H10 Atlantic Sunset

To the Management of H10 Atlantic Sunset,

I am writing to submit a formal complaint regarding our experience at H10 Atlantic Sunset.

I would first like to make it clear that this complaint does not apply to every member of staff. We also encountered employees who were friendly and helpful. Unfortunately, however, several incidents and the general level of service during our stay became so unacceptable that our family group of 14 people ultimately decided to leave the hotel a full week early and move to another hotel.

One of the main problems throughout our stay was the extremely slow service. Drinks regularly took 30–40 minutes to arrive, which is an unreasonable waiting time, particularly at an all-inclusive hotel where guests have already paid for the service. At times, it genuinely felt as though the service was being deliberately slowed down, although of course I cannot know the reason. From a guest’s perspective, however, the result was the same: excessive waiting times for very basic service.

Another major issue was the arrangement surrounding dinner. We were often expected to decide around lunchtime what every member of the family would want to eat that evening. If a child or another family member later changed their mind, this appeared to cause significant frustration among some members of staff, and the attitude towards us could become irritated and unfriendly.

This is particularly difficult when travelling with children. It is simply unrealistic to expect every child to know at 11 a.m. exactly what they will want to eat many hours later that evening.

One evening, we visited the hotel’s Italian restaurant. The evening started well, but as time went on the service became progressively slower and more difficult. We were celebrating the 10th birthday of our young nephew.

Prior to the dinner, an email had been sent to the Italian restaurant specifying the food for our group as well as the ice cream for the children. We also received an email confirmation from the hotel/restaurant confirming that the arrangements had been received and accepted. There was therefore no misunderstanding about what had been ordered or about the fact that the birthday child was supposed to receive a special birthday ice cream.

Despite this, by the end of the evening the children had been waiting an excessive amount of time for dessert. We repeatedly asked for five vanilla ice creams for the children, as well as the birthday ice cream for the birthday boy.

When the birthday ice cream finally arrived, it was simply dropped onto the adults’ table, and a member of staff said, in effect, “You figure out who this ice cream belongs to.”

We found this particularly inappropriate and unprofessional, especially considering that this was for a 10-year-old child celebrating his birthday and that both the food and the ice cream arrangements had been ordered and confirmed in writing in advance.

By this point, the children were becoming very impatient and the entire family had been waiting for an excessive amount of time.

Eventually, I stood up and approached the waiter. I calmly asked why service at our table appeared to have stopped and whether the children could please receive their ice cream so that they could finally leave the table.

Instead of explaining the situation or attempting to resolve it, the waiter repeatedly placed an open hand very close to my face and told me to speak to the manager. When I asked where the manager was, I was then told that the manager was not on duty.

I want to make it absolutely clear that nobody in our group was shouting at staff, nobody was behaving aggressively, and nobody was intoxicated. We were simply a family that had been waiting a very long time for service and wanted an explanation and a solution.

The following day, I went to the hotel’s office to discuss what had happened. I placed my phone visibly on the table and used an AI application to assist me with writing down the conversation and translating any Spanish that I could not understand, as I do not speak Spanish well enough to handle a detailed complaint without assistance.

The reaction from the member of staff in the office was extremely surprising and, in my view, highly unprofessional. She became very angry and effectively told me to leave the office, stating that she would call security.

This happened before we had been able to have any meaningful discussion about our complaint or find any form of resolution.

After these incidents, we no longer felt that it was reasonable or comfortable for us to continue our stay at the hotel. We were a family group of 14 people travelling together for a family holiday and birthday celebration, and we collectively decided to check out a full week early and pay to stay at another hotel instead.

For a group of 14 people to abandon a prepaid hotel stay one week early is not a minor decision. We did not make that decision because of one small inconvenience. It was the result of a combination of extremely slow service, unacceptable and unprofessional behaviour from certain members of staff, and ultimately our feeling that it was impossible to raise our concerns and have a normal, professional conversation with hotel management.

We therefore ask H10 Hotels to take this complaint seriously, investigate the incidents described above, and address the financial loss caused by the unused nights and the fact that we felt forced to relocate to another hotel.

We also request a formal written response from H10 Hotels regarding this complaint and how you intend to resolve the matter.

Yours sincerely,

Aðalsteinn

svo fyrir íslendinga fyrir neðan Til forsvarsmanna H10 Atlantic Sunset

Mig langar að koma á framfæri formlegri kvörtun vegna upplifunar okkar á H10 Atlantic Sunset.

