"My wife and I have just returned from a 9-night stay at the Radisson Blu, Puerto de Mogan – our 5th stay here. As an older couple we generally look for adult-only hotels, but there aren’t any of these in Mogan, so this 400+ room hotel, low-rise and set in spacious grounds, has become our regular choice. Styled as a 5-star resort, it’s minimalist and unpretentious in its appearance, and some parts of it look like they could actually do with some TLC to smarten it up.
For me, the best aspect of the hotel are its sport and leisure facilities. Three swimming pools – kids, family and quiet (no music, no balls or inflatables in the latter). Plenty of sunbeds, although this is helped by the private sunbeds on every room balcony, and no smoking on the pool deck. The gym is the best one I’ve come across in a holiday hotel. And there’s tennis, volleyball and padel courts. My only complaint was that the padel sessions were not frequent or long enough!
Again this year, for me, the worst aspect of the hotel was the breakfast service. Just like previous years there were often queues to check in, followed by other queues waiting to be shown to tables inside or outside, while clean tables were there waiting for guests. Why the management can’t get this problem resolved, I don’t know. Why do guests need to check in with their room number – aren't they all on B&B? And why is there always a shortage of teaspoons? Same issues as last year, but at least there was still smoked salmon on offer...
The rooms are bright and spacious but again, in need of some TLC. For example, our toilet flush jammed occasionally, but this had not been checked or rectified before our arrival. But the king-sized beds and the thick cushions on the balcony sunbeds are luxury touches.
We didn’t take part in any of the daytime activities, but we were interested in the evening entertainment. It was mostly the usual big hotel stuff – tribute acts, acrobats and an interesting magic act, but the timing wasn’t great for us. Starting at 9pm, and often finishing by 9.45, it was probably OK for half board guests who could wander in from the buffet, watch the act, then go to bed. But we like to eat out, and it was mostly too difficult to get back to the hotel by 9, so we would often find a bar – of which there were several locally – with some live music instead.
The other thing about evenings in the hotel was that the showbar was the only place you could get a drink, and it wasn’t a great environment with kids running around and yelling. A second bar, maybe with a piano or pleasant background music, would encourage guests to spend some evening time – and money – at the hotel. There’s a spacious area outside Reception where this could be situated, and making it an adult-only area would be even better.
Outside, there are plenty of restaurants to choose from for dinner. In the nearby shopping centre, N44 offers great food at reasonable prices, with their rack of lamb a speciality. Further towards the seafront is the Gran Shanghai, offering tasty Chinese food at great prices. The food at Samara’s is good, but check your bill when you get it. We had a couple of unexpected charges added to ours, and the staff reaction when I pointed these out was unnecessarily aggressive. On the Marina side, just before the seafront, look out for La Fenice for excellent pasta.
Overall, an enjoyable stay at the Radisson, but still with some improvements possible. Would we go back again? Probably, despite the breakfast experience, I would be keen to try the Padel sessions again."
