"Okay so when I'm asked to do a review, I'm going to do a proper job of it. First impressions of the Castillo were, well basic. The reception doesn't have the ambience that you'd expect of a 4* but check in was relatively hassle free. I have no idea why hotels in general have not yet caught up with the fact that, it doesn't matter how much info you try to download to your guests on arrival - they aren't taking ANY of it in. If you're going to the trouble of providing a map, drawing circles all over it and writing random notes ('book' seem to be featured largely for any eating establishments) why not just print out a sheet with all the info on it - yes you've got a fancy app but honestly mostly we don't get to grips with that until at least day 2 so something giving a list of all the places to eat/drink and what time they're open to, the fact you need to pay for the safe and how to do this etc would be great!
This hotel is somewhat different from others I've stayed in because they obviously provide different levels of service. We'd booked all inclusive - which wasn't entirely as all inclusive as we expected what with there being an all inclusive plus or something so the drinks menu is somewhat limited. That and, just to confuse you further some of the bars/eateries only 'all include' drinks and not food, and one of the al a carte restaurants (the Italian surprisingly) isn't included at all so don't make the mistake of booking that as one of your 2 'free' bookings for the week. Luckily we realised shortly after booking it so was able to cancel it. Oh and the bar at the end of the harbour with the great views that is shown on the advertising/booking pics? Not included in the all inclusive but you can get a whopping 10% discount off food and drink?!?
There was, supposedly, an extended hours snack bar by the pool for when the main restaurant was closed but despite our best efforts we never actually saw evidence that it opened at all and had to traipse down to the Mar's snack bar whenever the kids got hungry!
Now to the rooms - we'd booked a 2 bed bungalow - it was reasonably spacious, clean but, well, basic. Firstly, I think we were allocated someone else's reject room because there was a lovely welcome card... for a completely different guest. And the sofa bed hadn't been made up even though our booking was for 5 people - resulting in a very tired, late night trundle back to reception where I was told, 'yes, sofabed for fifth person' and had to explain that we understood this but that it was still a sofa and we'd need pillows and bedding to use it. We were then subjected to a rather uncomfortable exchange between reception and housekeeping who were clearly clocking off for the night as they seemed to be signing out at reception or something but they did go and make the bed up for us. So why would I say it was basic? welp, have you ever been in a room or apartment or in fact ANYWHERE that doesn't have any mirrors? There's the bathroom mirror and a single one in the second bedroom but no wall mirror anywhere else, not the main area and not the master bedroom and no dressing table (or any table, or chair, or anywhere other than the floor to put your stuff) - how on earth they expect 4 women to get ready with 1 mirror is beyond me but despite asking if there was any chance of another mirror nothing came (I know, it was a long shot but thought we'd ask). There are no hooks on the walls for bags or jackets, so again floor it is then. There was a dining table and 4 chairs - where the other 2 people are supposed to sit and eat assuming full occupancy is beyond me, but as we resorted to using these as makeup tables this wasn't an issue anyway. We did have a couple of housekeeping issues but these were quickly resolved and the staff were quite lovely and friendly.
Now here's the thing - the Castillo is clearly an annex to the much better Barcelo Fuerteventura Mar. The Mar has everything you'd expect of a 4*, plush welcoming reception, great entertainment facilities, an amazing daytime help yourself snack bar and the 2 al a carte restaurants you CAN book as part of your all inclusive. the Mar is 4*, the Castillo part is simply an extension built on after the fact and they've given it its own basic reception to service the apartments over that side of the complex. The Castillo on its own would barely make a 3* - if you've bagged a bargain price you'll love it, if you've paid 4* prices (which we did) then you're likely to be a bit deflated by it. Yes you CAN use the Mar facilities, which we did, but its a bit of a trek, especially if like us you're right on the edge of the edge! The ONLY thing we found better at the Castillo was the buffet restaurant, we tried the Mar buffet only once, we had to book it in advance and when we arrived the 'greeter' seemed less than pleased at having us there. It was quite late but that was only because it was the only slot available when we booked, and the food offerings were quite slim compared to what we had at the Castillo, but maybe that was the time of night and they'd already started packing up? That was the ONLY staff member we found to be slightly unwelcoming across both hotels.
The food is all inclusive food. Its the same the world over I guess but it was fresh, plentiful, well presented and regularly refreshed, so long as you're not expecting themed nights or show cooking there's absolutely nothing to complain about.
So, to summarise, had we paid 3* prices we'd have been quite happy (except for the fight for the 1 useable mirror thing, that I cannot forgive lol!) - I mean who doesn't want to get their steps in every day right? For the price we paid and given that it was sold as a 4*, I'd have expected the same quality of facilities as the Mar (or at least been honest about the Castillo being the poor cousin annex to the Mar so we could decide whether it suited us or not)"