Ég vil taka skýrt fram að þessi gagnrýni á ekki við um allt starfsfólk hótelsins. Við hittum einnig vingjarnlegt og hjálpsamt starfsfólk. Því miður voru þó nokkur atvik og almennt þjónustustig á meðan dvöl okkar stóð svo slæmt að við, 14 manna fjölskylduhópur, tókum að lokum þá ákvörðun að stytta dvöl okkar um heila viku og færa okkur á annað hótel.

Eitt helsta vandamálið var hversu hæg þjónustan var. Drykkir tóku reglulega 30–40 mínútur að berast, sem er mjög óeðlilegur biðtími, sérstaklega á hóteli þar sem gestir hafa greitt fyrir „all inclusive“ þjónustu. Okkur fannst oft eins og þjónustan væri vísvitandi höfð hæg, þótt ég geri mér grein fyrir að erfitt sé að fullyrða um ástæðuna. Niðurstaðan fyrir gestinn var þó sú sama: mjög löng bið eftir einfaldri þjónustu.

Annað sem reyndist sérstaklega óþægilegt var fyrirkomulagið í kringum kvöldmat. Við þurftum oft að ákveða strax um hádegisbil hvað öll fjölskyldan ætlaði að borða um kvöldið. Þegar börn eða aðrir fjölskyldumeðlimir skiptu síðar um skoðun virtist það valda mikilli óánægju hjá starfsfólki og viðmótið varð stundum pirrað og óvinsamlegt.

Þetta er sérstaklega erfitt þegar ferðast er með börn, sem eiga eðlilega stundum erfitt með að ákveða klukkan 11 fyrir hádegi hvað þau vilja borða mörgum klukkustundum síðar.

Eitt kvöldið vorum við á ítalska veitingastaðnum á hótelinu. Kvöldið byrjaði vel, en eftir því sem leið á varð þjónustan sífellt hægari og erfiðari. Með okkur var lítill frændi okkar sem var að halda upp á 10 ára afmælið sitt.

Fyrir kvöldið hafði verið sendur tölvupóstur til ítalska veitingastaðarins þar sem maturinn fyrir hópinn og ís fyrir börnin hafði verið pantaður fyrirfram. Við fengum jafnframt staðfestingu til baka með tölvupósti frá hótelinu/veitingastaðnum um að þetta hefði verið móttekið og staðfest. Það var því enginn misskilningur um hvað hafði verið pantað eða að afmælisbarnið ætti að fá sérstakan afmælisís.

Þrátt fyrir þetta höfðu börnin undir lok kvöldsins beðið mjög lengi eftir eftirrétti. Við höfðum ítrekað beðið um fimm vanilluísa fyrir börnin og sérstakan afmælisís fyrir afmælisbarnið.

Þegar afmælisísinn loksins kom var honum einfaldlega hent á borð fullorðna fólksins og starfsmaður sagði í grófum dráttum: „Finnið þið út hvert þessi ís á að fara.“

Okkur fannst sú framkoma sérstaklega óviðeigandi og ófagleg, ekki síst þar sem um var að ræða 10 ára afmælisbarn og bæði maturinn og ísinn höfðu verið pöntuð og staðfest skriflega fyrirfram.

Börnin voru á þessum tímapunkti orðin mjög óþreyjufull og fjölskyldan öll búin að bíða mjög lengi.

Þegar ég að lokum stóð upp og gekk að þjóninum spurði ég rólega hvers vegna þjónustan við borðið okkar virtist hafa stöðvast og hvort það væri hægt að fá ísinn fyrir börnin svo þau gætu loksins farið frá borðinu.

Í stað þess að útskýra málið eða reyna að leysa það setti þjónninn ítrekað opinn lófa mjög nálægt andlitinu á mér og sagði mér að tala við manager. Þegar ég spurði hvar managerinn væri var mér sagt að hann væri ekki á vakt.

Ég vil taka sérstaklega fram að á þessu stigi var enginn að öskra á starfsfólk, enginn var með ógnandi framkomu og enginn í okkar hópi var ölvaður. Við vorum einfaldlega fjölskylda sem hafði beðið mjög lengi eftir þjónustu og óskaði eftir skýringu og lausn.

Daginn eftir fór ég á skrifstofu hótelsins til að ræða málið. Þar lagði ég símann minn sýnilega á borðið og notaði snjallforrit til að hjálpa mér að skrifa niður það sem sagt var og þýða spænsku fyrir mig, þar sem ég tala ekki spænsku nógu vel til að eiga ítarlegt samtal um kvörtun af þessu tagi.

