R2 Apartamentos Bahia Kontiki

"Definitely not a 4-star experience – very disappointing Unfortunately, I really struggle to understand how this hotel is rated as 4-star, because our experience was nowhere near the standard I would expect. Starting with the positives, the cleaning staff were generally lovely and friendly, and I don’t want this review to take away from the staff members who were kind and helpful during our stay. However, we did have one very uncomfortable and strange interaction with a member of cleaning staff. She questioned how my mum couldn't be my mum because my mum is white and I’m mixed race/darker skinned. She made a comment that she couldn’t be my mum because I’m dark and she’s white. It was completely unnecessary and made us feel uncomfortable. I want to make it very clear that this was one individual’s comment and absolutely NOT a reflection of the area or the island. There were people from lots of different ethnicities in and around the hotel and a very mixed crowd. We did not experience this attitude from the area generally, so please don’t let this one incident put you off visiting the island. Unfortunately, there were many other problems with the hotel itself. The air conditioning wasn’t working, which made the room uncomfortable. We also found that the bedding was rarely changed, and the sofa bed was extremely itchy to sleep on, which left us questioning the standard of cleanliness. We ended up changing rooms, and when we entered the room we’d been moved to, we found bloodied tissues left behind. For a supposedly cleaned room in a 4-star hotel, this was absolutely disgusting and unacceptable. The communal areas weren’t much better. The walkways were disgusting in places, with litter and cigarette ends around. The overall cleanliness and appearance simply didn’t match what I’d expect from a 4-star hotel. The pool area was also very drab and depressing. It looked tired and uninviting and wasn’t the relaxing pool environment we had expected from the photos and star rating. The whole area could do with some serious attention and updating. Another important thing to know before booking is that there are no lifts and the hotel is on top of a massive hill. This is definitely something to consider for anyone with mobility difficulties, older travellers, families with pushchairs, or anyone who struggles with steep hills and stairs. Overall, the biggest disappointment was that nothing about the accommodation felt 4-star. Between the broken air conditioning, poor cleanliness, litter and cigarette ends, rarely changed bedding, itchy sofa bed, bloodied tissues in our replacement room, tired pool area and lack of lifts, the hotel fell far below our expectations. There were some lovely staff members, and I don’t like giving a negative review when people are working hard, but people spend a lot of money on their holidays and deserve to know what they’re booking. The island and surrounding area shouldn’t be judged by our experience at this hotel. It was diverse, with a really mixed crowd, and the uncomfortable comment we received from one staff member was not representative of our experience of the wider area. Sadly, based on our stay, I would not consider this hotel to be a 4-star experience and wouldn’t personally return."

"We ended up having a wonderful week at the Bahía Kontiki after a terrible first night. The pool, staff, apartment, terrace and food were fantastic and the sea, restaurants and cafes just down the hill, everything was in reach. We always managed to get a sun bed (although the ones by the pool went more quickly, but we preferred the terrace as it was a bit quieter). However for our first night we were given a room down the hill at the very bottom of the complex and away from the pool and terrace (room 3109). The live music from Charlie’s bar over the road was horrendously loud until 2am and the useless air con meant that we spent the night in 32 degree temps. I thought I’d made a big mistake coming here. I went to speak to reception at 11pm that night and was told we could move the next day but that there were not many 2 bedroom apartments so it might not be to somewhere much better. However luckily for us when I went the following morning we were upgraded to an apartment by the pool (1121) which was absolutely perfect for our stay. If we hadn’t been moved our whole holiday would have been ruined and that is no exaggeration. The 2 bedroom apartments are a fantastic size. The kitchenette was completely adequate but an oven would have been appreciated. We ate out at some of the restaurants a few nights and the food was very good generally. We had opted to have breakfast included and it was a great spread with lots of hot and cold savoury and sweet options, and with happy hour 2-4pm we just enjoyed our days round the pool or on the terrace. I would thoroughly recommend this lovely resort but it completely depends on the room location hence a 4 out of 5 instead of 5."

"This hotel is placed up ‘cardiac hill’ however we used the side gate entrance & the bar stairs which wasn’t a problem for us. Apartments were dull and only swept through once during our 4 night stay. We had 3 separate rooms and none were cleaned throughout this time. The hotel is very quiet. If you want music and some liveliness throughout the day, this is not the place for you. We moved sunbeds without a problem however on moving them when a different lifeguard was on duty this was a problem and we were told we were not allowed to move them. So we went to the beach instead of being dotted separately around the the pool area. The food we ate here was nice and other staff seemed pleasant however there are much better places to stay which are a lot cheaper."