HL Paradise Island

Lovely amazing staff and entertainment team is gorgeous so amazing with the kids

As the title says.. first impression wasn't great but...read on. We arrived at the hotel at 12.30pm after a long travel morning to be told our room wasn't ready to come back at 3pm. I wasn't impressed by this at all and had to sit in nearly 30 degrees heat with no access to our room to cool down or to unpack.

Eventually we were given our room and we were really pleased with it. Spacious, modern with a TV in the living room area, twin beds pushed together with good storage in bedroom and the best part air con this was amazing and much needed with the very hot weather. The bathroom was lovely very modern with a hairdryer near the sink which was powerful. Really good shower but trying to figure out how to work it took time. We had emailed to request a high floor and pool view beforehand, we did get the upper floor but not quite a pool view but close enough so thank you. We had two balconies one at the front which was huge and in the sun the second balcony outside the bedroom was smaller and in the shade with a drying rack for your clothes, towels etc.

Pools There is a kids pool, and the main pool which was really busy and had a fun lively atmosphere, what we loved is you could go to the pool anytime early and stay late as the pool didn't close like alot of places. You can also take inflatables into the pool too. There is a lifeguard also. If you didn't get down early enough it was hard to get a lounger, we arrived afternoon and couldn't get one free but went down to the waterpark area of the hotel and managed to get a couple of loungers there. Alot of the sun loungers were ripped not usable but thankfully there was newer condition loungers that were alot better. There was quite a lot of parasols which helped slot as it was extremely hot, it was touching 30 degrees most days it was beautiful.

Pool bar They have soft drinks on self serve at the bar but you need to ask for beer, wine etc, the cups are paper cups which wasn't the best, alot of cups lying around the pool area as people didn't clear up after themselves, a big let down for me were the cocktails, I love a cocktail but they only had a choice of 3 on the all inclusive and I my opinion tasted terrible, they were poured from plastic bottles that were sitting in the heat so the were very warm to drink, just not enjoyable, I did pay €7.50 for a strawberry daiquri which a slight improvement. They have, burgers, sausages, chips in the afternoon at the side the bar which were ok my hubby enjoyed the burgers.

Buffet restaurant This is in two sections, I didn't go hungry but not too much choice for me but I'm a fussy eater, the freshly made pizza's were amazing though, my husband really liked the food every day. The orange juice is self serve as is soft drinks in the restaurant. Please note that there is not much in the way of air conditioning in the restaurant it was really hot but you can sit outside as well which we did a few times.

I had to remind myself that for what we paid for this holiday it was a great deal and after the initial first day I enjoyed my stay more as each day passed, if you are looking for a fun lively atmosphere for couples or families then give it a try it's what you make it.

There is a spa onsite and a small supermarket at the front entrance of the hotel. We enjoyed a cup of hot chocolate at the end of our nights.

The gardens are beautiful, lots of flowers and trees which was lovely. We didn't stay for the entertainment at night so can't comment, I'm sure there is a kids disco each night.

There is photographer's go around the grounds if you want a professional photo done which is a nice touch.

We had to check out at 11am but for an extra €20 we could keep our room until 1pm. But bearing in mind that we were not getting collected by our transfer until 8.30pm but thankfully we were able to book two shower rooms to freshen up and change clothes after being in the sun all day which we appreciated. A bonus was although we had to check out at 1pm we still were allowed to keep our all inclusive wristbands on until we got picked up for our transfer so we could still eat and drink included which was nice and was appreciated.

There is alot of not good reviews but I would say just book it, it's not a 4 star but a 3 in my opinion but it's what you make it, I'm glad I gave it a chance, we both had a good holiday with beautiful weather for a really good price.