"Four stars? No!!!.
This is a Three stars hotel (and that’s being generous).
What should have been ten days of family relaxation turned into a catalogue of poor organisation, inadequate facilities, disappointing food and drinks service, unhelpful staff and, most seriously, a frightening failure of child supervision.
We weren’t expecting luxury, just a clean, comfortable, properly maintained all-inclusive resort that took customer service and child safety seriously. Based on our experience, that was too much to ask.
THE KIDS’ CLUB: OUR UNATTENDED BY A SWIMMING POOL
This was by far the most serious incident of our holiday.
We left our children at the kids’ club, trusting that they would be properly supervised. More than an hour later, we found our YOUNG CHILD WANDERING AROUND THE POOLSIDE UNATTENDED.
Our child had apparently left the kids’ club through gates that were left open and made their way into an area containing swimming pools without staff noticing.
Our child could have drowned. As parents, that thought is horrifying.
When we raised the incident, the response left us deeply dissatisfied. Rather than providing the reassurance and accountability we expected, the hotel appeared to shift responsibility towards guests, suggesting customers had left the gates open. Yet we repeatedly witnessed gates being left open ourselves, including when staff walked through them without closing them.
We discussed the incident with staff in meetings but remained deeply concerned about how it was treated as non serious.
How can a young child leave a supposedly supervised kids’ club and end up alone beside a swimming pool? Appropriate supervision and secure boundaries are fundamental responsibilities, not optional extras.
This incident destroyed our confidence in the resort, and the response did nothing to restore it.
COCKROACHES IN THE BAR AND BUFFET
We saw cockroaches crawling across the floor behind the bar and underneath tables in the all-you-can-eat buffet. We have a photograph of what we encountered.
Finding cockroaches in areas where food and drinks are served is disgusting and raises obvious concerns about cleanliness and pest control. This is hardly what you expect from a hotel claiming four-star standards.
THE ROOM: FOUR PEOPLE CRAMMED INTO A SPACE FOR TWO
Our room was extremely small and cramped, appearing to be designed for two people before a fold-up bed was added to accommodate four.
There was virtually no space to move around or store suitcases. The only walking space was along the narrow gaps either side of the bed and at its foot. The cramped balcony had just two chairs for four guests.
The wardrobes were so small that longer garments would not hang properly. My wife eventually had to hang her dresses over the top of the door.
Adding a fold-up bed does not magically turn a cramped double room into suitable family accommodation for ten days.
CHECK-IN: FIND YOUR OWN ROOM
Our apartment was one of the furthest from the main hotel. After travelling with two young children, we were left to find it ourselves at night, without proper assistance.
Apparently, navigating a sprawling resort with children and luggage is an acceptable welcome.
ALL-INCLUSIVE? ONLY IN NAME.
The drinks offering was embarrassingly poor. There was just one beer available on tap, and the outdoor beer dispensers around the pools were few and far between.
Worse still, the bar ran out of glasses suitable for a normal-sized beer every single night. Small tumblers were available, but apparently maintaining a sufficient supply of ordinary beer glasses was beyond the hotel’s capabilities.
The cocktails were equally disappointing: premixed drinks poured from containers or pre-made jugs, with no fresh preparation. When we and other guests asked staff to make fresh cocktails, our requests were declined.
When we requested bottled water for our room, we were told to go to the shop and buy it ourselves.
To make matters worse, my brother arrived partway through our stay and found a half-drunk bottle on the side in his room, complete with a hotel-branded welcome label. Disgusting, and a worrying indication of inadequate room checks.
AIR CONDITIONING: A SAUNA WITH BEDS
The air conditioning was effectively useless. We were told environmental restrictions on the island prevented it from operating at full power, but that did nothing to make our cramped room comfortable.
With four people squeezed into a tiny space, the heat and stuffiness made things particularly unpleasant. If the system cannot adequately cool the rooms, guests should be told before booking.
THE FOOD HALL: A CROWDED, CHAOTIC MESS
The food hall was horrendously overcrowded and poorly laid out. Moving around without bumping into people or squeezing past tables was a challenge.
Breakfast involved separate queues for beans, hash browns, eggs and toast, turning a simple meal into an obstacle course. Families collecting food for young children had to navigate the chaos, often ending up with cold food after spending far too long queuing.
A buffet should be straightforward to organise. Here, even breakfast was stressful, and the cockroaches under the tables hardly helped.
BREAKFAST SERVICE: TOLD OFF FOR DOING EXACTLY WHAT STAFF DID THEMSELVES
When a family member flew out to join us, we pushed a four-seater table and a two-seater table together to accommodate our party.
