Iberostar Selection Lanzarote Park

"Good morning to all at the ILP 👍 I’m a little late with my usual review, but as they say better late than never! We’re lucky enough to have visited the ILP a good number of times annually because the ILP resort really works for us. I remember way back to our very first visit you think to yourself will this hotel work for us…. or will it indeed not work for us - you never know unless you try. On arrival, the walk under the trestle woodwork up to the reception is enchanting and looking right through the reception area you’re greeted with a fantastic view of the sea - really sets you up! Once inside it’s big smiles and big hugs from the reception team - what a really lovely team indeed, and once the paper work formalities are completed at the counter it’s over to the comfortable seated area to complete the check-in, and enjoy a few glasses of chilled bubbly and to find out what’s new, what’s changed, and reacquaint with the general hotel dynamics. The wonderful Séverine - my shining ⭐ again looked after us through this phase, and as always I gave her a big tub of Roses chocolates to share with the reception team. While I was relaxing in the reception area enjoying the bubbly, and thinking for once we arrived in really good time after the morning flight arrived 40 minutes early due to biblical tailwinds, a VERY speedy transfer through the airport, and a waiting taxi and the time showing 13:05hrs, I felt for those sitting waiting on a transfer coach at the airport who would still be there an hour later. Then a sharply dressed young man approached us - it had to be Alfonso, the Guest Services/Experience manager! We had previous dialogue via email, so it was fantastic to put a face to the name and to finally meet this highly professional young man, and a tip for other guests if necessary is to speak with Alfonso should anything require his attention. Like all his predecessors, Alfonso is a very understanding person, and will do his utmost to resolve any issues. Then a visit to the office see Maria and Laura who are part of the management team, and are dear friends. Great to see you ladies again looking fabulous! And, my old (well not so old!) mate Borja - now the general manager - was there, so great to catch up and have a good chat again! With our luggage already in our suite, we make our way up - we tend to request the same suite, and the middle suite on the top floor gives a fantastic panoramic view of things. Our suite was looked after by dear Michel - a lovely kind woman who kept things nice. We never go out and leave a suite like a tip so this makes the job far easier for her. Thank you, Michel 🙏 I noticed a new safe in our suite! The old one had its little foibles and I had mastered it over the years, but good to see a brand new safe there making life very easy! The food this time around was pretty good as always. The choices are vast, and a couple of times I wandered up and down the line still indecisive about what to choose! I’m a seafood junkie so fresh fish and grilled prawns are my general diet. The restaurant team are fantastic, and go about their duties ensuring everyone has a nice experience. We do like to eat out an a couple of evenings at our favourite restaurants in Playa Blanca, but generally we return for the evening entertainment. The restaurant team do a great job as do the many behind the scenes who you never see, so a warm thank you to all. One issue which I have addressed with the management is parents allowing young children to run around while guests are choosing their food. This is dangerous with guests carrying plates of hot food. Parental control is very important but unfortunately some parents just don’t care. The entertainment again was pretty good! I like the live shows and this time it was Tina Turner, and The Beatles! Digital quizzes and bingo are there for anybody who fancies participating. Again I have taken this issue up with management of children running around playing hide & seek under guest tables while they’re trying to watch the entertainment, and again this is down to lack of parental control….. not a major issue and I learned to go with the flow but I could see some guests were getting pretty annoyed, while the parents sat their drinking. Understanding this is a family oriented hotel, it’s something that is being continuously assessed to ensure all guests have a wonderful experience, and I thank the management for their time and input on this subject. The hotel offers the Star Prestige option - adults only 24/7, so if you’re after a total child free holiday, this is the place to be. The entertainment team were as lively as ever! Some of the classes they run seem really interesting indeed, but not for me personally! The team always try to involve as many as possible but are also very very respectful if you choose not to join in. A really nice bunch of talented people who work very hard indeed, and many have become dear friends. The terrace area, the Jameos Bar, and the Sports Lounge are vibrant places to be, and that’s the hub of activity during the day, late afternoons and evenings. Every drink/liquor/cocktail/beer you could ever imagine is there, and all branded. The team are absolutely brilliant! Always good to catch up with many we stay in touch with and have become dear friends over the years. Some new faces in the table staff team, but all super friendly and always smiling to make your relaxation a great experience indeed. Fortunately we were blessed with blue skies, and lovely warm sunshine but the weather has gone through a strange period of late - remembering its winter time in Lanzarote as it is in the UK, some quite unseasonal periods have seen gale force winds, driving rain, and whatever else the Jetstream has thrown at the Canaries, but what’s there in the morning can be gone by the afternoon, although some periods of inclement weather do last longer. The towel on the sun lounger scenario is well managed, but during our November stay this was never a problem as things have quietened down dramatically after the mad rush of school half term. The pool areas are really nice and always kept clean and tidy, although one or two of the sun lounger mattress's are in need of some TLC and look past their best. The resort grounds are kept nice by the team - always working hard to keep the place up to standard. Well done to them all. I guess Trip Advisor is the place that many have a good rant about hotel standards etc. I agree with that but I think it’s important to address any issues directly with the hotel - as I have, and as many do. This enables the management to fed back any issues to the various teams. Another absolutely wonderful and relaxing trip - thank you to all involved, and to Moises, Séverine, Irma, Marina, Valentine, Irene, Maria, Laura, Alfonso, Borja, Michel, Pedro, Haido, Javi, Xabi, Jessica, Ari, Alex, Irina, Manuella, Soi, and all those others who’s name I haven’t listed! ❤️ Closing my review, I have included a couple of photographs from Christmas time. Thank you all so much for looking after us - we deeply appreciate your kind care and attention, and we will see you all again very soon. Look after yourselves, and each other. 🫡"

