JJP_Smith_UKWHO ARE WE: A family of four, with a 6 and 3 year old, booking two interconnecting rooms for two weeks half-board. This review is written to give helpful insights to potential guests! ARRIVAL: Arrival was fine, although there seemed to be just one bell-hop, so I commandeered a luggage trolley and moved my own things (not an impressive start to an expensive 4* hotel experience). Also note that whilst I recommend having a car, the arrivals area immediately outside the hotel is actually a ‘public road’ with parking restrictions, so you can ‘technically’ get a ticket (I’d suggest this is unlikely though, but just move your car as soon as you can!). RECEPTION & STAFF: Probably the oddest area for me. Reception staff seemed to know very little when asked about the local area, and would often give conflicting information. Pretty much none of my questions were answered properly in e-mails prior to our arrival, and I grew not to expect much from the reception staff. Hence I’be included the information in this review. Guest services seemed better able to assist, so I’d say always default to them, As a counterpoint, some staff were exceptionally good. After one polite conversation we randomly received a bottle of cava on ice per room (the one in the kids’ room did make me chuckle!). ROOMS: Our rooms were good. Air-Con was effective, which is a lifesaver! We had ground-floor rooms which opened up on to a lovely grassy area where the kids could run about (and I don’t like mixing high balconies with young ones). We found storage space to be a bit limited though, and our upstairs neighbour insisted on throwing cigarette butts over the balcony (clASSy). One DANGEROUS one point to note is that the showers in both our rooms would suddenly run scalding hot - I actually burned my scalp, as the issue was not addressed properly the first time I mentioned it. In fact, it was never properly fixed. This could have a nasty ending for children, so watch out. FOOD: The buffet-style dining was of good quality, so I would recommend. It also has a great selection of healthy foods if you get bored of fried seafood products (!) when eating out! I agree with some other reviews about the atmosphere being somewhat lacking - it can feel like you’re in a battery farm, and so a little music or more ambience wouldn’t go astray. Quite industrial in nature at the moment. I did not particularly enjoy the ‘Restaurant Manolete’ - the waitress did not know what fish constituted the ‘fried fish’, and told me to hurry up as there were many guests to serve?! Bit rude, since I just wanted to know what my child was about to eat!! The food quality there was average, and our table surrounds were not clean, so not sure on the point of that restaurant really (vs the regular buffet). Star Cafe offers a (very limited) selection of sandwiches and cakes (it closes 1330-1530 for some reason). They were generally ok, but the choice never changed, and they did not seem happy for you to take the san
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