Elba Castillo San Jorge and Antigua

Not what we were expecting having been to many other all inclusive hotels in the past. Food - it is not the best , bland school dinner type meals, hardly anything for a vegetarian apart from fries, bread and the same tomato pasta day after day. We ate out when we could but it gets expensive for 4 adults and a teenager! Breakfast was probably the best but only when they had decent sausages on . There was always scrambled eggs, fried eggs , Cheap beans , bacon (but not proper English bacon) and toast etc so u could find something. The hotel is not suitable for disabilities , u can hire mobility scooters but u can’t get them in a lift (which were often out of service anyway) also they allowed anyone to hire them so the amount of teenagers whizzing around on them was dangerous, they were weaving in and out of the bollards nearly knocking people over! Nobody around to say anything to them so was a free for all. Rooms- We were split , 2 people in a double room and the rest in a one bed apartment , located on the other side of the hotel which was a struggle to get to any of the amenities, we asked to change rooms as we had contacted hotel directly and jet 2 previously to explain there was a disabilities in our group. They eventually changed our room after 6 days but only because I was then in a wheelchair due to a leg injury, we still had to step into a bath in order to shower which wasn’t very practical and also slippery, we eventually asked for a bath mat (not sure what they don’t put them in as standard!) there was cockroaches in our bathroom and around the hotel and the rooms often had a damp drain smell to them . Doors slam constantly whether it’s your own or someone else’s the noise was constant , had to put stools or suitcases in front of doors constantly. Beds were comfortable we asked for towel change daily otherwise it’s every other day and bedding change is once a week 😬 Animation team probably saved the holiday, u had to find them though as for the first couple of days we didn’t know they existed! Once found there was fun to be had, axe throwing, rifle shooting, darts, water polo , most days there was something going on and they got to know you and made it fun. This hotel definitely needs more bars, there’s always long queues for a small paper cup of drink and there a bit of a walk if your not in the pool nearest and so it puts u off going. Sunbeds are a problem but like many other places we’ve stayed there’s always the families who get up at 6 to put there towels down 🙄 there’s also a lot of broken ones. Although I wouldn’t return to this hotel there were plenty of families who do as they said they “know what there getting” if you get bored of the food your only a short walk from plenty of restaurants, we recommend the Italian facing the hotel they were really friendly and food was delicious, also Claudia’s coffee shop was a regular for us (also facing hotel)

We recently stayed at this hotel and, overall, there were some definite positives, but also several things that could be improved.

One of the biggest issues was the lack of parasols around the children’s pool. If you wanted a sunbed with a parasol, you had to get up and reserve one as early as 7:30am, which was particularly important for families with children. Breakfast was served from 8am until 10am, but you couldn’t really leave your sunbeds to go for breakfast because the pool staff came around between 8:30 / 9.00 am moving towels. It would have been much better if guests weren’t allowed to reserve sunbeds with towels until, for example, 9:30am.

The poolside food was another disappointment. The food was not freshly made and often appeared to sit for long periods before being eaten. The choice was also very limited, mainly burgers, hot dogs, onion rings and nuggets. There were times when people were left waiting for quite a long time for food.

Another issue was the drinks service during the day. Even if you were sitting at a table away from the pool, you could only get drinks in plastic cups. It would have been much nicer to be able to have drinks in proper glasses when sitting at tables.

On the positive side, the restaurant food was lovely, with plenty of choice, and the hotel itself was very clean and well maintained.

Unfortunately, the entertainment was also a big disappointment. It didn’t start until around 9:20pm and often finished by 10:00–10:30pm, so there wasn’t much entertainment for an evening. This could definitely be improved.

Overall, the hotel was very clean and the restaurant food was excellent, but the sunbed situation, poolside food, drinks service and entertainment let the experience down.

Wicked location, 5 minute walk to the see front and the same to the shops. Staff are awesome, animation team work hard and try hard to get everybody involved with games or evening entertainment. Definitely worth every penny for a family holiday! We have stayed in both sides of the hotel and the rooms are big enough for 2 adults and 2 kids and your still not in each others way. Night shows and activities all end around 10:30 so noise level on a night is silent. Rooms are cleaned daily, all items left out and nothing missing what so ever so very trusting cleaners. All in all the atmosphere her is great and would 100% recommend for a good family holiday with any age children.