Melia Fuerteventura Hotel

Booked early whilst the hotel was closed for renovations. Previously been to Paradisus in Lanzarote and keen to enjoy similar or better facilities with the same vibe.Due to arrive approx 7 weeks after the hotel was due to reopen. Concerned about reviews when open about the hotel renovation not being finished, restaurants closed and no spa, so emailed hotel and had a prompt reply but with no mention of the spa, which is a vital part of our holiday. Hotel surroundings are spectacular, although the hotel is remote. Checked in at the normal reception desk not the reserve one (in Lanzarote it is staffed until late at night) Received an upgrade to a suite rather than the junior suite we had booked. Later found out these rooms were not finished. Suite was clean, nice and spacious but lacked attention to detail and felt that it had been rushed to complete renovations especially the balcony. We had a lovely personal welcome card and bottle and chocolate left in the room, but our balcony's view overlooked the reserve pool, boat storage yard, road, car parking area and entrance for builders. It was incredibly windy on the balcony so we were unable to make use of it. On making any enquiries you seemed to be passed between reserve concierge, guest experience and reception team, nobody seemed to know who’d responsibility it was. We enjoyed the experience at Lanzarote where the reserve concierge looked after you. Enjoyed the sports/swimming activities, which was one of our reasons for booking Paradisus because it was so good at Lanzarote. Wasn’t up to the same level (meditation classes etc were all at the end of the day at Lanzarote, so finished the day off relaxing) however we did enjoy them, especially the Pilates/yoga and sound classes, unfortunately these took place near the lagoons a natural biosphere reserve area and we were constantly plagued by flys, so not totally relaxing. Class teacher did try everything to ward these off to no avail. We were covered in bites. Reserve pool and surroundings were lovely but the hotel was not busy and the pool was right next to children’s pool so in peak times may be noisy. Staff were lovely and attentive within the reserve areas. The gate to the area was never closed and on quite a few occasions non reserve guests and children came into the area and used the pool. Lifeguard and staff member did speak with them but only after another guest complained about the child in the pool, when it’s reserve adults only. Manager also served drinks to guests fully knowing they were not reserved guests. Makes a mockery of paying extra for the exclusive Reserve facilities. Unlike the Reserve lounge in Lanzarote which was a lounge you could get comfy and relax in the Fuerteventura one was really set up with tables either ready for Reserve breakfast or Mahos restaurant in the evening, so closes very early. Main pool was lovely. Always towels available to replenish. Ice cream in the afternoon for a treat. Food at The Shack was lovely however the service was either very good or very poor, more the latter. The food at Lemon Fish was not to our taste. We had a lovely meal at Mahos, very accommodating to my husband’s selective taste. Breakfast in the Reserve restaurant was lovely but sometimes attention to detail was needed. Ate once at lunch time in Kanna but left with out our dessert due to the long wait, they were more interested in the Melia delegation. Food in buffet restaurant was good and much better than Lanzarote (which was often not hot), cooked meat to order to your taste. Service was either brilliant by the more experienced team members to poor from the other staff. Loved the drinks in the Ginger bar, the ‘day beds’ snd evening low key entertainment, the service was either really good or extremely slow dependent on who was serving. Would be concerned about not enough seats for the evening if the hotel was full. Issues with room key bracelets not working, between us changed 7 times. We booked the ‘star gazing’ activity on recommendation from guest experience. Met up and walked to the area with torches provided to start the experience, alas it was a cloudy night so unable to use his telescope. The 2 men in charge of the experience could not speak English, 1 had minimum English but gave up because he couldn’t translate, so we sat in the dark and cold listening to the men and watching a film on stars in Spanish that we could not understand. It was noted by 2 Melia directors who were present at the time, but at no time during our holiday did they come to speak with us about our experience, although we know it was brought up with management etc because guest experience told us. Unfortunately we were not offered another experience out of good will, apparently your only allowed one. Most of the staff were very polite and helpful, but some did need to brush up on their customer service skills. Quite a few didn’t speak English. The hotel had not been fully renovated and was still working in progress, although not intrusive with a lot of corridors shut off whilst guest rooms were being worked on. The spa was not ready, but we did have a lovely massage in a room being used by the spa team. A really lovely holiday, hotel had a lot of potential but needs more attention's to detail for the 5* value. We would return when hotel is completed and customer service is at its best with a good ratio of staff to clients.