Viðbrögð starfsmannsins á skrifstofunni voru mjög óvænt og ófagleg. Hún varð mjög reið og sagði mér í raun að fara út af skrifstofunni og að hún myndi kalla á öryggisverði.

Þetta gerðist áður en okkur hafði tekist að eiga eðlilegt samtal um kvörtunina eða finna einhverja lausn.

Eftir þessi atvik fannst okkur ekki lengur mögulegt að halda áfram dvölinni á hótelinu. Við vorum 14 manns saman í fjölskyldu- og afmælisferð og ákváðum sameiginlega að tékka okkur út heilli viku fyrr og greiða fyrir dvöl á öðru hóteli.

Það er mjög alvarleg ákvörðun fyrir svo stóran hóp að yfirgefa hótel viku fyrr, sérstaklega þegar dvölin hafði þegar verið greidd. Sú ákvörðun var ekki tekin vegna eins smávægilegs atviks heldur vegna samansafns af mjög hægri þjónustu, óþægilegu og ófaglegu viðmóti og þess að okkur fannst ómögulegt að ræða málin með eðlilegum og faglegum hætti við stjórnendur eða starfsfólk.

Við óskum eftir því að H10 Hotels taki þessa kvörtun alvarlega, rannsaki sérstaklega þau atvik sem lýst er hér að ofan og taki afstöðu til þess hvernig bregðast eigi við þeim kostnaði og þeim ónotuðu nóttum sem urðu til vegna þess að við töldum okkur ekki geta haldið dvölinni áfram.

Við óskum einnig eftir skriflegu svari frá stjórnendum H10 Hotels.

Virðingarfyllst,

Aðalsteinn A

This hotel offers friendly staff throughout (including the robots cleaning the corridors) who are helpful and the rooms are very clean, comfortable and well stocked with amenities, first hotel I have stayed that have prioritised English TV channels. The location is not ideal for those who fancy a stroll out in the evening along the sea front wanting shops to browse or restaurants. A taxi ride or bus ride is needed to nearby Costa Adeje or further. The Hard Rock Hotel next door was sometimes slightly noisy in the evening, and beware the building works either side of the hotel. Although not too noisy at the moment I think it will be in the future.

We opted for the privilege service due to celebrating a special birthday and to be honest this is what makes this hotel a 5 star hotel with fantastic breakfast and dinner in The View restaurant, a lovely rooftop bar with sunbeds and infinity pool, daily chocolates delivered to the room and a well stocked mini fridge. I even had Cordorniu, cakes and a card delivered to my room on my birthday which was lovely.

All the meals have to be booked in advance on the app otherwise you miss out on the restaurant of choice or time required, including the privilege restaurant which is rather annoying as this is what you pay extra for. The central market buffet restaurant offers a small selection of food which is average but not a lot of choice ( sorry used to RIU Hotels). There are no swim up bars, but next to the pools are places to get cold drinks. As a privilege customer there is access to beverages either soft, alcoholic or tea/coffee and snacks in the view area but it was always shut when I wanted to use it and you weren't supposed to take these outside to the pool area which is next to it to enjoy on your sunbed. There is a lovely coffee shop with a nice seating area to enjoy drinks and cake and certain times of the day.

Evening entertainment was sparce, nothing going on in the theatre area during our stay. There was a live singer in one area but if you didn't get there early there would not be a seat available as not enough room outside. Staff were coming in and taking empty chairs from tables so people standing around could actually sit down. Also if you want to go up to the bar and order a drink think again, this is frowned upon and you will be sent away. Table service only and the average wait while we were there was 25 to 30 minutes. In a way it seemed to me they take away your freedom and control what goes on where alcohol is concerned most likely to save them money. Also beware the cockroaches, we had 3 in our bathroom and on the way back to the room we counted 16 probably not a fault of the hotel as such but a nuisance.

We asked for late checkout the day before and was told it would be until 4pm as we had a late flight but was asked to ring the next morning to confirm. This we did but then was told sorry we couldn't have a late checkout as the hotel was full, why couldn't they tell us that the day before? we could have been more organised. We managed to get a room for 30 minutes to have a quick shower and get ready for our journey home.

There was certainly good things about this hotel such as the staff and some things that I think needs improvement. Sorry H10 but I will be reverting back to RIU next time.