Myself and my wife have just returned from 9 nights at the hotel in an Excellence Atlantic Suite and were blown away by the place. From arrival, to leaving, the customer service was exceptional. On arrival we were greeted by Luis Rodriguez, on the reception, who was so pleasant, smiling, and helpful, offering a glass of cava, whilst we checked in, then taking us to our suite. He even tried to refuse a tip but I insisted - never seen that before. Throughout our stay he recognised us and was very polite and enquiring as to our satisfaction with the whole product.
We booked the holiday through Jet2 holidays and, although we had an Excellence Atlantic Suite (307), with a sea view, I just wondered whether we would have got this type of Suite in a better location if we had booked direct with the hotel, as there were the same suites with more open aspects to the sea with an 180 degree view? This is not to take away from the accommodation though as it was excellent. The Suite is spacious and comfortable. A drawback of the Excellence suites is that they do not have sunbeds on the balcony but only 2 deckchairs as the balconies are quite small. Cheaper suites do have sun-loungers on them but do not benefit from the direct seaview we had. There are a couple of issues we encountered in that, as has been stated in previous reviews, the rain shower tends to overflow into the bathroom and flood the floor, and we found the shower very hot as it's not possible to regulate the temperature! This could be a scalding problem if you are not careful. We also had to report a fault on the shower as the flow of water alternated between the overhead rain shower and the hand held shower attachment independently and would not stay on the setting chosen. This was attended to immediately on reporting it but was not fully resolved throughout our stay. The televisions in the suite are good quality and show the 4 basic English channels of BBC 1 and 2 and ITV and Channel 4. However we lost the English channels twice during our stay as the digital internet provision is temperamental but to be fair the problem was sorted immediately it was reported to reception. On a general note, it would be beneficial to have a general guide in the Suite, about the hotel services, and some detailed instruction of how things work, such as the shower, tv, and particularly the nespresso coffee maker, which you have to learn how to use by trial and error! If you do have cause to report any issues then they are attended to immediately and there is always a follow up from management to check the problem has been resolved and you are satisfied with their action.
We stayed bed and breakfast only and the breakfast is of good quality with a variety to suit most nationalities. I wouldn't say that it's any more than what you'd expect at a decent quality hotel but you won't go hungry. I do think that the diy toaster is a poor option and, several times the handle comes dislodged from the grill plate, and you have to be careful not to burn yourself. An automatic rotary toaster, as used in many hotels, or a toast provided by service would be much better.
The price of drinks is very reasonable and the pool snack bar is excellent for a bite at lunchtime. The cocktail bar is very pleasant and comfortable. We were given a token for a free prosecco with nuts and olives when we used the bar. A nice touch.
There are always sunloungers to be had with no pre-reserving allowed and the chill out area with the comfy double sunbeds is fantastic. The only downside we had was the cold northerly winds up to mid morning.
As regards the weather Lanzarote, at this time of year, seems to have developed very strong and cold northerly winds in the early evening and overnight. On our last 2 nights the wind was of gale force proportion and we had our sleep disturbed by the rattling of the door to the Suite and the whistling around the stainless steel structures within the complex!
In conclusion, a great hotel, with superb staff, and perhaps a couple of little tweaks, to make it perfect.
Well done to all concerned. From a personal perspective, it's a pity the hotel was not at the Los Pocillos end of Puerto Del Carmen, where we normally stay, as we are not too keen on this end of town, as it can be less relaxing and very commercialised, with a stag and hen type feel to the bars, and all that goes with that!!!