"Fabulous hotel APART from if it is raining, cold and windy and you are staying in the Star Prestige area. I go to this hotel maybe 6 to 8 times a year. I'll start with the negative side (which could be very easy over come) If it is raining, windy and cold and you are staying Star Prestige on BB or HB then the only place you can get a good choice of drinks and snacks is the SP Pool Bar which is put in the open air, no shelter or cover from the rain or cold. Yes you can get a small secretion of drinks and cold snacks from the SP lounge but this is very small and only seats about 12 to 15 people. It is unsafe for guests to go to the outside bar to get a drink and snack then have to walk in the rain. It would be very easy for those days to allow guests to use the Sports Bar which is undercover. Especially with the amount of storms they have had for the last 3 months. Also in the evening it is so cold to sit outside, yes they do have entertainment inside in the main area, but it is a lot noisier than SP. They need to do something about this ASAP, as this is the main complaint I hear people talking about. In my last 2 stays I have not sat outside in the SP area and just gone to my room as it has been too cold. Also the SP pool and Jacuzzi need to be heated at all times and not just when guests start to complain. Or out over head heater in where the heat comes down and also I noticed this time a lot of the over head covers where missing, starting to make it look not 5 star. The small tables around the pool need replacing as most are broken or rusty, some of the lounger mats have been changed but not all, these all need to be changed, also more sand is needed in the sand area as you can see the liner underneath, I have mentioned these points to the hotel on numerous occasions but nothing is done. Sometimes it's the little things that don't cost that much that will make a big different especially for a 5 star hotel. Sadly the room I was in this time (3009), you could NOT lock the terrace door from the outside, I noticed it was the only one that had the old lock, I did mention this 3 times but when I left it was still the same. Hopefully this will be changed for the next guest. On a positive note the STAFF at the the Star Prestige Bar are 1st class, always friendly, smiling no matter what and are always happy to see you, along with the Staff in the SP restaurant, reception staff are also lovely and friendly, also the cleaners also say good morning to you, as well as Alfonso who is Guest Services, he is so easy to talk to and also listens to you. Hopefully the reply will not just concentrate on the positive that I have said and something will be done re the negative parts, as these are the parts that is really letting the hotel down, when there are now so many more 5 star hotels and also new ones being built."

"This hotel is lovely and we had a great relaxing holiday. The food is a very high standard (we were half board) they seemed to have something for everyone - no one would starve that's for sure! How wonderful to have an adequately heated swimming pool! None of the usual shivering and shaking before you get right in. The pool areas were also very clean as was the whole hotel so shout out to the cleaners. Our room had a great coffee machine, the only small problem we had was that when we ran out of pods they were not replaced so had to keep asking reception for more. We liked the coffee so much we would have paid for more if necessary. For people who enjoy a spa, this one was great. Super clean, warm and time went really fast. The gym was the best we have experienced in a hotel. We also booked a couples massage. There are also options to do various classes. We did yoga and pilates which was enjoyable. Not in the Spa but outside. The staff here were all friendly and very pleasant. I feel I have to mention that we had an issue with mosquitos who don't normally bother me but I got bitten quite a lot and we killed quite a few during the first couple of days. If this is because of a septic tank then it would be a good idea to spray the area. Over all a great hotel and yes we would return"