was disappointing to see how little effort seemed to have gone into it.
There also wasn’t enough seating around the entertainment area, so on several occasions we had to sit on a sunbed just to watch. Unfortunately, the entertainment itself was also quite repetitive throughout our stay.
The biggest disappointment for me was the lunch food. It was very repetitive, and I eventually became so bored with the options that I couldn’t face eating it anymore. We actually ended up ordering a takeaway to the hotel, which is something I have never done on an all-inclusive holiday before!
That said, I do want to give credit where it’s due — the evening meals were delicious, and I always managed to find something I enjoyed at dinner.
Overall, I think there is definitely room for improvement. I’ve stayed in other 4-star hotels, including Riu, and unfortunately this hotel didn’t feel to me like the 4-star experience I was expecting from a TUI BLUE.
Better management of the sunbeds, freshly made cocktails and more drink options, greater food variety at lunchtime, improved evening facilities, more varied entertainment, a proper themed White Party and more seating would make a huge difference.
There were some positives, particularly the evening food, but unfortunately the overall experience didn’t meet the expectations I had for a TUI BLUE 4-star hotel"
