Barcelo Santiago

Two words would best describe the restaurant and bar areas experience at this Hotel. Disfuntional and Disorder

I not saying that the staff don't work hard they do unfortunately there is not enough of them when you need them in this busy hotel. Subsequently I find myself writing this poor review due to our honest and personal experiences. First night arrival at hotel. Evening meal at main restaurant arrived around 8pm wasn't very busy we were told at the restaurant entry area that you help yourself to food and staff will do a table service for drinks. Twenty minutes passed and we had no table service the staff were to busy setting tableware for breakfast. Eventually we got served,as you can imagine we were not overly impressed. However to be fair the service in the restaurant varied depending on what time you decided to eat and how busy it got. At the Breeze Bar you are completely ignored or forgotten about when you want a drink this applies to anytime of the day and far worse into the evening, this is due to not having enough attentive staff when you need them at the busiest times during the evening. We waited 15 mins before getting served at our table and then two more staff come over and asked to serve us ! you couldn't make this up... totally Disfuntional.

The Aloe Bar is well under staffed. They have one member of staff making all the drinks and making the time consuming cocktails to order and then he has to do a table sevice...what a totall joke... You can wait 20 minutes plus. Some people get fed up with waiting and leave you can't blame them. The only problem is when you have paid upfront for all inclusive which includes drinks and you just can't get one anywhere this is not exeptable.

You just can't get a drink in this hotel without a long wait or a long queue at the bar because people are feed up with the poor table service. Unfortunately from what we saw the more people stood at the bar waiting to get a drink leads to longer waiting times for a table sevice. We had to wait in a queue for 15 minutes just to get bottles of water.

We stayed for a week in July in this beautiful hotel. My husband had stayed twice previously on a cycling trip , but this time we stayed as a couple in the junior suite 914.

On arrival, there was a friendly welcome and despite arriving reasonably early after a private transfer, we were very pleased the room was ready.

The junior suite was very impressive with a large bathroom, living area and huge bedroom. It has a wraparound terrace complete with chairs & table and 2 sun loungers. The view looks out to sea, at the beautiful Giants and over the town. The best part was having sun and shade at all times in different parts of the terrace.

The bathroom had a large and powerful shower. They also supply hand soap , shower gel/shampoo , conditioner and body lotion as well as a proper and hot hairdryer.

As in previous reviews, the bedroom lacks drawer storage, but the bed and pillows are very comfortable. I am very shocked that water is not supplied in the fridge, especially as all inclusive guests.

At 1st we were very impressed with breeze bar. Service to the table and very good food cooked fresh . The menu is very nice. However as the week went on, the service was slow and sometimes not very friendly as if the team are very overwhelmed and understaffed. If you queued at the bar there was wait of sometimes 15-20 minutes which is really unacceptable. The stand out however is Aythemi. He is kind, very friendly and I’m sure everyone loves him.

The restaurant food is incredible, the chefs produce a lovely variety and the theme nights are very good indeed. At breakfast my favourite new discovery was the chorizo de Teror and we enjoyed the fresh juices, pastries, smoked salmon and poached eggs. Our only feedback would be to make sure the amazing food is topped up frequently as it often run out.

The pool areas are clean with spectacular views and plenty of sunbeds for everyone.

Perhaps a few extra staff to cover the bar service would make it a 5/5 for us. However, we enjoyed the room, the views and the food very much, so we’ll see you next year!

First impressions are very important, sadly the reception area felt more like walking into a Travel Lodge. Completely underwhelming. I had emailed and asked for a high floor room. We were given 560 and the view was stunning. The fridge was empty not even a bottle of water. Thinking this was an oversight I asked at reception the following morning. I was told I had to wait for the Breeze Bar to open at 10am or go over the road and buy some! First AI I’ve been to where you can’t get water 24/7! Disgraceful! The food and premium drinks were one of the best we’ve experienced. Didn’t find the cocktails very good. The Breeze Bar is lovely for lunch but service can be rather frustrating. Most of the older men were very unfriendly and surly and seemed to enjoy ignoring you. They need costumer service training for sure. Look out for Noel and Sigfredo who were always smiley and friendly. The entertainment was the worse we’ve ever experienced it was just singers of various degrees of talent. There are some Balinese beds you can hire. We had an awful couple one day who played loud music in the quiet area by the restaurant. Consuming over 6 bottles of Prosecco/wine they became very obnoxious. Even threatening to thump my partner when we said the music was too loud. Apparently as they paid for it they said they could do what they liked. The delightful “lady “was shouting at us as we walked away “ We’ve got money you don’t, go back to your room” I think perhaps management should limit the amount of alcohol they serve to people like this who ruin other people’s day. If you fly with TUI you will have your wristbands cut off at checkout. If you arrived after 3pm on your first day you will be given a voucher for lunch and a drink. Anything else you pay for. That was a first for us and I wasn’t impressed. Could be a really lovely hotel but I think they need to improve in certain areas.