RECEPTION
My wife and I stayed at the Park Club Europe hotel in September 2011 for a week all inclusive.
Upon arriving at the hotel the reception staff made us welcome and handed us the room keys giving us a brief rundown of the complex via a little coloured map, this was done very quickly as if they had done it a thousand times before.
ROOMS
The room we were given was at the far most reaching end of the hotel looking onto the volleyball court and back alleyway, it was also a pretty drab room with a dark blue carpet, and furniture, even the bed linen was blue, poor lighting made the room seem very uncomfortable as if it were a little prison, the bathroom as also very small and the shower was hard to access due to the layout having a solid wall covering a third of the bath.
The TV had no British channels programmed into it and the safe would not work with the keycard purchased from reception. We returned to reception and asked if we could have an alternate room and was told the hotel was very busy but to come back tomorrow and they would have a look to see what they could do. Sounded familiar but the receptionist sounded sincere enough.
On returning the next day we were allocated a room at the front of the hotel with much brighter décor, although the furniture etc looked much more worn and a little run down, we accepted the room. During our stay the cleaning staff kept the hotel spotlessly clean, our towels were changed daily but the bed linen was only changed once during the week we stayed.
RESTAURANTS
Although this hotel boasts multiple restaurants, there was only one open which was located on the 2nd floor of the hotel – AS THERE ARE NO LIFTS, THIS WOULD NOT BE SUITABLE FOR ANYONE WHO HAD DIFFICULTY WALKING OR CLIMBING STAIRS.
The food in the restaurant was standard for a basic 2-3 star hotel, not as described for a 4 star which this was supposed to be. The food was repeated everyday with little change and mainly aimed at the German & French market, certainly not the English side. Because of this, we ate breakfast and lunch but could not accept what was on offer each night for dinner, therefore we ate out instead.
The seating in the restaurant is something we had not experienced before, every table is a large square sitting 8 people, you were often forced to sit with people who were not happy you were imposing on them during their meal, we tried to interact on many occasions and were met with grunts of disapproval and often blanked completely.
BARS
This I would say is the one of the better parts of the hotel, the bar staffs are generally very good, the drinks are of good quality, although they are locally produced spirits, and they have used the better tasting variety rather than those which often taste like cheap perfume.
I did notice however, the bar staff would serve the European clientele before the British which I though was rather strange until I saw several of them being slipped a small backhander which went straight into their pocket, something to remember if you want to be served first.
SWIMMING POOLS
The hotel has two swimming pools, a smaller one at the side of the complex which is residential, and a larger free formed pool which is the highlight of the hotel, this is kept very clean and you can always find a sun bed throughout the day.
ANIMATION TEAM
The animation team work hard at night to entertain the guests, even though it’s only for a couple of hours, the rehearse well and put on a reasonable show, even though it can sometimes be annoying having the same info repeated in several languages.
The same cannot be said for the daytime activities however, the same animation staff seemed to be shuffling around with a lack of enthusiasm, we had more entertainment watching a cat and its new kittens running around playing.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Would we recommend the hotel ?
No not really, there are better hotels in the area for the money.