A staff member aggressively told us this was not allowed and insisted she would find us a six-seater table. She failed to find one, then proceeded to join a four-seater and a two-seater together herself.
Exactly what we had already done!
We were reprimanded for something the staff member subsequently did because it was the only practical solution. The confrontation was unnecessary, embarrassing and utterly pointless.
RECEPTION: BASIC INFORMATION APPARENTLY UNAVAILABLE
We asked reception about the evening entertainment and kids’ club schedules, only to be told they did not know what was happening or when.
Guests should not have to struggle to obtain basic information about the hotel’s own activities. It gave the impression of poorly coordinated departments and a lack of communication.
THE ARCADE: NO CHANGE, NO HELP
The arcade’s note-to-coin machine was broken. I asked bar staff for a few euros in change and was told they had none.
A hotel with a bar and an arcade apparently could not provide a few coins when its own machine was out of order. The result was two disappointed children over a problem that should have been simple to resolve.
POOL FLOATS: HAPPY TO SELL THEM, UNHAPPY TO LET US USE THEM
We bought pool floats from the hotel shop, only to be told after approximately ten minutes in the pool that they were prohibited because of safety concerns.
When we requested a refund, the shop was reluctant to help and suggested taking them to the beach instead.
Even more absurdly, other guests used the same types of floats throughout our stay without being told to remove them.
Were they prohibited or not? The rules appeared inconsistent, particularly given our experience with the kids’ club.
BROKEN SUN LOUNGERS AND DAMAGED PARASOLS
Numerous sun loungers had broken backs that would not stay upright, while parasols were damaged and appeared to have been patched up with wire or scraps of paper.
The resort looked tired and poorly maintained. Guests should not have to inspect a sun lounger to see whether it works or wonder whether a parasol has been repaired properly.
TOILETS DURING EVENING ENTERTAINMENT
My wife needed the toilet during the evening entertainment, only to discover that the facilities were either blocked or had broken door locks. She had to find alternative toilets a considerable distance away.
Functioning, secure toilets are a basic requirement, not a luxury.
BAR STAFF: DISMISSIVE AND UNHELPFUL
On one occasion, I approached a bar to order beers and was abruptly told by a waiter that it was for cocktails only. The sign indicated cocktails were served there but did not state that beer could not be ordered.
Rather than explaining politely, the waiter was dismissive and directed me to another bar with a long queue.
The issue was not having to walk elsewhere; it was the attitude. At an all-inclusive resort, guests should not be made to feel like an inconvenience for ordering a drink.
CHILDREN’S ENTERTAINMENT: TOO LATE AND INACCESSIBLE
The children’s entertainment was entirely in Spanish, making it difficult for our English-speaking children to understand and participate fully.
The entertainment also started around 8:45–9:15 pm. After a full day in the sunshine and swimming pools, many younger children are ready for bed well before then.
The language barrier and late starting time made the programme poorly suited to our family.
GOLF BUGGIES: NEARLY HIT TWICE
During our ten-day stay, we nearly got run over by staff driving golf buggies on two separate occasions.
Guests, particularly families with young children, should not have to worry about being struck by staff vehicles. Combined with the kids’ club incident, these experiences added to our concerns about safety around the resort.
STAFF ATTITUDE: THE BARE MINIMUM, IF YOU’RE LUCKY
Whether we were trying to obtain change, sort out pool floats, get information from reception, order drinks or resolve the breakfast seating issue, simple problems repeatedly became unnecessary sagas.
Problems happen in hotels, but good hospitality means resolving them professionally and treating guests with courtesy. Too often, we encountered dismissive responses, unnecessary confrontation or an apparent unwillingness to help.
FINAL VERDICT
Nothing was done to address our concerns.
Princess Hotel Fuerteventura fell well short of the four-star family holiday we paid for.
We experienced cramped accommodation, cockroaches in dining areas, inadequate air conditioning, overcrowded meals, disappointing drinks, broken facilities, unusable toilets, inconsistent rules, late children’s entertainment and repeatedly unhelpful service.
But the most serious issue was our child leaving the supposedly supervised kids’ club and ending up unattended beside a swimming pool. The potential consequences were horrifying, and the response left us without the reassurance we needed.
In our opinion, this is not a four-star hotel. Three stars would be generous.
We expected decent accommodation, clean facilities, functioning equipment, organised dining, helpful staff and appropriate safeguards for our children. Instead, we spent ten days dealing with avoidable problems and a deeply distressing safety incident.
Would we return? Absolutely not.
Would we recommend it to families with young children? Not based on our experience.
Was it worth the money? Not remotely.
Save your money and look elsewhere.
Princess Hotel Fuerteventura: an absolute shambles from start to finish."
