Guest User
June 7, 2024
Probably easier to review if broken down into categories. Accommodation - We stayed in a Jade room, which was very spacious, comfy beds, well cleaned, and mini bar well stocked. On the whole v nice. Reception - impressive yet dated, and seemed to rely on the fact that they held the G20 summit here....almost 10 yrs ago. Staff were indifferent, some helpful, some totally uninterested. Pools - our first week there, was out of school holidays and getting a bed around the main pool wasn't really a problem, however during the week of the school holidays, all sunbeds had towels on them by 08.00 hrs, even though there were no one pool side. The hotel states that sunbeds can not be reserved but this wasn't Policed at all, and towels remained on beds all day without anyone ever returning to them. The Pools were clean, activity pool v loud, and the main pool copped for the overspill. Waiter service round the Pools were 1st class. Due to not being able to get a bed round the pool, this pushed you to the beach. Beach - lovely white sand, which remained cool throughout the day, very chilled vibe, which also included if you got a bed on the pier. Again 1st class service. Food - the Olive dining hall had themed nights, some better than others, again, this got busier and more stressful during the school holidays. Waiter service, generally v good at the table. A La Carte - I'm not the first to mention it, but an absolute disgrace. At any one time, there was only 50% of them open, and they seemed to alternate nights. Absolutely unbelievable, I've never experienced this in a 5 star hotel before. The method of booking was farcical, where you had to queue at guest relations in order to feed on the times that the Villa guests didn't want. Out of 10 nights we ate at 3, very poor, considering the main reason the restaurants took it in turns to open, was due to staffing shortages. Night Entertainment- bang average, the hotel has a magnificent outdoor stage, but again, was only open 3 nights a week, which generally included some dancers and hat jugglers. The Palm Beach club was the pick of the bars on an evening, but as it got busier, the standard of service got worse. The Green Bar on an evening, could see you waiting 20 minutes plus for a drink. Again, not enough staff, the staff that worked the bar were overrun. Our little favourite was the Irish bar, where we were met by a cheery smile from the young lady who worked there, and had our drinks order ready every evening. This bar was dead, so she was probably happy to see some customers, however, she was a credit to the hotel. Activities - Didn't hear a thing from the activities team, never encouraged to participate, purely because unless you were willing to pay €50 a hour to hire a court, they weren't bothered if you used the facilities. Shops - Don't shop at the hotel, we ran out of suncream, and when went to buy a small bottle of Nivea discovered that it cost €45, where it's about. Conclusion - You'll