Bull Costa Canaria & Spa

"The hotel is very German oriented (Id guess 60-70% of the guests), so the staf will often automatically adress you in German instead of Spanish or English. The good: the rooms are nice, with pretty much everything you need. The hairdryer is well hidden in a drawer in the bedroom but it's there. Balcony chair are very comfortable. One of the main selling points of the Bull Costa is that there is no sunbed war. You find a free place when you arrive and that's it for your whole stay. There still are many never-used-during-the-day seats, but you don't care because you always have the one you choose. This works very well, although you'll a bit of luck if you want to sit on a specific place. Still, good idea. One big difference compared to other all-in hotels is that the à la carte restaurants are open only for lunch. They are pretty nice and popular, meaning the buffet restaurant doesn't see that many people at lunch. Don Miguel has one of the best steaks I've ever had in an All-in hotel. The pizzeria Don pepe is pretty good, but you get only 6 choices on the menu and are not allowed to change or remove ingredients. They should change that, as it would add a lot of value to the proposition. At the main restaurants, the grilled meat and fish are very good and cooked on demand, so you'll never have the dry leathery bits you get in a lot of all-in hotels. The quality of the meat is good, but it's mostly chicken and pork every day with beef or duck once a week. the fresh veggies/salads are very good too. The roasts are usually good, but sometimes so dried out they become pretty much unedible. The mojito's are usualy pretty tasty but they could put an extra help at the pool bar in the evening. The wifi is perfect except around the pool bar where it's very bad. The bad The main restaurant is chaotic and not so good. Many tables are left untouched after use. If you can get hold of someone from the staff, they'll will dress the table with a smile, but you'll need to catch them first. This is not a criticism of the staff, as they do their best to help guests, but either there isn't enough staff, either they are very badly organised. If you want to eat outside in the buffet restaurant, prepare to eat early or to wait a long time because there are only a few tables available. The buffet is set on two levels. You want bread for your breakfast? Upstairs. Fresh orange juice? Downstairs. Some dishes are duplicated on both levels, some are not, so it's a bit of a detective game every meal. There's pizza every evening, but it's not displayed on heated plates, so it gets cold very quickly. The french fries are usually overcoocked and taste like deepfried cardboard. The grilled meats are good, but usually unsalted. I say usually because sometimes they are salted, and at least once much too salted. Apart from the grilled meats, the rest is pretty tastless and very repetitive. IMHO, most of the hot food is take straight out of a freezer and reheated/fried/steamed. I was wondering if it was only me, so I talked with some people who had been there before, and they all agreed that it was better in the past. If you've got allergies, I wouldn't advice this hotel. Dishes usually have some information about allergens, but we quickly realised you cannot trust those. The baked potato at the Don Miguel restaurant doesn't have any warning about lactose but is served with butter. We've seen the same dish on the two levels of the buffet restaurant, one with a warning, the other one without. And while it's nice to get the information, it would be nicer to have something to eat. Some days, it was a real battle, and when we asked one of the kitch staff if we could get potatoes or plain rice without gluten or lactose, they shrugged and said "no". I've no idea on why plain rice should contain lactose, but there you go... The hotel is advertised everywhere as wheelchair accessible and while that's true, it's not really wheelchair friendly. Some slopes are very steep, and good luck to get up on your own unless you're a wheelchair athlete. And the main door to the restaurant is a revolving door, which is also not ideal. The ugly: nothing really, except for the french translations: please translate directy from Spanish, because the honey you eat is not a "chéri"! All in all, it's a nice place which could be so much better with a little attention in the restaurant. Would we go back? possibly, but only if we were sure the restaurant has received an upgrade."

"Third time at this hotel. As always, the facilities, room, and pool area were in impeccable condition. The breakfast buffet food continues to be VERY good and the dinner as well. Where they fail to reach VERY (it stays at normal) is in the meals they offer at the two pool restaurants. But the company has made a decision that borders on illegal: Forcing payment for all purchases on the spot with a credit card without the possibility of charging to the room or paying in cash. This decision calls into question the trust between the guest and the hotel. The only hotel I know that has this payment method. PLEASE review this."

