"⭐ **1 STAR – A HOLIDAY WE WILL NEVER FORGET FOR ALL THE WRONG REASONS**
We booked **Mirador Maspalomas by Dunas** for what was supposed to be our first family holiday. We had been looking forward to it for months, saved hard for it and expected to come home with wonderful memories.
Instead, we came home feeling completely let down.
And honestly, for what this holiday cost us, **the hotel simply did not deliver the standard we expected.**
From the moment we arrived, things started going downhill.
The entertainment area was absolutely packed, with huge crowds gathering and making it extremely difficult to get through with our suitcases. We had booked two rooms close together because we were travelling with three children, but both rooms were on the 4th floor.
Our balcony overlooked the **Aldi car park and a very busy main road**, and the constant noise kept us awake for much of the night.
Then we got into the room.
There was a **cockroach** and **blood splattered on the sheets**. My partner was actually told to make the bed and put clean sheets on himself. We are cleaners ourselves and understand that mistakes can happen, but asking a paying guest to deal with something like that themselves is completely unacceptable in our opinion.
The TV was also hanging off the wall, held on with only two screws.
We reported all of this to reception.
Surely, after finding a cockroach, blood on the bedding and a potentially unsafe TV, we expected the hotel to offer us a suitable alternative.
Instead, we were told that if we moved rooms, our two rooms would be on opposite sides of the hotel.
With **three children**, that wasn't a realistic option.
So we were left feeling as though there was simply no practical solution offered to us.
### **THE €140 DOOR INCIDENT**
Things then became even more stressful.
My partner stumbled on a crack in the floor and fell into one of the doors belonging to our room. The hinge gave way and the door was damaged.
We immediately reported the incident and were charged **€140**, which we paid.
Since then, we have seen other guests discussing problems with door frames at the hotel, including claims that some frames were already coming away from the walls.
We are **not saying that proves what happened with our particular door**, but it certainly made us question the condition and maintenance of the hotel's doors.
What made the situation even more upsetting was what happened afterwards.
I was told that **I personally had to leave the hotel**, while my wife and three children could remain.
The hotel has since given us a completely different account and now says that they never asked me to leave and that **On the Beach** made that decision.
We have been provided with a letter from On the Beach which contains a **different person's name** and is dated **May 2026**, despite our incident taking place in **September 2026**.
We are still waiting for a proper, clear written explanation of exactly what happened, who made the decision and why.
### **WHAT HAPPENED TO OUR SECOND ROOM?**
Our second paid-for room was effectively taken away from our family.
The keys were cancelled and we were left with one room for the family.
The hotel's position is now that the room wasn't removed and that we should simply have asked for another key.
But this doesn't make sense to us because that room was **cleaned at around 9am on the morning of checkout**, before our actual checkout time.
We also paid **€17.50 for a safe** in that room which we never used because the room was subsequently unavailable to us.
These are the sorts of things that leave you feeling that you're constantly having to fight just to get straight answers.
### **TRYING TO MAKE A FORMAL COMPLAINT**
I also tried to make a formal complaint directly to the hotel.
I used Google Translate to clearly explain that I wanted the hotel's **official complaint form**.
I was told they weren't refusing to provide it, but no complaint form or QR code was actually given to me.
Instead, the situation became confrontational and we were threatened with the police while we were simply trying to get answers and make a complaint.
We were not looking for an argument.
**We wanted answers.**
We wanted the opportunity to formally put our concerns on record.
We still haven't been given a proper written explanation regarding the allegations made against me or why I was supposedly required to leave.
The manager had previously told me that he had not called the police regarding the cannabis allegation because he didn't want to damage the hotel's reputation.
Whatever the hotel's position is, **we believe we should have been given a clear written explanation of what was alleged and why the decision was made.**
### **FOOD & ALL-INCLUSIVE SERVICE**
The food was another major disappointment.
Food temperatures were poor, and on several occasions food was not served at a temperature we would expect from a hotel buffet.
On one evening, staff started clearing the main dining hall at around **9:15pm**.
By approximately **10pm**, the food and desserts had gone and the drinks machines had been switched off, despite dinner supposedly running until **10:30pm**.
For an all-inclusive holiday, **that is simply not good enough.**
We also found the food poor in taste and the "juice" was not fresh juice, which was another disappointment.
### **OUR CHILDREN**
The experience involving our 7-year-old was particularly upsetting.
A lifeguard told him to move away from the pool slope because he was "in the way".
He wasn't confident enough to move further into the water and became so upset that he ran back to me crying.
He's **7 years old**.
Regardless of the circumstances, we believe a young child should be spoken to with patience and understanding.
Seeing your child crying and running back to you on what was supposed to be their special holiday is something you don't forget.
We also felt that some staff were unnecessarily rude towards us as English guests, leaving us feeling uncomfortable and unwelcome.
### **THE BOTTOM LINE**
We understand that no holiday is perfect.
We understand that hotels get busy.
We understand that accidents happen.
**But what we expected was basic cleanliness, safe and properly maintained facilities, decent food, respectful treatment and clear communication when something went wrong.**
Instead, we experienced:
* A cockroach in our room
* Blood on the bedding
* Being told to change the sheets ourselves
* A TV hanging off the wall
* Constant noise from the main road and car park
* A crack in the floor
* A €140 charge for a damaged door
* Conflicting explanations about who decided I had to leave
* Conflicting information about our second room
* A €17.50 safe we couldn't use
* Difficulty obtaining a formal complaint form
* Being threatened with police involvement while trying to complain
* Cold/poor-quality food
* Food and drinks being cleared before the advertised dinner finish
* Our 7-year-old being reduced to tears by a lifeguard
* And feeling unwelcome as English guests
**This wasn't one small problem. It was problem after problem after problem.**
We paid a lot of money for this holiday.
We saved for it.
We looked forward to it.
Most importantly, **our children looked forward to it.**
This was supposed to be the holiday where we made our first proper family memories together.
Instead, we spent far too much time stressed, upset and trying to get answers.
The saddest part is that some of the staff were genuinely friendly, and there were moments when we tried to make the best of things. But the problems were simply too serious and too numerous to overlook.
**We didn't expect perfection. We expected to be treated fairly.**
Our children deserved a happy first family holiday.
**We deserved one too.**
Instead, this is a holiday we will remember for all the wrong reasons.
⭐ **1 star from us.**
**We would not return to Mirador Maspalomas by Dunas, and based on our experience, we cannot recommend it to other families.**"
