This was our 10th Spanish all inclusive family holiday and 2nd visit to a RIU hotel. Overall, I would say that this hotel was excellent, with a few exceptions. First impression are of a spacious and well maintained hotel. The whole site is spotlessly clean and well maintained with staff cleaning throughout the day. We had a double interconnecting family room which was huge with a large shared balcony on the quiet side of the hotel - this meant it was quite shady and with limited views but quieter than a room facing the pool area. The A/C was efficient and relatively quiet if you want it on at night. We both have bad backs and found the beds very comfortable (rum and coke may have helped in that respect). The site has 5 pools including a children's play pool and an adults only pool area. It is built on sloping land and the pools are positioned on different terrace levels, each with their own large seating area. Whilst this is a large hotel, the layout of the pools mean it never feels over crowded and you can pick the area that suits you best. There are plenty of sun beds and whilst people are up early to put out towels, if you don't want a large group together and are not fussy about where you sit, then you can get a sunbed throughout the day. We were a group of six and we found we could get six beds in our preferred location at about 0845hrs each morning - so you don't have to get up super early. The pool areas are scrupulously clean. The pools appear to be chlorinated salt water (environmentally more sound) and were pleasantly warm. With the exception of the shallow kids pool, they are 1.1m deep and have lifeguards on duty. Towels are provided by the hotel and can be exchanged for fresh ones as often as you wish. During the day, you are never very far from a bar - where there is self service beer, wine and soft drinks. There are also plenty of toilets across the site and we always found these clean - which is often not the case in similar hotels. There is a short walk to a small cove and man made beach. This is formed from volcanic stones and sand and difficult to walk on without suitable footwear (in terms of both heat and comfort). If you go at low tide there is a route into the sea made of sand rather than stones. The sea drops of quite quickly and so for anything more than a paddle you need to be able to swim. There was a reasonable current but this pushed you back towards the beach so was quite safe in that respect. It is a rocky area and there were several people snorkelling. If you are a fan of a day on the beach, this is not the hotel for you - but okay for a dip in the sea. In terms of food there is a large main restaurant and also an Italian, Asian and Grill themed restaurants (more of these later). The Grill restaurant is open for breakfast and lunch as an additional food space - but we found the selection was better in the main restaurant. The main restaurant has a large indoor and outdoor seating area and we managed pretty much always to get seated in an area of our choice. There was a decent all inclusive selection of freshly grilled meat and fish with veg, pizza, pasta, salad, soup, bread, cheeses and desserts and other dishes. We found that the food was reasonably hot and fresh and always found something that we liked. It may become a little repetitive for a 2 weeks stay. The dessert selection was better than our previous experience in Spanish Hotels and the ice cream was particularly good (including the new experience of Toasted Cornmeal Ice Cream - a taste sensation!!). The fresh pizza was good and at lunch there were freshly grilled burgers with toppings either prepared or self assembly and we found the quality of the meat to be very good. I would not normally have burgers on holiday but these were tasty. In my view the veg selection was not great - and generally overcooked, as was the grilled fish. The stews and curry were poor I felt, both looking and tasting unappetising. In the evening their is a daily roast which was very nice. The restaurant was kept very clean, with lots of staff cleaning tables. We also saw the in-house food hygiene inspector checking the areas and food temperatures a number of times which is reassuring. On balance, I have had a better food selections on other all inclusive but this was pretty good on balance and if you cannot find yourself something to eat that you enjoy you would be pretty picky. The presence of themed restaurants (see below) meant that there were no themed nights in the main restaurant, which we have enjoyed elsewhere. And so to the speciality restaurants. The Italian and Asian has to be booked via an app - there was no explanation of this on arrival so you have to discover this for yourself. I am not sure how you can get a place as the tables are only available on the app two days in advance and each time we checked they were fully booked. So disappointingly, we never got to try them. To be fair to the hotel we could have asked for advice on this and maybe there is a way of successfully booking. The same cannot be said for the Atlantic Grill - they clearly have an issue with poor attendance as we were pressured to book a table immediately on arrival (and the receptionist got quite cross with us when we declined). We were then approached most breakfasts by staff asking us to book a table for that evening. We chose not