LIVVO Puerto de Mogan

Overall a lovely hotel and good location. Found most of the staff to be excellent . Cleanliness and room cleaning were excellent. We did find the pool area to be overcrowded during the day , which was a surprise for such a small hotel. We realised the the hotel could be used by there local apartments, but also found the hotel could be used by non residents on day pass.

We have really enjoyed aspects of our stay at LIVVO Puerto de Mogán Hotel. The hotel is pleasant, the location is excellent, and the pool itself is small but lovely. Unfortunately, the way the hotel and pool area are managed has been one of the most frustrating parts of our holiday.

The biggest issue is the constant inconsistency in the rules and how they are communicated and enforced. One day, children can use small balls in the pool, then the next day they are apparently banned. Small floats are allowed, then suddenly they aren’t. There seems to be no clear, consistently communicated policy, leaving guests wondering what is and isn’t permitted from one day to the next.

The rooftop terrace provides another example of this inconsistency. During the day, there is a clear 18+ sign indicating that the area is for adults only. However, in practice, children are sometimes allowed up there and sometimes they are not. Again, the issue isn't necessarily the rule itself. If the rooftop terrace is intended to be adults only, that is perfectly understandable. The problem is that the rule does not appear to be consistently communicated or enforced. On some occasions we have seen children using the area, while on others it appears that children are not permitted.

If an area is 18+ during the day, that should be clearly communicated to all guests and consistently enforced. Equally, if children are permitted at certain times or under certain circumstances, that information should be made clear. Instead, it is yet another situation where guests are left trying to work out what the actual rules are.

The sunbed policy is another example. A notice attached to the sunbeds states that if a sunbed is not used for 30 minutes, staff will remove personal belongings and towels and take them to reception. I completely understand the hotel’s desire to prevent guests from reserving sunbeds all day, particularly given the relatively small pool area and the fact that the hotel has only around 52 rooms. However, enforcing a strict 30 minute rule creates an obvious problem. If you want to leave the pool area to have lunch, for example, you potentially risk returning to find your belongings removed. Unless you’re prepared to eat very quickly, it effectively discourages guests from leaving the pool at all.

What makes this even more frustrating is that the hotel appears to allow guests from the LIVVO Apartments to purchase day access to the pool area. At the same time that paying hotel guests are being subjected to strict rules regarding sunbeds and pool use, there appears to be very little control over who is actually entering the pool area.

There is a proper glass entrance through reception, yet the black rear service gate is regularly left open. We have seen people simply walk in through this gate, take a towel, bypass reception and the entrance controls, and settle themselves around the pool. If the hotel is going to introduce and strictly enforce rules on its paying guests, surely the first priority should be ensuring that access to the pool is properly controlled.

The issue isn’t necessarily that the hotel has rules. It is that the rules don’t appear to be consistently applied, consistently communicated or consistently enforced. That lack of structure creates unnecessary frustration, particularly for families with children who simply want to have a little fun in the pool without constantly wondering whether something that was permitted yesterday is suddenly prohibited.

Another disappointment has been the lack of entertainment or organised activities for guests. We appreciate that this is not necessarily a hotel for people looking for constant entertainment, but there is very little offered, and when something is organised, the communication and execution have been disappointing.

A particularly frustrating example was the rooftop event advertised for hotel guests to watch the solar eclipse. The hotel promoted the event and guests were told that protective glasses would be provided. However, only a few hours before the event, it was cancelled because the hotel had apparently been unable to obtain the promised protective glasses.

Safety obviously has to come first, and nobody would expect the hotel to proceed with an eclipse viewing event without appropriate eye protection. However, cancelling the entire event only hours beforehand because the essential equipment had not been secured beforehand suggests another lack of planning and organisation.

Even the question of whether children could attend demonstrated the same communication problems. We asked in advance and received completely different answers from different members of reception. One receptionist told us that children had to be 16 or over, while another said the minimum age was 12. The posters advertising the event did not make the age restriction clear, and ultimately nobody seemed to know what the actual rule was. The event was then cancelled anyway.

This is particularly disappointing because events like this should be an opportunity for a hotel to create a memorable experience for its guests. Instead, it became another example of unclear information, conflicting answers from staff and poor execution.

There is a lot to like about this hotel. The location is fantastic, the hotel itself is nice and the pool area is attractive. However, these positives are being undermined by what appears to be a significant lack of coordination, consistency and communication within the hotel team.

Some members of staff have also been extremely unhelpful and, at times, surprisingly dismissive when guests have tried to understand the rules. The attitude of certain staff members has been disappointing and does little to resolve what is essentially a management and communication problem.

Hopefully management will take this feedback constructively. Clear, written rules that are communicated to all guests, consistently enforced by all staff, and applied equally to hotel guests and day visitors would make a huge difference.

At present, the problem isn’t that there are too many rules. The problem is that nobody seems to know what the rules are, when they apply, or whether they will be enforced consistently.

For a hotel where guests are paying to relax and enjoy their holiday, that level of inconsistency is extremely frustrating.