"2nd stay and mixed review"
This is the 2nd time we have come to this hotel in 2 years and we had an excellent memory of it. It is a very beautiful hotel but we felt a degradation in service and maintenance this year. Numerous broken lounge chairs and umbrellas that cannot open, broken tiles in the pools which are, by the way, of dubious cleanliness from the moment they open (band-aids left over from the day before on the edge, dirt inside, numerous black marks on the grout…). Weeds growing in the walkways, unmowed lawns even though last year we saw gardeners mowing every day; we feel there are efforts but very surely less staff than last year. At the bar, the cocktails seem less alcoholic. For the lounge chairs, you have to get up at 6:00-6:30 AM, otherwise there is no space near the main pools after 7:15 AM, even though everything is empty until 10:00 AM. In the adult pool, minors, and near the pools, people smoking even though signs forbid it, a clear lack of supervision, just like for people drinking in the pool with glasses. The rooms are beautiful but deteriorating: we had broken tiles in the shower which leaked, flooding the floor; we reported the leak twice to the front desk but no action was taken. The bathroom lamp was flickering like a strobe light, making the bathroom unusable, and we had to mention it 3 times for it to be repaired after 4 days, following a final report via the app. Housekeeping: the sheets were not changed unlike last year, used glasses were not picked up or changed, a very strong, nauseating smell in the rooms that seems to be due to chemical products which we endured for the entire stay. Regarding the noise, last year there was almost nothing because we were at the end of the building. This year we were right in the middle, so screaming from drunks between 11:00 PM and 1:00 to 2:00 AM depending on the night, the worst being the RIU Party evenings. Besides, the evening shows are quite disappointing. During the day, however, a good DJ played a set near the pools and the musicians near the bar, despite a few wrong notes, made the atmosphere nice.
At the restaurant, the servers who see us arrive ignore us; we saw people go get the tablecloth and glasses, and the servers arrived immediately! Most of the time we go get the carafe of water or coffee, otherwise we could go through the meal without drinking. That seems to change as soon as a server dressed in black arrives (the managers, obviously).
So much for the differences from last year, and clearly we feel a drop in quality, service, staff, and responsiveness.
It is really a shame because we had an extraordinary memory from last year and we even booked a higher-level room. We are therefore hesitant to return because we fear that the overall level will degrade even further. It is unclear if it was just a bad year or a fundamental trend of this hotel to maximize profits.
