"Lovely Lovely Stay at RIU Buenavista – We’d Definitely"
We have just returned from a lovely stay at Hotel RIU Buenavista and overall had a fantastic holiday.
We booked two rooms – a two-bedroom family room and a double sea view room. Before travelling, I emailed the hotel to ask if our rooms could be next to each other. Although they weren’t directly adjacent, they were only a few doors apart, which was absolutely fine. The family room had a beautiful sea and pool view, while the double room also had a lovely sea view. Both rooms were spacious, spotlessly clean and had a fridge. The fridge isn’t stocked with drinks or water, but you can easily collect bottled water (and milk if needed) from the lobby bar. The Wi-Fi throughout the hotel was excellent.
The pools were lovely, with our favourite being the one overlooking the sea. The pool bar next to it was a great place to relax, offering stunning views and a lovely atmosphere.
The hotel also has a small rocky beach with direct access. We only visited it once, as we spent a day at the beach in Costa Adeje, which we preferred. However, we’re more pool people anyway, so this really wasn’t an issue for us.
The biggest downside for us was how busy the hotel was. Like many reviews mention, the sunbeds were mostly gone by 8am, with people reserving them from around 6am. It was also difficult to get seats for the evening entertainment. On several nights, members of our family had to take it in turns to eat so we didn’t lose our seats for the shows.
The White Party was brilliant and definitely one of the highlights of our holiday. There was also an England football match being shown during our stay, but despite the lively atmosphere elsewhere in the hotel, we couldn’t hear any noise from our room, which was great.
The hotel is built on a hillside, so there are a few inclines, but we found them manageable. There are a handful of shops, bars and restaurants around a 10-minute uphill walk away, and a taxi to Costa Adeje cost around €20.
Check-out was at 12pm, but unfortunately our transfer wasn’t until 8pm. The hotel doesn’t have dedicated changing facilities for late departures, so we had to get changed in the public toilets, which was a little disappointing.
The food was typical all-inclusive. It was quite repetitive, but there was always something available and we certainly never went hungry. I would have liked to see more vegetarian options and a better selection of fresh fruit. Ice cream is only available from the scoop stations in the restaurants rather than at the pool bars. The cocktails were fairly limited and the ones I tried were quite weak and very sweet, although there was plenty of self-service beer, wine and soft drinks available throughout the day.
The only other small disappointment was that there wasn’t a pool table, as that’s something our family enjoys on holiday.
The staff were all incredibly friendly and hardworking, and they really helped make our stay enjoyable.
Overall, we had a wonderful holiday and would definitely return to RIU Buenavista. If we came back, I would request rooms in the same area of the hotel with good views, as some parts of the hotel seemed to have much nicer outlooks than others. That said, I know that won’t matter to everyone. Despite a few minor negatives, we thoroughly enjoyed our stay and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this hotel.