We stayed at Paradisus by Meliá Fuerteventura in April 2026 for a family holiday with our 8-year-old son.

We booked Paradisus expecting a premium family resort and paid accordingly. Unfortunately, our experience was so far below the standard advertised that we subsequently made a formal complaint.

This was not one isolated problem. We experienced repeated failures across cleanliness, food safety, service, facilities, maintenance and complaint handling.

Cleanliness and hygiene -

Our room was not properly cleaned throughout the stay.

We also had a mosquito problem that was not properly resolved, and visible remains were left on the walls for the duration of our stay.

The buffet was another major concern. In our experience it was poorly managed and unhygienic, including children being allowed to handle food unsupervised and incidents involving broken glass and spillages.

For a hotel operating at this level and price point, these are not standards we consider acceptable.

Food and dietary concerns

One of the most serious issues involved being served incorrect food.

For somebody relying on the hotel to provide accurate information about what they are being served, this goes far beyond a minor restaurant mistake. Correct food identification is important, particularly where dietary requirements are involved.

This understandably caused us serious concern and significantly reduced our confidence in the hotel's food service.

Service

Service throughout the holiday was extremely disappointing.

We experienced excessive waiting times at bars and restaurants, poor communication and a general lack of clear guidance from staff.

Restaurants and dining options were also either unavailable or not presented to us in the way we had reasonably expected from the hotel's information.

At a premium all-inclusive resort, guests should not have to repeatedly chase staff simply to understand what facilities or dining options are actually available.

Facilities

Several of the facilities also failed to meet expectations.

The pool advertised or presented as heated did not feel heated during our stay.

There was confusion surrounding use of the Jacuzzi, with rules either unclear or inconsistently enforced.

There were also repeated occasions when pool towels were unavailable.

Individually, some of these issues may sound relatively small. Taken together, over the course of a family holiday, they become extremely frustrating.

Room and maintenance

We also experienced basic maintenance problems.

The telephone in our room did not work properly, and the Wi-Fi was unreliable.

Again, these are things you simply do not expect to be repeatedly dealing with when staying at a resort positioned as a premium product.

Staff behaviour

Unfortunately, some interactions with staff made matters worse rather than better.

We experienced behaviour that we considered rude and dismissive, received conflicting instructions from different members of staff, and there was also an occasion where our 8-year-old child was spoken to in a manner we considered inappropriate.

We appreciate that staff work in a busy environment and no employee or hotel will be perfect. However, there is a significant difference between an occasional mistake and guests being left feeling dismissed when trying to resolve genuine concerns.

Management response

Perhaps the most disappointing part of the entire experience was the hotel's handling of the problems once we raised them.

We gave the hotel opportunities during our stay to address our concerns.

Instead, we felt that a number of issues were downplayed or denied, problems were not properly resolved and there was no meaningful recovery action or follow-up that reflected the seriousness or number of concerns we had raised.

That is particularly disappointing from a hotel carrying the Paradisus/Meliá name.

Problems can happen in any hotel.

What distinguishes a genuinely premium hotel is how it responds when things go wrong.

In our experience, Paradisus Fuerteventura failed that test.

We spent far too much of a holiday that we had looked forward to dealing with issues that should either never have occurred or should have been resolved quickly once reported.

When you take your family away, especially when you have paid a significant amount of money for a premium resort, you expect to spend that time relaxing and making memories.

Instead, we found ourselves repeatedly dealing with cleanliness problems, restaurant issues, poor service, facility problems and management.

You cannot give a family that holiday time back.

We have retained the information and correspondence relating to our complaint, and this review reflects our genuine experience of the hotel.

Anyone considering booking Paradisus Fuerteventura should, in my view, look beyond the attractive marketing photographs and carefully read recent reviews concerning cleanliness, food service, restaurant availability and management's handling of complaints.

For the amount this holiday cost and the standard Paradisus promotes itself as offering, we expected considerably better.

Would we return? Absolutely not.

Would we recommend Paradisus Fuerteventura to friends or family? Based on our experience, no.

A deeply disappointing experience from a hotel that should have delivered far better. A very expensive and extremely disappointing experience.