Hlg Portobello 2010

We stayed here with a large group at the end of August/beginning of September. First impressions were okay, but... when we walked into reception, it really wasn’t giving five-star vibes. The positives We managed to get sunbeds where we wanted every morning, which, for a group of 18, was a win! The hotel is clean. Really clean. The beds are also really comfortable. The staff are very friendly too. The restaurant and food Our rooms weren’t ready when we arrived, so we went to lunch. This was our first experience of the main restaurant and the food. The restaurant is very dated — lots of brown and orange — and felt more like a conference room from 1980 than a five-star hotel. The biggest issue for us was the food temperature. The hot food simply wasn’t hot. I’ve read several reviews saying the food is hot, but looking through the more recent reviews, there are also a lot of people saying the opposite. Unfortunately, that was our experience too. Unless you’re having something cooked to order, or you happen to be there just as a fresh tray comes out, the food isn’t kept hot enough. We struggled with this for the first few days but eventually worked out what to eat and where to go. If you want chips and burgers, the pool buffet at lunchtime works well. However, do not go into the room next to the pool. There was a really unpleasant smell in there, almost like sewage, and unfortunately everything in the room seemed to taste like it smelled. It was really disappointing. I was literally holding my breath and running in to get ice creams! Thankfully, as they were wrapped, the smell didn’t permeate them. The wine was also pretty awful. The rosé was more like dark red, and by the pool you have to drink from paper cups. These quickly become wet and soggy, and drinking wine from a paper cup just doesn’t feel like a five-star experience. We also noticed that staff didn’t seem to come around to collect empty cups and plates. We ended up clearing up after ourselves quite a lot. I do that at home all the time — I don’t really want to do it on holiday! The room The beds are very comfortable, but the rooms are dated. Our room, 112, backed onto another hotel and was also close to what seemed to be air-conditioning equipment and some steps where staff took cigarette breaks. The biggest issue with our room, though, was the rubbish collection. Every single night at around 12:30am, the bins were collected from directly outside our balcony. If you don’t have young children or can sleep through anything, you might be fine. Unfortunately, the bin collectors weren’t exactly quiet, and there was a lot of shouting between them. I’ve attached a video so you can get an idea of the noise. We also found some ants in our room on a few days. There weren’t loads of them, but enough for me to notice them running across the floor. It’s a shame because, as I said, the rooms themselves were really clean. Pool toilets The toilets by the pool were another concern. The floor was often very wet and there was no mat to wipe your feet on, making it quite slippery. With lots of young children and families around during our stay, I thought this was something that really needed addressing. Overall I’m not saying don’t go here. There was nothing that completely ruined our holiday, and we all had a good time. However, in our opinion, this hotel does not feel like a five-star hotel. The cold food, dated facilities, middle-of-the-night rubbish collection and some of the smaller details just didn’t match what we would expect from a five-star property. So, if you’re booking this hotel specifically because it’s advertised as five-star, I’d say be mindful of your expectations.

We booked this holiday with Tui, they stated this as a four star hotel but it had 5 stars all over it when we arrived. To be honest I would agree it was more like a 5* the hotel is absolutely stunning right on the beach it’s a very ambient hotel, our room faced the hotel next to us although you could see the sea you could also her on occasion there loud music but that did finish at 11.30, so if you get a chance as for a room facing our swimming pool or the sea. The food was a really varied mixture catering for all and plenty of it. The staff were excellent from the maid who cleaned our room every day to the manager, although I would like to say that the reception staff Katrin went above and beyond everyone she spent ages trying to obtain two tickets to see the Geode de Pulpi I didn’t realise when I booked this holiday that this attraction gets booked up weeks in advance, she phoned them up she sent emails and even helped me with paying for the tickets once she obtained them and to top it all off a Taxi cost £290 return trip plus ticket entrance cost Katrin managed to get one booked for £250 return trip plus entrance excellent customer service, The only issue I can say about this hotel was the Entertainment every night on the so called main stage I can only refer to it as a Temu attempt only worthy of a 1* With exception of the pianist on a Tuesday and Thursday night in the hotel bar entrance, he was very good

One of the best hotels I have been to, the attention at reception, buffet restaurant, spa, children's entertainment, cleanliness... everything is a 10, there is no complaint that can be made. Spectacular, we will return!!!!