Barcelo Playa Blanca Royal Level Adults only

Would love to revisit this hotel but for the money the cleaning of the room needs to improve the filter in the shower needed sorting as smelt no fresh cups or glasses cleaned just rinsed out, and the sinks needed to be cleaned every time, we never left anything untidy sorted our own bed daily just general cleaning needs sorting

We have visited Playa Blanca 25 times in the last 15 years at least, staying in Villas, 4 star and 5 star hotels across the town. Lately we like to stay in The Volcan Club, The Hyatt Preferred AI in Corralejo or The Princesca Yaiza. We like many of the bars, coffee shops and restaurants for various stops during the day and time of year. We have our loyal favourites too. So when we visit somewhere new its always compared to one of our favourites. This time we decided to treat ourselves for a shared milestone event and stay in the impressive new Barcelo Hotel This is a review for the Royal area only. We stayed in a Deluxe Suite for 14 nights All Inclusive. I have attached photos of the room for information. My review is subjective to my expectations and experience over the last 14 days. This is a 4 star hotel. The Royal area is exclusive to adults only. The hotel as a whole is attractive and well kept, the grounds are pleasing to look at. The building architecture is unique and again attractive to look at especially the reception area and adjoining terraces. The Royal area has its own restaurant, pool and bar area. The view from this area is second to none in Playa Blanca. There is a door adjacent to the Royal area which leads directly to the modern promenade below. The Deluxe Suite has a large comfortable bed with soft pillows. 2 large TVs and 2 AC zones. The walk in shower is modern but inadequate water pressure. The room is furnished as might be expected for a top suite. There is a large terrace with a jacuzzi. This area collects a lot of dust and we had to wipe surfaces daily. The terrace was swept once during our stay. Staff are generally personable, attentive and professional. Especially many of the staff in The Magical restaurant. Namely Alejandro, Mayra, Alvaro, Valentina, Laura Lopez, Lorena, Jose and Rebecca. Each of these treated us so well, remembering our dietary allergies from day one. Even our drinks and which table we preferred, for breakfast , lunch and dinner, as they each recalled daily. Fabulous staff to meet, they made a huge difference to our two week holiday this summer. The selection available in The Magical restaurant for breakfast, lunch and dinner is very good, with a good al carte menu available. Allergens are advertised in the buffet area on each food item. Gluten, Vegan and Lactose dietary restrictions are accommodated. However not all was perfect for us and we were generally overall quite disapointed at the end of our stay, having expected so much, but lack of attention to detail and carelessness came to be noticed. This includes, our pre booked limosene, late 15 mins on arrival, our flight was on time. The check in queue at the dedicated Royal level was very slow, only one person on front desk. We waited 20 mins to be seen on arrival and four more couples were waiting behind us. The buggy to our room was so fast when the driver turned a corner one of our cases fell off. Luckily nothing was broken inside. On introduction to our room by the buggy driver, we were shown how to turn on / off the A/C thats all, no mention of the jacuzzi, the terrace, the pool towels, safe location,how to get bedding changed etc. A welcome bottle of cava was delivered to our room with wrong name, Sn Duque...not me Im afraid. Pool towels were not in our room on arrival and no pool towel card to collect them. Eventually we went down to reception and collected them ourselves. One towel in the toilet was filthy and the bed bottom sheet had dirty stains, we noticed it at bedtime on the 1st night. Reception are aware of these issues. As are guest relations who rang us after arrival. Constant stream of topless young men in lobby bar and walking through reception. Only 1 bath towel per person per day just not enough especially when considering its a deluxe suite we were booked into. No hanging space for bathtowels to dry anyway. The cheapest slippers we have ever had in a quality hotel were in our room on arrival. They lasted 7 days only and were put in the bin. Seats on outside terrace are old, damaged and very dirty. Right side sink blocked at vanity counter, it took 5 mins for it to drain. Its not the peaceful oasis we expected, day or night. Night time peace disturbed by loud music from bar on promenade below 2 little cartons of water 330ml supplied daily not enough really. Just the amount for two cups of tea. Mopping of our room floor happened only twice in 14 days. Corridors leading to our room were dirty for days with the same dirt still on the floor despite cleaners on the same corridor. Most days our room was cleaned in less then 3 mins, towels, bedding changed and bin emptied. Surfaces not wiped. 4pm was a common time for a cleaner to arrive, just too late in the day to wait for a fresh towel. In many of the hotels we have stayed in on an exclusive level with AI mini bars are replenished and room service is included with just a nominal charge for delivery to the room. Also water stations are generally available extensively on every floor but only one is available at the pool bar area of the Royal section. And its closed after 6pm. Tea bags were not replenished on 10 days of the 14 days we stayed. We had to take them from the breakfast area. We love a cup of tea as opposed to coffee in the afternoon. Football jerseys allowed at dinner time in Magical Bar.
Smoking allowed extensively on outside seating area at Magical Bar during evening mealtime. The infamous sewage smell from promenade wafts through the hotel at times, once it filled the reception area. Finally and most annoyingly, the smell of someone smoking hash around the Royal area was the final straw. Is this really acceptable? I will refrain from putting up photographs of my experience, instead only of the room for information purposes for future guests. At check out I was asked about our time here, I stated it was ok. I was too happy to just leave. This without doubt is a 4 star hotel, but its not a strong 4 star, more a weak 4 star. We would love to return, especially for the breakfast and lunch experience at the Magical Bar, but its too much to expect that my negative experiences would be satisfied. Now, I see it as the cost of trying to run a vast hotel to a high standard is where quality fails. Class and comfort does not exist here although it is charged for and it is fair to be expected. So we move on, back to what we are used to, established medium to large size 4/5 star hotels where quality and cost balance.