Elba Sara Beach and Golf Resort

Our first impressions of the hotel were very promising. When we arrived, there was only one staff member on reception, so with three or four couples waiting to check in, a few more staff would have been helpful. However, they were very friendly and welcoming, and we were even offered a glass of bubbly while we waited.

The reception area is huge and very impressive, especially with the waterfall feature. Our room wasn’t ready when we arrived, so we had a look around the hotel while we waited.

We had requested a ground-floor room with a double bed, but were allocated a sixth-floor room with twin beds made up individually, although they were pushed together. Despite this, the room itself was very nice and the view was amazing, overlooking the rocky side of the beach.

Our room was cleaned daily, and the cleaner did a wonderful job. Tea and coffee were replenished each day, although the bottled water wasn’t.

The all-inclusive food had something for everyone, depending on your tastes and dietary requirements. There was a particularly good selection for anyone who enjoys fish and shellfish.

We never had a problem finding a sunbed, although finding one with a parasol was more difficult. The heated pool was actually quite cold, but it was large and welcoming all the same.

The entertainment team were around for most of the day and seemed to have something going on for everyone. We particularly enjoyed the evening entertainment, especially the singers. We did have three different saxophone players during our week, which felt like a little too much saxophone! It would have been nice to have a bit more variety with different instruments. That said, people were up dancing and enjoying themselves, and the entertainment generally lasted around an hour and 15 minutes.

The bar staff were absolutely run off their feet at times, but they remained happy, friendly and very good at their jobs.

If you stay for seven nights, you have the option to have a meal in either the Mexican or Italian restaurant. We opted for the Mexican. Unfortunately, this was the biggest disappointment of our stay. After waiting around an hour and 15 minutes for our main course, we called the waiter over, only to discover that he hadn't realised we were still waiting. We were told it would be another 10 minutes.

By this point, we felt we had been forgotten and, having seen other guests who arrived around an hour after us receive their meals, we didn't feel confident that our food would be freshly prepared. We therefore decided to leave rather than risk being served food that had simply been reheated.

We spoke to reception, who were very helpful. They looked into what had happened and asked whether we would be willing to return so they could try to rectify the situation. We declined, as by then the experience had already been spoiled. We were told that the manager would be informed the following day, but unfortunately we didn't hear anything further.

We completely appreciate that the restaurants can be busy, but the fact that other guests arriving much later received their meals before us suggests that something went wrong with our order. This is something the restaurant management should monitor more closely.

Location and surrounding area

The walk into town takes around 20 minutes, but there is a free shuttle bus if you don't fancy the walk. Alternatively, taxis are around €4, depending on the time of day.

The town itself has a few bars, restaurants and shops. We enjoyed it so much that we went back three times during our stay!

The beach is absolutely glorious. We even had camels on the beach one day, which was certainly something different!

The shopping centre next to the hotel also has far more shops than I anticipated, with restaurants downstairs too. It's definitely worth having a look around.

As for the hotel being on a flight path, I really wouldn't let that put you off. I've stayed in hotels where the planes have flown much lower, and during our stay they had absolutely no impact on our enjoyment.

Overall

Overall, we really enjoyed our stay. The hotel has great facilities, friendly staff, beautiful views, a lovely beach and plenty to do both in the hotel and nearby. There were a few things that could have been better, particularly our experience in the Mexican restaurant, but these didn't spoil our holiday. We would definitely consider returning.

We arrived at the Elba Sara Beach & Golf Resort in Fuerteventura on 7th October 2026 for what was supposed to be a 10-night, all-inclusive family holiday.

And guess where I am now? HOME! Supposed to return home 17th October 2026!

We booked our holiday through Jet2holidays after this hotel appeared to be a great choice for families and had many favourable reviews. Unfortunately, our experience was completely different, and our first family holiday in over three years ended with us returning home early.

Problems From the Moment We Arrived

Upon arrival, we were informed that we would have to pay €4 per day to use the safe in our room, despite having booked an all-inclusive holiday.

We were also told that the all-inclusive service finished at 10pm, despite the Jet2 website stating that it continued until 11pm.

