Labranda Golden Beach

To start with when we arrived it seemed nice but once you are there and settled that’s when it goes down hill. The pool is falling to bits, you can cut your feet on the broken tiles on the pool floor. The tiles around the pool are extremely slippy when wet, countless people were slipping on them The snacks are the strangest snacks I have ever seen…pieces of bruschetta with a cocktail frankfurter on were classed as a hot dog, a burger bun filled with salad a bit of tuna was classed as a burger. Food was very repetitive, the meals that were changed were good and were always tasty. We were on the 5th floor and probably spent most of our holiday waiting for the lift, I have mobility issue so stairs are a no. There is 1 lift for the whole complex so sometimes you would have to share the lift with the rubbish cleaned from the rooms. Our shower created a swimming pool and so did the other room with our older children in it so not something specific to our room only. The patio doors to the balcony…locked us out on the balcony one night as the catch was flimsy and fell down into the lock position, the handles have been taken off of the outside so we were stuck and had to shout for help. The glass on the doors has been glued in with some kind of which substance which hasn’t set so every time we tried to open the door you would get covered in some tacky which substance from the doors as there was no handle you had to touch the glass/frame to open the door. The walls in the corridor of floor 5 had plaster falling off of them, if you leant against the wall to look out of the window you would be covered in a white dust. Only one bar man on serving meant the queues were long. The TV in the bar area was tiny, not great when advertising sports were being streamed. Whilst the guy that did the animation was lovely and so friendly it felt unorganised, there wasn’t set things to do and it was very much go round and ask and see what the majority wanted, resources weren’t given to the animation to offer games on the pool etc and it was my partner that started a game of volleyball to which the animation guy jumped in and it turned into an activity. Lastly this is advertised on easyJet and Thomas cook as an adults on hotel…IT IS NOT talking to the Tui rep apparently this was changed in to a family hotel 3 months ago. We specifically booked this to not have young children running around. I would not class any of this a 4star hotel by any stretch of the imagination and feel extremely disappointed and let down.

Stayed at a few of these BLUESEA hotels now over the last couple for years. Couple in our 50s.

All have been in good location and excellent value for money.

We choose the golden beach as was looking on this occasion for a hotel based holiday knowing the area nothing else to do other than pool and beach as we have visited the island many times

Knowing how bluesea work they like you to reuse your drinks cup which I totally get in the world that we are living, we get rewards for using the same cup in many chains eg Starbucks and Costa. This is also great to prevent people littering, reducing staffing. Stadtainability environment and costs are important to any business.You pay one euro per cup and is returned when you return the cup

We fully support. In previous bluesea hotels we have taken our own cup. Reusable. For some reason a couple of the daytime bar staff males. had an issue with this, although there were very many others doing the same. On 2 occasions we were not to come back, barred at 1130 in the morning.

Hotel are great in communicating while you are on site asking if everything is ok via email and in person. It was not ok we were feeling uncomfortable when visiting the bar. So I asked to speak to the manager to make sure it was ok to use our own cup rather than pay the one euro for there cup, money was not an issue and saved them time and money washing. The manager said it was a hygiene issue with the cup on the post mix machine. I totally got what she was saying but other bluesea hotels allow this. She said it was different as 3 star and self serve, so it was ok to do this in the restaurant on site but not at the pool or evening bar? Made zero sense to me, and we agreed the bar would put the soft drink or beer into one of there cups and I would pour to mine. This didn’t work as many other people in the bar were pacing their own cups for refilling.and then the next day it all started again was told I would be served no more. Contacted the front desk that came to our room and then offered waiter service. This was not required

Asked if this was a quantity issue and she said no. Then refused service for a 3rd time with massive attitude from barman frank, who said an adamant no to service and continued to eat what looked breakfast cereal stood at the bar, and at least 10 people waiting. I called the manager. On my phone while still at the bar, She atended and insisted that he served me which he did then I came away. But other customers started to question her as they were being refused also. Which was a little unfair on her, but people were getting feed up with this. The manager remained professional at all times. And is really helpful in wanting to resolve but her team are not to supporting her. I am still in contact to resolve this issue after purchasing soft drinks water and beer locally. At the cost of around €80 for our 10 night stay. Lucky we know where to shop on the island without paying convenience prices.

We are very aware that many others have been experiencing the same issues. And hope this is resolved before we leave the hotel today.

Arrival Greeted by a very friendly German lady that couldn’t do enough for us, and directed us straight to the dining room were snacks had be left for late arrivals.

