Royal Wings Hotel

We were very satisfied with the Royal Wings Lara hotel itself. The accommodation, cleanliness, food, location and overall standard of the resort were excellent. The hotel has an incredibly beautiful garden with a huge swimming pool, a lovely beach with a large beach bar, numerous bars and restaurants, and very fast and attentive service. The night-time snacks and the beautiful lobby bar with its quick service were also excellent. The entertainment programme and activities organized for guests throughout the day were of a very high standard.

If we were rating only the hotel and its regular services, we would have no hesitation in giving it a very high rating.

Unfortunately, however, we had an extremely unpleasant experience with the hotel photographer and the way this service is offered and sold to guests.

The photographer repeatedly approached us and persuaded us to have our photos taken in a way that we eventually found intrusive and annoying. We eventually agreed to the photoshoot. Photographs were taken in the garden, on the beach and in other parts of the resort.

We were then invited to view the photographs at approximately 9:30 p.m.

This is where the truly unpleasant experience began.

Despite repeatedly asking how much the service would cost, we were not given a clear answer beforehand. Instead, we were made to sit through a presentation of the photographs, followed by deleting and selecting photographs, and then subjected to prolonged persuasion. Only afterwards were we told that approximately 200 photographs, provided in electronic format only, would cost an unbelievable €850.

After we were clearly shocked by the price and refused, the price was gradually reduced – first to €600 and, after approximately another hour of persuasion, finally to €450 for 100 photographs, again in electronic format only.

We found this sales approach completely unacceptable. The problem is not only the extremely high price, but especially the lack of transparent pricing beforehand and the subsequent intense sales pressure. You come to a resort to relax and enjoy your holiday, only to spend a significant part of your evening being pressured into purchasing a service whose actual price was not clearly communicated in advance.

Furthermore, in our opinion, the final quality of the photographs did not remotely justify the amount being demanded. Not all of the photographs were of a quality we would expect from such an expensive professional service.

Overall, we felt that these sales tactics cost us a significant amount of our valuable holiday time and spoiled part of what should have been a relaxing experience. This is particularly disappointing because the resort itself is truly beautiful.

Another very unpleasant aspect was the photoshoot involving a macaw. The condition of the bird caused us serious concerns regarding its welfare. From what we observed, it appeared to have only a few flight feathers on each wing, while the remaining feathers appeared to have been plucked rather than professionally trimmed. We cannot determine how this happened, but the condition of the bird was extremely disturbing to us, and we certainly do not consider it appropriate to use an animal in such a condition as a photography attraction for hotel guests.

In summary: We can genuinely recommend Royal Wings Lara in terms of its accommodation, food, cleanliness, beautiful gardens, swimming pool, beach, bars, restaurants, service and entertainment. Unfortunately, our experience with the hotel photographer was so unpleasant, pressure-driven and, in our opinion, lacking in transparency that it significantly damaged our overall impression of an otherwise excellent resort.

If the hotel operates this photography service directly or provides the photographer with space within the resort, we strongly recommend that hotel management carefully review the way guests are approached, informed about prices and subsequently pressured to purchase the service.

This photography experience was, without a doubt, the worst part of our entire holiday.

Fantastic Family Holiday at Royal Wings, Lara Beach

We’ve just returned from a fantastic family holiday at Royal Wings, Lara Beach, and overall we were really impressed with the hotel.

The transfer from the airport was quick and easy, taking around 25 minutes. Our first impressions at reception were excellent – the hotel is beautiful and really does make a great first impression.

We arrived late in the evening and visited the bistro, where we had table-service food. There was a good menu with plenty of choice, which was very welcome after travelling. Our room was lovely and spotlessly clean. It was a little smaller than we expected, but it had everything we needed and we had no complaints.

One of the things we particularly loved was the sunbed situation. Despite the hotel being full to capacity, there were plenty of sunbeds available every day. There is also a strict rule that sunbeds cannot be reserved before 9am, which we thought was brilliant and made things much fairer.

There are so many different areas around the hotel, meaning there really is something for everyone. The kids absolutely loved the waterpark and slides, and there were plenty of great lunch options throughout the day. We never struggled to find something we liked.

A particular favourite was the jacket potato station. It was something different from other all-inclusive hotels and provided a great alternative to the usual kebabs, burgers and pizzas. We also really appreciated the branded sauces and drinks, including Heinz products.

The main restaurant had a huge variety of food and we never felt stuck for choice. The service throughout the hotel was excellent. The bar staff regularly came around with drinks and snacks and were always friendly and smiling. The rollerblading waiters were a fantastic touch, bringing drinks around throughout the day and even delivering ice creams in the afternoon – Cornettos, Twisters and other branded ice creams. Little touches like this really made the holiday special.

The staff deserve a huge mention. Everyone we encountered was friendly, helpful and genuinely seemed to go above and beyond to make sure guests were enjoying themselves.

The private beach was another highlight. It gave us a lovely change of scenery from the pools, and there were always plenty of sunbeds. We particularly enjoyed the pier sunbeds and swimming in the sea.

Entertainment-wise, the foam party and White Garden Party were definitely the highlights of our holiday. A huge amount of effort clearly goes into these events and they were really special. The kids’ disco was what you’d expect, with the usual holiday songs and dancing. We’re not personally fans of the amphitheatre-style setting, but it works well for the entertainment.

We only used the kids’ club once, but our daughter really enjoyed the activity she took part in.

The fairground is a nice addition and gave the children something else to enjoy. We didn’t use the ten-pin bowling, although it did look quite small, and we weren’t particularly impressed with the arcade area. The spa itself was lovely, although the changing facilities weren’t quite to the standard we expected considering how impressive the rest of the spa area is.

There is also some good shopping directly opposite the hotel, as well as shops within the hotel, which is really convenient.

Overall, Royal Wings gave us a fantastic family holiday with plenty to see, do and enjoy. The food, facilities, entertainment, beach, waterpark and especially the staff all made for a brilliant experience.

Would we return? Absolutely. A great family-friendly hotel that genuinely goes the extra mile.