Apartamentos Babalu

Awful place run by the people who are residents. If they don't want holiday makers there then stop taking people's money. The children arnt allowed any kind of floaty as the residents will call the lifeguard to get them removed. No bar or shop and not even a machine to get an ice cream. Gave the place 2 * for the pool area which was freezing but nice. Never again

We had an excellent stay there. The staff are very nice and friendly. The pool area is great. It will be a lot better when the pool bar and shop is open, which is due around June. We would definitely go again and always tell people how nice it and that they should visit there

We are just back from another great stay at Babalu. We were just there in September and have noticed lots of improvements since our last visit. We were in an apartment on the first floor and we had a kettle and hairdryer in our apartment. Halls and the apartment looked recently painted and we also noticed the lights in the hallways were new. They are definitely giving it a full makeover. During our stay all the umbrella's were replace around the pool area. The pool opened from around 10am until 7pm each day with the lifeguard on duty all day. Our room was clean and we had a table chairs umbrella and two sunloungers on our huge balcony. Rooms were cleaned each day by a lovely lady called Packi, sorry if spelt wrong. The bar and shop are not open but that had no effect on our stay as the Europa is accross the road. We will definitely return to babalu.

We stayed start of October we where self catering. The pool is great! Easy enough to get a lounger. it’s very standard for self catering as we only had one cooking pot and no washing up utensils - we had to wait on the cleaner washing them for us..

Just going home after a 2 week stay at babalu. Il do good points first * The pool is absolutely beautiful and the area around pool is spotlessly clean. * Rooms got cleaned about 4 times a week and cleaners are lovely. * Not too good points are *No pool bar or shop. Knowhere to get an ice cream for kiddies. * Reception staff are not very pleasant. If you ask for something for room they are rude. * Wi fi is useless. Paid €32 for family WiFi but only one phone worked. * Residents at this apartment seem to rule the roost and think they own the whole apartments. Very rude people who think they are special. * Rules are set out but lifeguard chooses which rules to follow. * No music. No holiday atmosphere here at all. The center across the road has 2 big supermarkets and are stocked very well. However the europa center itself is very run down and scruffy. A basic apartment that is clean with lovely pool. However we won't be returning as there are so many other nice hotels in puerto rico.

100 euro deposit on check in. Checking out nobody on reception to get deposit back absolutely shocking. Still waiting on a reply from them. A row off security for chat at midnight on balcony but where were security at 5am when people were jumping in pool? Terry towelling mattress protector in that heat is this a joke? Loose handle in shower Have lovely big balconies but you have to pay 1 euro a day for. Grumpy and almost embarrassed reception staff Mixture of owned and rented apartments doesn't make for a good balance. Owners think they can do what they want Really poor sockets re plugs did not fill us with confidence at all Shower warm for seconds then freezing all times of day. Is like fort knox trying to get in front door. We won't be back and if the 100 euros aren't forthcoming we will be pay them a visit in January when we are stay different apartments. Please avoid

Not all is as it seems or you might expect at Apartmentos Babalu. Air conditioning is not included. Fans are not included. Umbrellas on the patio are not included. The 'pool bar' advertised has been derelict for 3 years. The 'shop' advertised has been derelict for 3 years. You have to pay extra to rent a portable air conditioning unit, or otherwise pay extra to rent a fan. You have to pay extra to rent an umbrella for the balcony of your apartment. I booked through ******* and the information about the hotel still states 'Bar' and 'Grocery/convenience store'. This is false. I've included some screenshots of the advert, as it still is today. Checking with other online booking operators, I do notice the information has been updated there, so I will be worried about booking through ******* in future, if information is not up to date on their site. The staff explained that the pool bar has been closed because of and since 'because of covid'. The area has an incredible amount of other hotels, I dare say all with pool bars, despite covid. The apartments have no air conditioning. A portable unit can be hired for EUR 15 per day. That's an incredible amount of money for something which is really needed in such a hot place. We had to hire a fan, and this cost around £40 for 2 weeks! I realised after that I could have purchased the same fan for about £20, in one of the nearby shops, and could have just left it in the apartment after my stay, while still being in pocket. It is pretty desparate to force guests to hire fans, and really takes advantage. There are different lifeguards through the week. On Wednesday and Thursday, the lifeguard sits away from the pool and spends all day looking at his phone. One one of the days, a child slipped out of her rubber ring into the deeper end of her pool. She could not swim. The girl's grandparents had to rush into the pool to save her. This was directly in front of the lifeguard, less than 10 metres away, but he didn't even notice. He sat there the whole time looking at his phone, and didn't notice a thing. On the Thursday the lifeguard would disappear for 2 or 3 hours at a time. I was curious to check where he was, and found him behind the derelict pool bar building, which is beside the pool. He was sitting on the opposite side of this derelict pool bar, facing in the opposite direction and listening to loud music on his phone. So, there was a large building between him and the pool and he was facing away in the opposite direction to the pool! There could have been an incident in the pool and it would not have been possible for him to have seen or heard any problem. If Babalu are employing a lifeguard, which presumably does not come for free (to them or inevitably their guests), then they really should take it seriously. Otherwise, I do fear there may be a serious incident in the pools at Babalu. The pools are very nice. Lovely and warm and a nice island to sit on and dry or relax between swims. There are 2 be

Came in June. Swimming pool closed the entire time we was there. The place was like a building site. We was not informed of this prior othetwise we would have changed apartments. On-site shop closed, on-site pool bar closed and onsite pool cafe closed. Reception not helpful at all & on checking out they lost our €100 deposit. Basically making out like we hadn’t paid it even though we had the receipt. She kept us there for 25 mins whilst she made several phone calls to god knows who whilst our transfer was waiting for us. Eventually she found it and gave it back to us, because we was not leaving without it! I would never come here again. We are not fussy people, but this was one of the worst places stayed

Firstly remember you get what you pay for , if you want luxury double your budget!. These rooms do not have air con ,Yes it’s hot at night 🥵..The room we was in was clean and tidy , no stains on walls or sofas etc . We upgraded to superior but in all honesty I wouldn’t waste your money , apart from different colour decor I couldn’t see any difference. The rooms could do with a little more tlc ,e.g holes in netting, little crack in shower screen , nothing that would ruin your holiday . I was surprised there was no kettle or hairdryer in our room because I wrongly assumed theses would be standard in a ‘superior’ room (maybe we should of read the description properly)🤷‍♀️. €15 to hire kettle plus €10 refundable deposit , same for a hairdryer .The balcony’s were big , we only had a small round table & 3 chairs , an umbrella and sun beds would of made a massive difference. Some of the rooms had them so maybe you can hire them ?, if that is the case I think there should be some paperwork in the room to let people know what can be hired and prices. The view from the balcony is fantastic . The pool area is lovely and clean , yes the pool bar is closed so take drinks down with you . 3 pools with a lifeguard including a nice shallow one for toddlers . Pool table , football area and a little park .what more do you need?. Just across the road is the Europa centre with bars, shops ,restaurants, live music , evening entertainment,bingo,& park for the kids which includes a trampoline .and a couple of minutes walk is adventure golf. So don’t worry you won’t have to walk down the 20 minutes very steep hills to get to the town but you will have to if you want to go to the beach .( taxi is about €5 each way). All in all it’s in a great location with fantastic views, great pool, and everything virtually on your door step . Don’t be put off by bad reviews just bare in mind it is a budget hotel .