Gavimar Ariel Chico Club & Resort

Great location and enjoyable stay – a few things to be aware of

Overall, we really enjoyed our stay and are already looking at booking again for 2027.

Our room was clean and tidy, with plenty of towels provided and the room being made up daily. The air conditioning was excellent and kept the room lovely and cool. The staff also appeared to be friendly and helpful throughout our stay.

Location: The location is fantastic. It’s only a few minutes’ walk back to the beach, as well as the main restaurants and bars, so it was ideal for us as we enjoy going out in the evenings.

One thing we were a little confused about on our first day was the snack bar deposit system. You have to pay €1 for a plate and €1 for a plastic cup, but this is only a deposit and you get your money back when you return them, or you can swap them for clean ones. We didn’t know this in advance and didn’t have any cash with us, so we had to find a cash machine. I’d definitely recommend taking some change with you. Quite a few people also brought their own reusable plastic cups and water bottles, which I thought was a good idea.

We only ate breakfast at the hotel and used the poolside snack bar for lunch, as we prefer to go out for dinner.

Breakfast: Unfortunately, we didn’t think the breakfast was the best. There could have been more choices of chopped-up fresh fruit, particularly around the yoghurt section. We would also have liked to see proper breakfast sausages rather than the tinned hot-dog-style sausages, especially hot dog sausages were at the snack bar at lunchtime.

We saw hash browns on one day and thought they were really tasty, so it would have been nice to have these available every day.

Breakfast also finished at 10:15am, which felt quite early compared with other hotels we’ve stayed at where breakfast runs until 11am. Our children often didn’t wake up until around 9:45am, so we found breakfast a little rushed.

Poolside snack bar: During the first couple of days there was a real shortage of burgers, although this seemed to improve as the week went on. There were also hot dogs available. Unfortunately, we didn’t think the chips were particularly good. There is also a freezer to help yourself throughout the day to ice lollies and tubs of ice cream. I thought this was great.

All-inclusive drinks: The all-inclusive bar was great. There was a self-service area with soft drinks, fizzy drinks, juice, a slush machine and water. You could also order a good selection of cocktails from behind the bar, including Pina Coladas, Vodka Suns, Tequila Sunrises and Sex on the Beach, as well as a selection of local spirits.

A couple of things to be aware of:

Down the corridor straight from reception, near room 1109, there is a fire hose housed in a metal casing in the middle of the wall. Unfortunately, my child caught his head on the corner of the casing, which is quite sharp, and it caused a cut and bleeding to his scalp which lasted a few hours.

I completely understand that the fire equipment needs to be there, but I do feel the positioning could be reconsidered from a health and safety point of view. I think it could be lowed and more floor level …. Personally, I’d much rather a child bang their leg than their head on a sharp metal corner. Perhaps some form of protective cushioning or foam around the corner could help prevent this happening to someone else should it remain on the middle of the wall.

There is also a queue for sunbeds around the pool from around 9:30am, with people waiting at the locked gate.

Another thing to be aware of is that inflatables and balls are strictly not allowed in the pool. This was something we disagreed with, particularly as we have children. We’ve never come across this rule in other hotels we’ve stayed at and couldn’t really see the harm in children using something like a lilo. We saw quite a few people arriving with inflatables, presumably having purchased them during their holiday, only to be told they couldn’t use them — so it’s definitely worth knowing this before buying one. Some music around the pool would have been nice. The entertainment team did aqua Zumba, water polo, water basket which we joined in daily.

Despite these points, we genuinely had a great holiday and really enjoyed our stay. The location, friendly staff, clean rooms and overall atmosphere were all positives for us, and we would happily return.

We’re already looking at booking again for 2027!

Arrived at 4.30am to a very unhelpful gentleman on reception. Made check in very confusing and we felt very unwelcome. Room was tired but okay. Beds were comfortable and room was cleaned every day. Air con was lovely to come back to after a hot day. Fantastic location. Beach a few minutes walk. We used the smaller pool near our room. Never busy and plenty of sunbeds. The thing that let the hotel down mainly was the food. Very limited choice and some things off the grill were raw!!! Very disappointing. For this reason we wouldn't return again.

Very spacious rooms and a wide range of pools to choose from each day. If you walk down the path you are at the land train that travels on path and is handy to get around. Atmosphere is very good: live entertainment every night but annoyingly loud. Cleanliness of rooms and pool surroundings cannot be fainted. The staff are friendly enough and overall it is ideal for families with younger children or for teens on a lads or girls holiday!