"Lots of little issues which individually wouldn’t be an issue but together made for a poor experience.
The room.
It was two rooms - a bedroom and a sitting area. Not the single room we had expected. There was very little space between the bottom of the bed and wall and I lost count of the number of times I bumped into the wall mounted TV.
Apart from 2 small drawers in the bedside tables there was only one other drawer. Lots of hanging space but poor quality hangers which kept breaking.
One small table, but no dressing table/ area.
The 2 indoor chairs were essentially garden chairs - no different to the ones on the balcony.
The apartment had been converted from self catering and the workmanship was poor.
The shower room had been refurbished with vinyl paper in the shower, this was peeling off.
The mixer tap on the wash hand basin was wobbly.
One small towel rail. No where to hang all our towels despite plenty of wall space available.
The cleaners did their best to keep the room clean but they couldn’t deal with the mould in the shower room or the ingrained dirt on the skirting boards.
Wi-Fi issues.
Despite reporting the problems I had with the Wi-Fi to reception there were always times when it didn’t work. One solution I was given was to use it in reception- not really ideal when I wanted to be outside on my balcony. I was told several times a technician would come but never did.
The hotel
Although for the most part the outside of the hotel was well maintained but the view walking down the stairs was of a dirty, messy, rusty and neglected service area.
Dining and bar areas.
These are essentially covered outdoor seating areas with plastic sides, the sort of thing you would have on a gazebo. The way they were used meant the area wasn’t are wind proof and it could be difficult get a seat away from a draught.
No staff to meet you at the entrance to the dining area, no-one to explain the layout of the buffet( eggs, pancakes etc in one part of the buffet, hot meats and veg hidden away at the side of the bar. I didn’t see it for the first couple of days.) This servery area was not well thought out. You really needed three hands, one to hold the dish lid open, one to serve up your food and third to hold your plate. Usually I ended up balancing the plate on the edge of the counter but there wasn’t enough room to put your plate down properly.
Other layout issues. Nowhere to put a plate when cutting bread.
The jars of muesli and cereals were on a high shelf beyond other items and not easily reached.
The jam dispensers rarely worked. If you were lucky a member of staff might be passing and would help.
Staff seemed overworked and there didn’t appear to by any system for them to work to. Some mornings you wouldn’t even be sat down and you’d be asked if you wanted tea or coffee, others I gave up trying to get attention and ordered it myself from the bar.
It was possible to get omelettes but I only realised that when I saw someone else have one. Apparently you ordered at the table, which we did a couple of times but at no point was this ever offered.
Food
We only had an evening meal once. The buffet was not at all inspiring and the supposedly hot food was lukewarm. The wine lists were dog eared and torn.
Breakfast. Same issue hot food only ever lukewarm at best.
Didn’t help that there were often no warm plates to put food on.
There was however a reasonably good choice of food.
There was a lack of consistency - it clearly made a difference as to which chef made the scrambled eggs as some days they were delicious others rubbery. Coffee also varied greatly.
Lack of spoons! Occasionally there would be spoons for cereal etc on the table, but quite often they were missing. You needed to find a member of staff to give you one.
We tried to get a snack the afternoon we arrived. We were told by reception staff to go to the bar. When we got there we were told the kitchen was closed and it wasn’t possible to get food anywhere in either the Royal level or the main hotel. There was no room service.
Reception staff.
Polite and would say ola if you made eye contact but often they were focussed on their computers.
At no point during our stay do I remember anyone asking if we were enjoying our holiday. Even when we checked out the receptionist didn’t ask if everything had been fine.
Management
Conspicuous by their absence. Even our holiday rep said he rarely saw them. As I said at the start, our holiday was marred by lots of little issues, effective management wouldn’t have let the service issues arise."
