Deserves a 1*

AVOID!!!! I do not expect 5* for 3* money but was hoping for something better than barely 1*. Its difficult to know where to start? I booked and paid for a four bedded family room, arrived late at night to find they only had a 3 bedded room available. The Receptionist was rude, uninterested and couldn’t care less! I had booked through Hotels4u, part of the Thomas Cook so expected that they would sort it out. Wrong!! They were appalling, they advertise 24 hour support, this is a lie, we arrived on a Saturday night and there was nothing other than duty cover who cannot take any action so no one was available until Monday morning. The first night I had no bed, the second night when Hotels4u still did nothing I insisted the hotel squeeze an extra bed into a room designed for 2 beds. Only one person could stand up at a time!!! The hotel is tired, scruffy and dated, the rooms are extremely small. The beds and bed linen were damp, the shower is a joke, the only mirror had no plug socket anywhere near it so good luck if you are hoping to dry your hair! The balcony doesn’t really deserve that title, only one person could stand out there at a time! Throughout my stay I requested many times to speak to the Manager, who didn’t put in an appearance throughout my stay. Hotels4u would not move us to a different hotel so we were stuck there. If I had not been travelling with my children I would have come home after the first night, I endured this hotel solely for my children’s sake!
This hotel functions around numerous pointless rules, designed to undermine any enjoyment you may be hoping for as you are supposed to be on holiday!!! If you have been in or worked in a prison you will feel comfortable here!!
The Pool is barely any bigger than a paddling pool, the hotel caters for several hundred guests yet there are 30 sunbeds around the pool. The pool area is not unlocked until 9am so if you want to sit out early, forget it!! If you like to sit outside with a cup of coffee before 10am forget it as you cannot take any drinks outside before 10am!!
The food was appalling, I have never been to a 3* hotel where I won’t eat the food. It was bland, repetitive and tasteless. You are not allowed to take any food, snacks or drinks outside of the restaurant. I am not fussy, I am happy to eat just a salad, or whatever but this food was awful!! Barely any salad, rice and vegetables were hardly cooked, the meat was vile. The dining room was nowhere near big enough for the number of people staying at the hotel. The All Inclusive system for getting drinks is a joke!! On arrival you are given an ID card and a green plastic card which you hand in every time you want a drink. You then take the plastic beaker back to get the green card returned. You can only get one drink at a time, in a plastic cup!!! If you are a man who drinks pints, forget it!!! The entertainment was so bad, there isn’t much to say about it. Most evenings there was a mini disco for the kids, held in a room not much bigger than a cupboard!! If you buy a can of drink out of the vending machines in reception you can only drink them in your room? Why???
Yes the hotel is 50 yards from the beach, what the brochure forgets to mention is between the hotel and the beach is the mainline railway!!!
Overall, I do not understand how this hotel obtained its 3 star status, it is nowhere near. I have also heard rumours that Thomas Cook are no longer ABTA registered, I can fully understand why if this is the service they are offering to holiday makers.This hotel is small and shabby run by small minded people. The most entertaining part was hearing new arrivals moan and shout about how bad it was!! There are many three star hotels out there in the same price bracket where you would have an enjoyable break, avoid the Planamar at all costs. You have been warned!!