"We booked a package holiday at Hotel Beatriz Costa & Spa as a relatively cheaper last-minute break (a couple of months between booking and visiting). Looking at the reviews then and the price we paid we had pretty low expectations. Upon completing the holiday we could not wait to return home - a very first experience for me and my wife at the end of our holiday.
Upon arriving at the hotel we were too early to access our room and decided to relax at the pool area. There were no free sunbeds (a problem we faced throughout our stay) but to be expected in peak-summer and the midday time. Myself and my wife had to share 1 sunbed for 3 hours whilst waiting for our room to be ready. This is despite many sunbeds around us occupied with towels but not even used by people for hours at a time. Our first afternoon was also topped-off by the very rude bar staff at the pool bar.
The time came to access our Superior Room which was ok overall. However, the air-con we had paid extra for was non-effective. The top 2 settings of this rattled constantly and provided no immediate cool air when enabled. The air-con when left on for a few days did begin to provide some cooling.
Our first evening meal at the hotel was ok. However, we found the food at evening dinner very limited and poor quality. There was only 1 food station in the restaurant that served hot food but each night the choice of this rarely differed. After 2 nights we chose not to eat any hot food in the hotel again.
The hotel itself is situated uphill and around a 15-minute walk to the nearest shops but a little longer into the town itself. We were well aware of this at the time of booking. From the hotel to the town it is downhill however to return to the hotel it is all uphill. We appreciate the hotel cannot do anything about its location and we found a taxi to/from the town was very helpful at less than 5 euros each trip and only took 5 minutes also.
One of the worst things as half-board guests we found unacceptable is the fact that there is no light-bites / lunch available at the hotel at all. There was an option to pay 21 euros per person per day to eat from a very small buffet in the pool bar. This seemed very extortionate for what appeared to be just salad, chips and bread.
Things with our "superior" room eventually got worse. We had a brief ant invasion from under the floor. Trying to sleep at the hotel was a nightmare. A combination other guests slamming doors, running of children down corridors and open rafters in the main ceiling of the hotel rattling every other minute or so and as we were on the 5th floor we could hear these on every occasion. The setting up of tables late each evening for tomorrows breakfast could also be heard every night.
Every morning if you chose a relaxing day by the pool needs to start at 9am. You need to queue up and wait for the security guard (baton included) to rope-drop at 09:30 so the reservation of sunbeds can begin. Luckily we were good at running so we got a bed per person. On the few days we did this we experienced a lot of people reserving sunbeds but leaving towels on them for hours at a time. The hotel claim that people are not to do this. On our first night's stay (after the first afternoon of sharing one bed for 2 adults) we reported the sunbed hogging to Jet2. Jet2 claimed there is a anit-hogging of sunbeds policy that the hotel enforce. Jet2 claims that the lifeguards that monitor the pool remove any towels that have been left for a considerable amount of time. This is complete nonsense as over multiple days towels were left on beds for hours on end unused and the hotel did nothing. As a result of the sunbed fiasco's we experienced we can confirm there is clearly not enough sunbeds for all guests that want them and the hotel don’t care about this.
The toilets beside the pool never had any soap in them - this just shows the lack of care given. Lights in there don’t work / appear broken? And you were also lucky if there was any toilet roll present in the women's cubicles.
In summary our stay here was unfortunately one to forget and very unsatisfactory. I have been travelling with my wife for 8 years and this is the first time we ever considered leaving a holiday early. I would personally recommend anyone to avoid this hotel until they begin to get the very basics right."