"Bull Costa Canaria The Bull Costa Canaria receives very high ratings on almost every online platform. From our own experiences with all-inclusive holidays, we were also particularly surprised by our stay. Unfortunately, our experiences are mostly negative. Room We arrived late in the evening, so we could immediately take our room. At first glance, the room was neat and it had a renovated bathroom. However, the view was particularly disappointing: we looked out onto an unattractive flat roof and trees. Furthermore, we noticed a very loud and disturbing buzzing sound when going to sleep. This turned out to be from the ventilation of the neighboring hotel. We reported this at the reception. They were immediately aware of the known problem. The next day we also got a different, quietly located room. Unfortunately, this room was clearly outdated. Both the room itself and the bathroom urgently need renovation and, in our opinion, do not meet what you should expect from a four-star hotel. The minibar was also disappointing. There is a refrigerator, but it is not being filled! There was only one small bottle of water. Swimming pool Air mattresses are not allowed in the pool. The reason given is that this would be dangerous for the older guests, because they could end up under an air mattress. We find that argument difficult to understand. The pool is very shallow after all and as an adult you can just stand in it. Furthermore, the hotel is for adults only. There are seating areas in the pool, but a limited area where guests could relax with an inflatable mattress would be a much more logical solution in our opinion. There must be a sun platform in the pool. Cleaning One day our room was not cleaned. Our 'Do Not Disturb' sign was on the door that morning until 9:45. After that, the employees did not come by anymore. When we reported this at the reception at 4:00 PM, we were told that there was no cleaning service present. The reception eventually arranged for us to get clean towels, thank you for that. Hospital beds The system with the daybeds can be judged both positively and negatively. You receive a card with which you can reserve a certain bed for the duration of your stay. The advantage is that you are always guaranteed a cot. There are many sunbeds in general, but upon our arrival, there were only two free sunbeds available at the pool. When you travel with multiple people, this can therefore be a problem. What is particularly regrettable: during our stay we saw many 'reserved' beds that were not used at all for large parts of the day. The beds themselves were excellent, by the way. These were without a doubt the best beds we have ever had on vacation. We found the general cleanliness around the pool to be less good, in contrast. Empty drink cups and other waste were collected at most once a day and sometimes not at all. The small tables by the beds were also not cleaned daily. The next day the same drink cups were still there... Food and drink We can be very positive about the food, fortunately. The food in both restaurants was excellent: tasty, varied, and extensive. This applies to breakfast, lunch, and dinner. On the food front, we have absolutely nothing to complain about. The service is friendly towards guests who stay here more often and are apparently well known. However, there are also some points of attention here. During breakfast and lunch, tables were often cleared late. Furthermore, there is no table service for drinks during these meals. This service is only available during dinner. During dinner, we also got the strong impression that a difference was made between guests with all-inclusive and guests with a different formula. When cleaning up, guests without the all-inclusive package were regularly asked if they wanted anything to drink. With other guests on the all-inclusive package, that question was not asked. We also found the hours and availability of drinks within the all-inclusive formula to be particularly limited. For example, at 10:00 in the morning, there was no soda available during breakfast. Anyone who wanted to drink something other than coffee, tea, or the like had to go and get it themselves at the bar by the pool. For us, this was particularly strange. After a 10-kilometer run, we would have liked to have a soda with breakfast. However, that was not possible before 10:00 a.m. because the all-inclusive formula only starts at 10:00 a.m. All-inclusive formula Here lies the biggest problem of this hotel for us. During the day, pizza was available, but limited to one pizza per guest per day. Other typical all-inclusive snacks, such as ice cream, waffles, nuts, chips, or other small snacks, were not available. Anyone who wanted a piece of cake could have it, but had to pay €6 for it. The cocktails were also disappointing. These were prepared beforehand in large jugs, which in our opinion made them very watery and of low quality. For certain simple cocktails, such as a margarita, an extra charge had to be paid. A surcharge also applies to various branded drinks, such as Licor 43. Besides, there was little flexibility. When a guest wanted to combine a strong spirit with cava, for example, but this combination was not literally on the menu, it was not served as one drink. The guest received two separate glasses and could then mix the drink himself. These may be small details, but when you specifically choose an all-inclusive package, you expect a certain level of service, flexibility, and quality in our opinion. Many rules and restrictions During our stay, we got the strong impression that the all-inclusive formula mainly consists of limitations and conditions. Among other things, there were rules regarding: • maximum of two drinks per person per order; • no air mattresses in the pool; • maximum one pizza per person per day; • no soda during breakfast before 10:00 am; • surcharge for certain cocktails and branded drinks; • Hardly any snacks included in the all-inclusive package. Rules themselves are not necessarily a problem, but the accumulation of them made the all-inclusive formula feel little all-inclusive to us. We also had a conversation about this with the manager. The only solution he could offer was to let the soda dispenser work in the morning. Whether by chance or not, from the moment this was allowed, we found the soda from the dispenser in the restaurant noticeably bland. Wellness and fitness There are fortunately also clear advantages. The wellness area is very beautiful and also free to access. The fitness room is also very well equipped. Conclusion The Bull Costa Canaria certainly has strong points. The wellness is nice and free, the fitness is excellent and especially the food is a real asset: very tasty, varied and extensive. But for us, these positive points do not outweigh the shortcomings, especially when you specifically choose the all-inclusive formula. Our biggest disappointment is that the hotel seems clearly more geared towards guests who choose breakfast or half board than towards guests who book all-inclusive. You notice that in different aspects. Based on our experience, we find that Costa Canaria does not meet the expectations of a four-star hotel, and that the all-inclusive formula in particular does not adequately match what one should expect from such a formula."