Allegro Isora

Last day at this hotel stayed for 1 week a lot of issues no clean pool towels everyday of asking, rooms not cleaned had to complain still not cleaned had to ask for clean bath towels a couple of times .

Just back from sevatour isora suites hotel. We were concerned having read the reviews beforehand. However, we had a good 7 night family holiday. Below are the pros and cons. The hotel is in need of various maintenence improvements. The rooms are basic, but clean enough. A bit like a basic travel lodge in need of decorating in parts. We saw a few cockcroaches on our first night, as we arrived late night and they just crossed the path in front of us. This concerned us in the first few hours but then only saw a couple after that during the whole week and so we were not put off; they are common in the canaries I'm told. We never had one in our room (we were on the 4th floor) and never saw any in the restaurant or bars. We fixed our bed settee ourselves the first night as a couple of slats had come out before my son used it and it was late night. I am sure maintenence would have sorted it but we just wanted to get to bed so did it ourselves, easy enough. The hairdryer was not properly fixed to the wall and the shower was not very warm. This did not bother us as it was nice to have a cool shower, and we brought our own hairdryer, so we did not spend time complaining. We did not have any handsoap for the sink either and when we asked one of the cleaners if she had any, she motioned in Spanish to use the soap in the dispenser in the shower, which we had been doing anyway.
We did hear of others complaining, but we were happy enough with our basic room, although it was a superior room we booked, it was not what we'd class as superior, but we were only sleeping in there. Despite the above criticism, if you have booked you can still enjoy this holiday. We did. The pools were all good. We managed to reserve a sunbed about 9am each day, but we went with the top pool and under the shade of a tree as there were rarely any parasol free. We were happy with the tree shade though, but avoid the area right under the centre of the tree below where the birds perch, as they occasionally drop a bird poo! If you like to lie in the sun, then you will need to put your towels out early, but this is often the case at any resort. The staff were excellent, pleasant and hardworking. The daily night time entertainment was good too and my boys enjoyed a nightly kick about on the footy pitch with whichever kids showed up. I heard someone complaining that the daytime kids club was not open and I do not know why, but if you have young children that might be a disappointment if you are hoping to drop your children in there. We did not see it open. The pools were very good and the slide, once it was reopened.
We were all inclusive plus, which was worth it for not having to queue for the restaurant, table service for drinks and slightly quieter eating area, plus more branded drinks. The drinks measures were very generous. The food was good for all inclusive. We all managed to enjoy something and none of us were ill so not sure what the other reviewer ate as we were there over the same period. Overall we'd say this was more 3 rather than 4 star hotel, but we all still had a good holiday and enjoyed the pool facilities each day.

To management: Get a lot more parasols and beach towels to give people better options round the pool, and review each room on changeover days, to ensure basic improvements are made; e.g. our settee bed problem should have been spotted by the cleaner who originally made up the bed before we arrived, the absence of hand soap on the sink should have been spotted then too. Some simple improvements and checking of rooms can help improve guest experiences.

If we had paid £300–£400 less and this hotel had been advertised as a 3-star, I’d probably be leaving a positive 4–5 star review right now.

We’ve stayed in 4-star hotels across the Canaries and the Balearics, and unfortunately this one fell well short of what we’ve come to expect from a 4-star hotel, despite being the most expensive holiday we’ve had.

First impressions and our room

We had a less-than-inspiring start. When we arrived in our room, we discovered:

• Broken shower
• Broken patio door
• Sink not draining
• Tap with very little pressure
• Stained bathtub
• Broken air-conditioning unit

We then visited our friends’ and family members’ rooms and discovered that they were all in the same style of room, with the same view, yet their fixtures and fittings were seemingly brand new.

What made this particularly frustrating was that we were the only family who had paid for an upgrade, yet we ended up with the most inferior room.

To be fair, the maintenance team were excellent. Every time we reported an issue, it was dealt with on the same day, so credit where it’s due.

General atmosphere and organisation

“Anarchy” is probably the best way I can describe some aspects of this hotel.

Mealtimes were frequently a frenzy of queue jumping, barging, shouting and generally poor behaviour. After seeing children repeatedly coughing over food and putting their fingers into desserts, I decided to avoid desserts altogether after the third day.