The facilities were also extremely disappointing compared with what we believed had been advertised. The resort was promoted as family-friendly, with plenty of activities and things for children to do. This was not our experience at all. We saw one pool, and overall the resort felt very small with limited facilities for children.

The restaurant is advertised as having a child-friendly buffet, but unfortunately we did not find this to be the case. My two-year-old barely ate for four days, and my five-year-old was not much better. This was incredibly stressful when travelling with two young children.

Bed Bugs in Room 248

This is where the situation became significantly worse.

We stayed in Room 248, and we discovered bed bugs.

At approximately 6:15am, I was rudely awakened by a bug crawling on me while I was in bed. We were already disappointed with the cleanliness of the room, but until this point we had been willing to overlook some of the issues and try to enjoy our first family holiday in over three years—a holiday we had paid a considerable amount of money for.

My husband managed to catch the bug and took it to reception to report the problem. Rather than receiving an understanding or reassuring response, the receptionist shrieked and told him to get rid of it.

She then appeared to dismiss our concerns that it was a bed bug and told us that she would send a cleaner to the room.

A cleaner is not an adequate response to a suspected bed bug infestation. This requires proper investigation and pest-control treatment.

We were then told that we could be moved to another room. However, by this stage, we had completely lost confidence in the hotel.

After finding the first bug, I pulled back the bedding and inspected the mattresses more closely. I found further bugs within the crevices, along with mattresses that were stained, dirty and had holes in them.

I have taken photographs and videos of what we found.

We also noticed tiny bugs crawling around the shower tray, adding further concerns about the cleanliness and hygiene of the room.

Having since looked at other recent reviews, I can see that we do not appear to be the first guests to raise concerns about bed bugs.

€615 Missing From Our Room

Unfortunately, things became even worse.

We began packing our belongings in the hope that Jet2 could relocate us to another hotel. Had that been possible, we would have been prepared to continue our holiday elsewhere.

While packing, I discovered that an envelope containing €615 in cash was missing.

I had been keeping the envelope inside my small handbag, in a zipped pocket, and the handbag had been stored inside the wardrobe in our hotel room.

When I reported the missing money to the hotel manager, I was extremely disappointed by the response. Rather than showing concern or apologising while the matter was investigated, I felt that my concerns were immediately dismissed. I was told words to the effect that it would not have been a member of staff.

My question was: if not, then who had accessed our room?

A key card is required to enter the room.

It is also worth mentioning that our key cards repeatedly stopped working throughout our stay, meaning we continually had to return to reception to have them reactivated.

The manager arranged for maintenance to check the electronic lock on our door to establish who had accessed the room and when.

What concerned us further was the noticeable change in attitude after this check had been carried out. The manager then became much more apologetic and began asking us if we would reconsider and stay.

I cannot say who took the money without the results of a proper investigation, but the circumstances were extremely concerning and left us feeling that we could no longer trust that our belongings were secure in the hotel.

We Had No Choice But to Come Home

At this point, we had experienced suspected bed bugs, serious concerns about the cleanliness of our room and €615 had gone missing from our belongings.

We no longer felt comfortable or secure remaining at the hotel.

We had planned to take our children to Oasis Wildlife Fuerteventura and enjoy other activities during our holiday, but after losing such a substantial amount of our spending money, this was no longer realistic.

We therefore made the upsetting decision to end our 10-night family holiday early and return home.

We would have been prepared to move to another hotel and continue our holiday, but we were certainly not prepared to remain somewhere where we had experienced bed bugs, poor room cleanliness and the disappearance of a significant amount of money from our belongings.

What should have been a special family holiday—our first in more than three years—was completely ruined.

I am extremely angry and disappointed that this happened, but I am equally disappointed by the way our concerns were initially handled and, in my opinion, dismissed.

I have photographic and video evidence documenting the condition of the mattresses and the bugs we found, and I will now be taking this matter further and submitting a formal complaint regarding our holiday and the way these incidents were handled.

Based on our experience, I cannot recommend this hotel to other families.

No family should spend thousands of pounds on what is supposed to be a relaxing, all-inclusive holiday only to cut it short and return home because they no longer feel comfortable or secure in their accommodation.