RedLevel at Melia Palacio de Isora

Dear All, we have been at The Gran Melia five star Red Level hotel in September/October 2026. We had a booking only with breakfast to be able where and when to go for dinnner.

Our room was a room with garden view - that is level 1 unfortunately directly next to the building entrance. Everybody who went in the building could see in your room - so bad luck. Sleeping with an open window at night - was somehow a risk.

In the morning when we went to breakfast we had to stay in line for sometimes over 10 minutes - nicely in the sun,no shade. And the reason - there were not enough tables for the red level people. When getting a table it took min. another 10 min. to get a coffee and if you had others orders ... so this is poor for a red level.

After breakfast we would like to have a deckchair with a sunshade, but everything was already occupied with towels. So not enough deckchairs and sunshades in the red level area and nobody took care about the blocking with towels. I figured out that people started in the morning at 8.00 am and earlier with their towels to occupy the chairs and the sun shades - the were running like rabbits - sorry for that, but i have seen it.

Finally we want to book a restaurant - from nine restaurants there were two ones closed. For the other ones we were not able to get a booking - they were all fully booked. Only the buffet restaurant and the Dos Naifes were available - we didn't like the buffet and it was too expensive for its service. The Dos Naifes is very nice with a very good service, but very expensive. We figured out that there is only a short way to next village Alcala with some very nice little restaurants with a good service and only half the price of the buffet restaurant.

Conclusion: It is a pitty that you get such a poor service in such a beautiful complex. This is not my expectation to a five star red level hotel. But of course the price was five star and red level.

When we first came to this hotel in 2013, it was so special I felt it set the benchmark for luxury resorts everywhere. I wrote a glowing review at the time and have returned many times in the intervening years.

How it saddens me, then, to say that this is quite evidently not the place it was.

All the little luxuries that made the hotel stand out have gradually been eroded and it is now barely worthy of five stars, let alone the “five-star plus” image it likes to project.

Here are some of the things that have changed:

There used to be superb double sunbeds with fat mattresses and huge sun-shades in the garden. These were never replaced when they passed their best. The much smaller sunshades in the garden are now few and far between, and all the lovely cushions that were scattered around the garden have gone.

There is no longer a single member of staff in the garden to help with sunbeds and parasols, and no towel station – not even a container for dirties. So you have to haul the towels down from the towel cabin on the pool deck above – and I’m sorry but I’m not hauling them back up the stairs at the end of the day.

There used to be some gentle live music at the evening open bar. Not any more.

The towels themselves are horrible and threadbare, fraying at the edges and many showing holes.

The state of the curtains on the bali beds in the garden is disgusting, as is the state of many of the parasols around the main pool. All stained and looking mouldy.

I never saw anyone wipe the little coffee tables around the pool and once mine was so dirty I had to go and ask for a cloth to clean it. They were disgusting.

A member of staff used to come round with fruit and other little snacks, and even offer to clean your sunglasses. I know it’s hardly a big deal, but these were the little touches that were so exclusive. We got two measly fruit kebabs in two weeks.

Red Level guests used to be offered a voucher for the spa for one circuit. No longer.

There was always an iron and ironing board in the room. They have been replaced by a totally useless steamer and on request no iron was available.

The gorgeous Clarins toiletries have gone the same way as all the other little luxuries, replaced by something that barely has any scent at all. The small amenities like cotton pads and ear buds were not replaced unless I requested them.

The smells (of sewage) that have always plagued the hotel were worse than ever.

As if all these things were not disappointment enough, after a few days the hotel seemed extraordinarily busy. It turned out that another Melia hotel had a major problem with the swimming pool and guests were offered to the option to move to the Red Level. Of course, they all accepted and this caused ridiculous crowding. All the sunbeds bagged by early morning and overcrowding at everything from the open bar to breakfast.

Add to all this the fact that I paid almost 50 pc more this year than two years ago, and it is “shrinkflation” in the extreme.

It is also worth mentioning to those who don’t know the hotel and are expecting a fully adults-only experience, you won’t get it if you eat in the hotel. All but one of the evening restaurants are in the main building, which was absolutely overrun with babies and pre-school children (in September/October). I have six grandchildren of my own, but if I choose an adults only holiday I would not really expect this. In fact, we always hire a car and eat out. You can even do that without a car as there are several restaurants outside reachable on foot or by short taxi journeys. Anyway, we find the food outside much better in terms of both quality and value.

I suppose nothing lasts for ever, and our infatuation with the Red Level at Grand Melia Palacio de Isora is definitely over.

We have just returned after staying in the Grand Suite in the adults section on the red level, we have stayed at this hotel about 6 times over the past 10 years, the adult section was on another level for us, we have extremely busy lives with running a business and this was just what we needed, it was so relaxing and we did nothing all week which is very unusual for us but we both feel so refreshed and will be back again next year, having breakfast in the adults area each morning was so lovely over looking the sea and not too busy, the suite was amazing. The food at the hotel was fantastic as always and the staff so attentive - its a five star review from us