to eat at the grill (having found the grill at another RIU hotel to be disappointing) so cannot comment on quality, but you would certainly not have an issue getting a seat. If you need a snack during the day there is a snack bar open from late morning through to 1800hrs. This offers burgers, hot dogs, chips and what appear to be carrot sandwiches! The quality was decent and they were being freshly cooked for several hours of the day - after about 1430, they are available by have been kept warm in a hot cabinet so not to fresh. Still good for kids who don't want to miss too much pool action. The same snacks are then available from the lobby snack bar from 1100hrs and through the night with a microwave to warm them. In terms of drinks, as already mentioned there are multiple bars with the main drinks available self service. Staff provide a range of cocktails (pre-mixed in the day and some freshly mixed at night), local spirits, tea, coffee and flavoured milks. Beware of the red coloured slush from the pool bars and the colouring is powerful stuff and stains both teeth, lips and clothing! The lobby bar provides service 24hrs and so there is no shortage of alcohol, but we did not encounter anyone unpleasantly drunk. Bottles of water for the room are available free from the lobby bar. There is a comprehensive range of entertainment for all ages during the day. The staff were pleasant and professional. One exception was the arrangement for the table tennis table. To get the bats and ball you need to find a member of entertainment staff (who cannot always be found) and they will sign them out to you for a deposit. One of the staff took a EUR 5 deposit but when we went to take them back no member of staff could be found - it was towards the end of the day and we were told they have gone home. We left the equipment in their office so as not to deprive anyone else and went to try and recover the money the following day. The particular member of staff could not be found over several days and when pressed the matter on the final day we were presented with a record of us having signed for the money back (but it was not our signature!!). When questioned at reception, they said there was no set deposit and the entertainment staff just taken "whatever they think". To be fair to the staff, the EUR5 was refunded pretty quickly and they said they were investigate - but the whole system is flaky and with the potential for abuse and could do with improvement. Evening entertainment was particularly good compared to many Spanish resorts. There was a show of some sort each evening (apart from Karaoke one night) and the production values were high. These are not West End shows but they were engaging and enjoyable. There is a large outdoor stage and seating area, although if you eat late you may struggle to get seated and are best to choose an outside table to eat as there is a good view and they let you sit there past restaurant closing time. On a Friday night there is a "white" or "neon" party night where the entertainment area is transformed into a Ibiza style club night (between 2100-2300hrs). We felt that was well done and fairly family friendly (with young kids also dancing and enjoying themselves). We have heard from others that they bring in guests from other RIU hotels - if this is the case then it did not feel overcrowded and it was all quite friendly. That being said, if club music is not your thing or you have very young kids then you will probably not enjoy this. We ranged from 12-70 in age and we all had a good time. On that note, whilst we enjoyed the entertainment, the layout of the hotel means that it is pretty difficult to escape from. There is a large and pleasant lobby bar area, but this has an open balcony to the entertainment area and it is pretty loud in there until 2300hrs. There is a pool bar with seating at the other end of the site open until 2200hrs hours which we used a couple of nights but seating is not all that relaxing. Equally, if you had a room with balcony facing the entertainment you would not get much sleep until 2300hrs and would want to request a room on the outside of the hotel. We did walk out one evening and there are a few shops, bars and restaurants. However, with the exception of one modern shopping centre it was all a bit run down and uninviting. There is a large Hard Rock themed hotel nearby and we saw people come back with bags from there and this seemed to be popular. On balance we were very happy with the hotel which was up to the high standards you would expect from RIU. We would definitely recommend and return. Probably best for families with kids aged 10+ and those who are happy to spend their holiday not venturing far from the hotel and bar. The staff were plentiful and very pleasant. One final note of caution would be for people with mobility issues. It is a large site and this means that it rarely feels overcrowded. However, it is some distance from one end to the other and there are steps and some quite steep slopes due to the terraced format. It is an accessible site in terms of wheelchairs - but I heard one family with a wheelchair comment that every route was a bit steep. This may be a consideration if you struggle getting about. Lovely hotel, decent food, plentiful drink - what is not to like. …
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.