Playa Blanca, H10 Paradise Island Review

Overall Rating

The apartment was very good, spacious , fairly clean.
The grounds were lovely, beautiful plants and shrubs, well maintained.

Restaurant was dirty, table cloths were on for 6 days, debris was just swept off the table onto the floor, you had to clean the chair before sitting down.
A cockroach landed on the breakfast table whilst we were eating, and there was cockroaches in the toilets adjacent to the restaurant on a daily basis.
The island is renowned for cockroaches and we did expect to see them whilst out and about, however, the only places we did see them were the restaurant, the restaurant toilets, and the entertainment areas. This left us quite concerned as to what state the kitchens would be in.
The restaurant often ran out of food, when we complained we were told it was because some people staying there were greedy!!
You had to get your own cutlery, cups, glasses, napkins etc and they often ran out.
There was not enough tables for the number of guests so you often had to queue for a table.
The "snacks" which were supposed to be available at the pool bar consisted of sandwiches made from dry bread and almost invisible ham, and that was it for the day. This bar closed at 6pm.
The furniture at the pool bar was falling to pieces, with wonky tables and wicker chairs that had collapsed sides.
The entertainment area was far too small for the number of people, approx 200+people when only enough room for approx 150, no air conditioning in either of the above 2 areas, so it was unbearably hot and it stank of sweaty bodies and mould.
Cockroaches landed in peoples drinks on at least 3 occasions, one lady was so traumatised that she demanded to be moved the very next day.
You had to queue for 15-20 mins to get a drink as they only had 1 bar person on until 10pm every night, they also frequently ran out of soft drinks and water.
The hotel water system failed to work on several occasions, nearly 4 hours one day, which meant we had to go out for lunch as they could not open the restaurant.

It was quite evident that the hotel was not very well managed.
It was way understaffed for the amount of guests, and could not cope.
I understand that this hotel used to be a H10 hotel, and was very good.
It is now owned by the HL group.
We did ask our representative to move us, but, low and behold they did not have any available spaces at an equivalent hotel, they could only upgrade us which would have meant paying another £250 each. As there were people in the party that could not afford this (and why should we, we had paid for our holiday and it wasn't our fault it was not adequate), we had to stay put and make the best of it.
We spoke to several English families, and every one of them had also complained.
It is a real shame because the hotel had such potential, and with very little outlay and good management could become a really nice hotel.
We were quite a large party, and we have all agreed that we would never book to go to that hotel again.

Members' Comments onLynnD's Review

• patnancy49 on 18th Jul 2007

  You must have been there when we were - not enough sun beds either Have been to many inclusives but this was disgusting and weren't some people there rude and always pushing! Did you also notice they advertised the restaurant outside. How stupid is that, there was not enough room for the residents already staying.