Room Lovely and modern, mostly ikea like furniture wouldn’t last long already showing wear and tear lake of basics. There is nowhere to hang wet clothes, shower great, but no shelf for Toiletries very minimalist, and impractical

Entertainment Autumn, What a lovely guy. Love his way of working there is no plan, no timetable of what’s on he just goes around asking what people want.. Evening show is at 9 but we waiting till 930 some nights and nothing so made our own. I understand with the World Cup on times would have been challenging.

Food. Very very nice 5 stars for a 4 start hotel, Fish seafood and salads were outstanding. Can’t understand why coffee machines are not on at all service times only breakfast, but again this contributions to the issue with this hotel being drinks.

Staff Lovely just a couple of male bar staff with attitude, that are clearly only interested in the payslip. Which is a shame given the hardwork and commitment others put in.

Cleanliness Above and beyond in all customer facing areas. Room cleaners some Of the best, and well worth tipping. Thank you to our lovely African lady sorry we did it get her name.

Pools The main pool is not very big for the size of hotel but enjoyable if you are not looking to swim lengths. Plenty of beds and comfortable ones at that.

Gym Didn’t use but looked modern with basic equipment, couple of treadmills squat rack and weights

Beach 10 minutes walk down hill safe walking path.

Area We knew there was little couple of bars and shops if you have a car 10 minutes to mercadona best value for money

Parking Hotlel has a car park not many places but plenty roadside.

Swim up room. Not a swim up but pool small pool, very nice issue getting drinks as you have to dry off walk though your room, then down a corridor, 20 mins later the thirst has quenched. Otherwise value for money would recommend. We were fortunate to have some good neighbours so we took it in turns to get rounds but again this caused issues with the bar staff.

All inclusive Really not worth the money we meet some people on half board and wish we had taken that option as, due to the drinks issue.No water in rooms which was a bit surprising for a 4 star

Bars There are only 2 bars, pool bar is an indoor bar not as the name suggests so you do have to dry off and put shoes onto enter open 1030-1800 evening bar 1800-2300 couple of male bar staff no customer service or interest in job. Glasses are often half filled.

OVERALL

A really lovely holiday meet some lovely people, great hotel and some easy fixes. Would make this hotel way above 4 star standard.

Working staff that want to be in the job. Better drinks service Minor essentials eg clothing airer Access to a bar for the majority of people wanting to enjoy the poolside.

As today is our last day, I thought I would give an honest and frank review of the hotel. I will give positives first, On the whole the hotel is a nice hotel, a little dated but it is what was expected. The hotel pool was very clean but to be honest we never used it as we had a room with the small swim up pool and if you do decide to book here you need to have one of these. No messing around with carrying bags to and from the pool. The Wi-Fi is very good in the hotel we brought a fire stick for the tv as on previous reviews it was mentioned about the lack of any English tv stations( not even bbc world news) so very pleased we did. The food. As with most all inclusive holidays, don’t expect top quality food, it is tasty but not a great variety of choice, thankfully as it is a small hotel there is no mad rush for the food and you won’t go hungry. In the food hall you self serve your own drinks including wine and beer. And now for the negatives Staffing, Particularly the male staff in the pool bar and evening bar. They have a serious problem and constantly look sick of their lives, there is a previous reviews on here about the plastic glasses and not being allowed to use your own thermal cups. I had used mine for the 1st 2 days of or holiday and as I do I like to give a the bar staff a decent tip so I handed over 10 euros. However on the next trip to the pool bar after standing waiting in a queue of only 8 people and having to wait over 10 minutes they refused to fill my cup and told me I had to pay a couple of euros for 2 cups. Other couples were in the bar complaining about the same thing and the manager was called for. She was not very helpful at all and instead of being honest and said the bar staff should not of ever allow the cups in the first place she said it was down to hygiene and she didn’t know how we cleaned our cups and for recycling purposes Very strange come back. Evening entertainment is very poor, so poor it was hilarious. I get that the football World Cup was on so maybe it would be different at other times of the year. Again the poor bar staff (males) were very slow and there were often queues waiting be served and at times they just left the bar to collect glasses. And please tell me why a hotel in the Canary Islands why don’t serve sangria? I would like to praise the cleaning staff and room maids who always did a good job and were very polite and friendly.

Outside the hotel there is very little to see or do, but I would recommend booking a boat trip to see the dolphins. A fantastic day out.

Overall, we came on holiday to just sit in the sun and that is what we done. The bar staff were annoying and would put me off wanting to come back.

But to be honest, you get what you pay for, a decent cheap holiday but wouldn’t come back.