The sunbeds were another example, around 90% were reserved by 10pm the night before. It even got to the point where some guests appeared to leave towels on the same beds day and night for the entirety of their stay.

I witnessed several arguments between guests over people allegedly moving towels.

The bars were similarly frustrating. Signs clearly state a two-drink limit, yet it was common to see guests ordering 6–8 drinks at a time. Most of the time there was only one member of staff serving, which inevitably resulted in long queues.

The water slide, when eventually open, was another example. A perfectly formed queue would be in place, only for teens and even adults ignore the queue and jump into the front.

Food and drinks

Breakfast was literally hot and cold! On the days when the food was hot, I’d rate it as some of the best breakfast food I’ve had abroad. Unfortunately, it was cold more often than it was hot.

Dinner was very hit and miss and, without a doubt, the most limited buffet we’ve experienced at a 4-star hotel. The quality and cooking were also inconsistent.

Food is one of the main reasons we choose 4-star hotels because, traditionally, we’ve found that the rating guarantees a decent variety of food that is consistently well cooked and presented. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case here.

We’re also accustomed to table service for drinks in the evening. For us, that has become fairly standard in a 4-star hotel, but there was no table service here.

There is also a drain running through the rear of the restaurant seating area, and on most evenings there was an unpleasant smell coming from it.

The snack bar was OK. When food was available, it was generally nice and well cooked. However, the kitchen struggled to keep up with demand, meaning there was almost always something unavailable.

The all-inclusive drinks offering also felt more like a 3-star experience. There was only one beer/lager option, which was a first for us. Cocktail options were limited and there was no Archers or schnapps alternative, again something we’ve never encountered at a 4-star hotel.

Pools and grounds

The pools are definitely 4-star quality. There are three good-sized pools, including one with a slide, and they were always clean and at a good temperature.

Unfortunately, the slide was out of action for the first five days of our holiday.

The grounds themselves are well maintained and generally tidy. However, there were a number of defects that remained throughout our entire stay, including several male urinals being out of use, cracked paving and leaking pipes.

Housekeeping

The housekeeping team were lovely, but unfortunately their working hours caused us an issue.

Housekeeping started at around 8am, which meant we only had our room cleaned twice during our stay because we repeatedly had to politely turn them away while we were still sleeping.

In every other hotel we’ve stayed in, housekeeping has never started this early — usually 10am or later.

Arcade and entertainment

The arcade was another missed opportunity. We never saw anyone using it, largely because the temperature inside the room was unbelievably hot, it genuinely felt like how the the surface of Mars would be!

The hotel is missing a trick here. Either install air conditioning to make the current location usable, or move the arcade equipment into the bar area off reception, where it would be much more visible and accessible. I’m sure the hotel could generate considerably more revenue from it.

We also assumed there was no daytime entertainment until around the fifth day of our holiday.

We positioned ourselves around the bottom pool but never saw the traditional animation team member walking around explaining what activities were available, nor did we see a notice board in that area. We saw the toddler/young children’s club nearby and assumed that was the extent of the daytime offering.

The evening entertainment, to be fair, wasn’t bad. The Charlie Chaplin performer was particularly brilliant.

One potentially unpopular opinion: I think the 9:30pm karaoke should be adults-only, with an earlier session for children.

Having young children ourselves, I completely understand how cute it is watching them get up and sing. However, because of the acoustics and PA system, some of the performances became quite difficult to listen to, and at times you felt more awkward and sorry for the young person on stage than entertained.

Final thoughts

Apparently, the hotel has recently changed ownership, which may explain some of the shortcomings. I completely accept that a new ownership team will need time to make changes and bring the hotel up to the standard they want.

However, there should surely have been some recognition or goodwill offered to guests who had paid for a 4-star experience but received what we felt was, in many areas, a 3-star level of service and facilities.

There is definitely potential here for this hotel to be a very good 4-star resort. The pools are good, the grounds are pleasant, the maintenance team are responsive, the housekeeping staff are lovely and there are some genuinely good elements.

However, in its current condition, we feel it is misleading to market the hotel as anything above 3-star standard.

Had we paid significantly less, our expectations would have been very different and I suspect we would have left with a much more positive impression.

We would, however, be interested in returning in the future to see what changes the new owners make. Hopefully, they can realise the potential of the resort and bring the overall experience up to the 4-star standard it is currently being sold as.