Elba Lanzarote Royal Village Resort

After reading some of the comments before our holiday, I was worried about what to expect, and it put a dampener on the pre-holiday excitement. I've never written a review before, but after spending a week here with two adults and a 9-year-old, I felt it might help others who are in the same position. First of all, I'd say a holiday is what you make it. You can choose to embrace the positives or get hung up on the negatives, and this is only my opinion based on our experience during the week.

We've been lucky enough to stay in 3*, 4* and 5* hotels, and I'd say this hotel sits in the 4* bracket. It's not top-class luxury, but it doesn't claim to be or cost the same as hotels that are. Equally, it's not a basic budget hotel either – it sits somewhere in the middle. If you're looking for perfection, then you'll probably need to book a higher-star hotel and pay the higher price.

The hotel has the potential to be brilliant, but it does have some issues due to being understaffed. Reception actually told us this at check-in and said if anything was missing or didn't meet expectations, just let them know and they would sort it.

Our room was lovely, with excellent air conditioning, daily cleaning, fresh towels, and the bed made every day. The outdoor terrace area was spacious and was swept clear of leaves daily. We booked the Prestige All Inclusive package, which should have included bathrobes and a coffee machine. These were missing initially, which was disappointing, but after a quick call to reception they were delivered within 15 minutes. The fridge was restocked daily with Coke, Fanta, beer, water and fresh coffee pods. We had to ask once or twice for tea bags and milk, but again they arrived within 15 minutes. It wasn't something that was going to ruin our holiday.

We enjoyed the pool area. The water was cold for the first couple of minutes, but once you got in it was absolutely fine. We all enjoyed the slide, and there were always plenty of sunbeds available, whether you wanted to sit in the sun or the shade. The pool bar served mojito and piña colada slushies for adults, strawberry slushies for the kids, as well as all the usual drinks. There were also self-service bowls of crisps, sweets and nuts that were topped up regularly, plus a freezer with ice cream tubs. The only downside was that there was usually just one member of staff serving at the pool bar, so queues did build up at times. However, we never waited more than about five minutes.

The food was what we'd expect from an all-inclusive buffet – plenty of choice and reasonable quality. It wasn't fine dining, but we weren't expecting it to be. Every evening there was freshly grilled meat and fish, pasta with different sauces, pizza, antipasti including cured meats, cheeses, olives and bread, plus a different themed night such as Mexican or Asian. There was also a selection of desserts, from cakes to ice cream.

The main downside for us was the restaurant itself. The air conditioning wasn't great, and I'd say this is something the hotel needs to improve. Service also suffered because there simply weren't enough staff. Tables weren't cleared or reset quickly enough, meaning it could be difficult to find somewhere to sit. We often cleared a table ourselves and had to ask for clean cutlery. Drinks service was also quite slow, and we had to ask for someone to take our order. It wasn't ideal, and I'd expect better from a 4* hotel, but it wasn't enough to spoil our holiday.

We ate in the Italian à la carte restaurant, where both the food and service were noticeably better. We had pizza and pasta Bolognese, and both were excellent.

Breakfast offered fresh pancakes, eggs, bread, fruit, pastries and all the usual cooked breakfast options including bacon and hash browns. Lunch at the pool snack bar was typically burgers, hot dogs, chips and other quick bites.

There was a good selection of all-inclusive drinks and cocktails in the evening bar, and the premium cocktails available for an extra charge were excellent. Once again, the only real downside was the lack of staff. There were usually only two people serving, so queues occasionally reached 5–10 minutes. Extra staff would also have helped keep the tables clear, although it doesn't take much for guests to be considerate and clear away their own rubbish before leaving.

Overall, if you're expecting absolute perfection, then this probably isn't the hotel for you. But if you're looking for a family hotel with decent facilities, and you're happy to overlook the effects of being understaffed, then you'll have a great holiday. We certainly did. We came to relax, spend quality time together and make memories as a family, and that's exactly what we left with.

Elba village in Lanzarote This holiday was very flat when it came to entertainment or holiday vibes in general the rooms was clean but we did have issues with tv electricity and a toilet that wouldn’t flush and was constantly filling the tv you may think your on holiday why would you need it I’ve never gone away and used the tvs in the room but here the show for adults start at 9 and are done by 10 there was no music after or before to dance the bar would close and it was bedtime so by 10 I would want to have a little tv to pass the time there was no signal, our room had the electricity cut out several times the one night it was from 12 we had a 6 month old baby we needed to materialise his bottles use the kettle needed lights to change his nappies etc so this was a problem.

The staff was very rude here. Paid money for all inclusive holiday and we had to go out to get food as the places to eat was disgusting with hygiene you would have flys walking over the food at pool bar no lids to cover the food you couldn’t find a clean table at the pool bar or restaurant the cutlery plates and cups would be dirty still have food on and the food was boring plain burnt the same thing everyday they had several people complain about this whilst I was there the pool bar has birds that go inside but they don’t clean so there would be seats with bird poo over or the light fittings inside would have it on and the walls just not nice to see when you go in for food on top of the lack of clean plates and cutlery

You couldn’t get served for drinks there was nowhere near enough staff you would wait for ages to get drinks so the little entertainment you have at the night you miss stuck in the que I’ve never left a review for a holiday before but I felt this was one of them times I needed to it was the best experience for the money paid I’ve never gone away and wanted to come home this is a first I won’t waste my time going to this hotel or any of the others they have anywhere else In the future