"Beautiful hotel, but the experience felt more 3-star than 4-star
We stayed at Gloria Palace San Agustín as part of a large family group, and I have very mixed feelings about the hotel. Visually, it absolutely looks like a 4-star hotel, and there are some genuinely lovely things about it, but unfortunately the overall experience didn’t feel 4-star to us.
The positives first: our room was honestly stunning. We were very lucky with the room we were allocated. It had beautiful views, a huge and very comfortable firm bed, excellent pillows, double sinks, a freestanding bath and his-and-hers robes. It was considerably nicer than some of the other rooms our group had, which were fairly average. The hotel itself was also very clean, and having bottled water replenished in the minibar every day was a great touch. The first member of housekeeping we had was lovely and did a fantastic job, although he did hint for a tip, which I personally found slightly uncomfortable.
The views from the hotel are beautiful, and there are plenty of sunbeds. Even if you don’t get one in the ideal position, you’re unlikely to be completely stuck. The food also has a good amount of variety, particularly if you’re not a fussy eater.
Check-in was difficult. There was only one person on reception when we arrived and, although he was very pleasant, his English was difficult for us to understand and communication was quite challenging.
The service was probably our biggest disappointment. Most of the staff we encountered seemed to have quite a poor attitude. We also repeatedly felt that Spanish guests received noticeably better service than other guests. In the evenings, for example, we noticed table service being provided to Spanish guests while other tables were largely left to fend for themselves. At lunch and dinner, drinks service could be extremely slow and we were often only asked once what we wanted. If you subsequently asked for another drink, we sometimes received eye rolls or a look that made you feel like you were inconveniencing the staff.
The bars were similar. Staff would sometimes walk away before you had finished ordering, or repeat part of your order and immediately move on to the next person. It often felt as though they wanted you gone as quickly as possible.
We also experienced a number of issues with the organisation of the restaurants. There was no obvious seating system and, particularly when busy, it felt more like a case of finding somewhere yourself and hoping for the best.
Food hygiene was a particular concern for me. On more than one occasion, I saw apparent cross-contamination. On one occasion at the grill, a chef placed raw chicken directly on top of cooked chicken and then used the same utensils to handle both. I also saw the same utensils being used between meat and fish. There were smaller examples too, such as sardines being placed next to mayonnaise, with sardines ending up in the mayonnaise, and “vegan” sausages being positioned directly behind regular sausages. These may seem like small things individually, but when you’re seeing repeated examples of poor separation of foods, it doesn’t inspire confidence.
The pools were another disappointment, particularly for families. They are relatively small for the size and capacity of the hotel. They’re lovely and warm in summer, but I imagine they would feel extremely cold outside of the summer months.
The children’s pool is particularly strange. It is extremely deep for what is supposed to be a children’s pool, while the other main pool is also too deep for shorter adults to comfortably stand in. This would not be ideal for children or adults who aren’t confident swimmers.
The splash pad also had several features that were broken or not working properly during our stay.
There is one larger slide, but children over 14 aren’t allowed to use it, despite it dropping into the very deep pool, and there is a much smaller baby slide.
The pool also doesn’t open particularly early, which is disappointing when you’re somewhere as hot as Gran Canaria, and there is virtually no music around the pool during the day apart from during aqua aerobics. Personally, I found the atmosphere quite flat.
The lifts are an experience in themselves. There are only three for the entire hotel and we regularly waited 10+ minutes for one. Once you finally get in, it seems to stop at almost every floor. With a young child, luggage and a large hotel, this became incredibly frustrating.
We also had some unpleasant interactions with one particular lifeguard. On our first day, he told us that our 2-year-old couldn’t play with his small soft ball in the pool. He was simply rolling it between himself and his parents and wasn’t causing any disruption. Later that same day, other guests were playing with considerably larger balls in the pool without being challenged.
On another occasion, the same lifeguard approached our sun loungers and told us there was no smoking. When we questioned this because there were no signs around the pool and there were bins with built-in ashtrays next to the loungers, he simply pointed towards the bar and said “bar only” before walking away. I don’t smoke myself, but I found the way this was handled unnecessarily rude.
The children’s entertainment was particularly disappointing. The mini disco was something we were really looking forward to for our 2-year-old, but it was held in a small, dark, enclosed room rather than outside or at the main entertainment stage. The room was incredibly hot and claustrophobic and my son actually said he was scared. We went once and didn’t return.
The general entertainment was also, in our opinion, some of the weakest we’ve experienced at a 4-star hotel. The entertainment schedule seemed to change constantly and was often inaccurate, so you didn’t really know what you were going to get. There were a lot of very slow and boring singing acts, and even the ABBA show was essentially two women singing a handful of ABBA songs for around 30 minutes. Men in Black was the standout act for us, and one of the magic shows was good. We were told the same performer does a Michael Jackson show, which we unfortunately didn’t see but would probably have been worth watching.
For families with fussy eaters, the food selection could also be better. There was plenty of variety overall, but there were no chicken nuggets and the main reliable options for a fussy child seemed to be chips and pizza.
The premium drinks were another disappointment. There are only a small number of branded options and, despite specifically asking for a branded spirit, we were sometimes given the house version instead. It felt like getting the premium drinks you were actually entitled to was unnecessarily difficult.
On one occasion, a waiter even referred to my mother-in-law as a “Scarlet woman” after she ordered several alcoholic drinks, which was completely inappropriate and left us very uncomfortable.
Late checkout was also more difficult to arrange than expected. Although the eventual prices were reasonable at €40 until 6pm or €50 until 7pm, we were initially told that we needed to come down very early in the morning to speak to the manager to see what they could do. It would have been much easier if this could have been arranged more straightforwardly.
The location is also something to consider. The views are beautiful, but the hotel is situated on a very steep hill and the immediate area at the bottom is a fairly run-down shopping centre with not much else around. Playa del Inglés is only around 10 minutes away by coach and has considerably more going on.
Overall: we had a lovely holiday in Gran Canaria and would absolutely return to the island, but we wouldn’t return to this hotel. It is beautiful, very clean and our particular room was genuinely fantastic. There are also plenty of positives, particularly the views, room, cleanliness, food variety and number of sunbeds.
Unfortunately, the poor service, inconsistent staff attitudes, pool setup, children’s facilities, entertainment, lift situation and some of the food-handling practices really brought the experience down for us.
For us, it looks like a 4-star hotel, but the overall experience felt closer to 3 stars.
I would particularly hesitate to recommend it to families with young children, despite it being marketed as a family-friendly hotel."
