Check in
Privilege check in is separate from main, you have to go to their area. Don’t wait in a queue at main check in to be told this, just go off & find the privilege area, your name is on a “welcome sign”.
Check in is painfully slow, after a 10+ hour flight & travel from airport to hotel arriving at 7pm local time, we just wanted to get to the room. We finally got to the room after 9pm. But we were supposed to then go on a tour with the Butler who you get assigned on check in but as the kids were exhausted & jet lagged we couldn’t do this. Emmanuel was fab though & told us essential information for that evening & would catch up with us the next day for a tour etc.
There were supposed to be gift packs for the kids on arrival however we didn’t receive these. We didn’t question it however as it would probably have been some tat we don’t need.
You can hear through the walls!
Room
Privilege suite - two double beds & a pull out double sofa bed. Garden view (tree canopy) balcony with jacuzzi bath (very old)
Dated room. Basin leaked. Jacuzzi bath in bathroom leaked downstairs.
Cleaning - not the best at all, beds made an a quick mop but that’s about it. Bathroom rarely cleaned.
Mini fridge always replenished (selection of beers, sodas, water, milkshake, spirits & snacks).
Good clothing space but could do with more drawers esp for a family of 4 staying for 2 weeks.
Roaches in the bedroom - requested a room chance but wasn’t catered for, recommended deep clean but again it was just a quick mop around, unsure if they sprayed.
Sliding doors to balcony leaked during heavy rain.
No key cards to get into the room, this was done via the bracelet they give you on check in. Really good idea as always forgetting the card. Only annoying if one of the kids wanted to pop back, we had to go with them.
Pools
There are a number of pools to use, the Privilege pool just has a section for privilege guests, if you use these sunbeds you have access to the premium drinks & poolside snacks; other sunbeds despite being privilege don’t have this. It doesn’t appear to be monitored so if you’re not privilege then I guess you could use them. There are different coloured wristbands for package.
The pools get really busy, despite having signs for no sunbed reserving this is ignored & not policed at all so you do have to just go with it & pop your towel down, it’s not massively early though, id say about 7ish is when it starts.
The main entertainment pool is rammed and beds reserved very early.
All the pools have swim up bars. They open at 10am.
The water park pool is shallow & has lots of sprinklers for the kids as well as slides (they’re not fast), adults are not allowed on the slides. Very easy to bump heads on the underneath parts of the slides as these are not sectioned off.
Entertainment at pools for kids are at the water park, adult only & entertainment pool. Includes foam parties, games etc.
The pools are quite rough, not tiled but made to look like sand, some parts are breaking off & there were a few grazes and cut toes by the end.
There are lifeguards at all pools. Towel change at all pools. No proof required (for privilege at least) just grab & go.
There is a toilet block at every pool. Dated but cleaned regularly.
There is a kids play park located next to the water park pool which is quite good.
Activity
There are a lot of activities on the schedule which can be accessed via the website/app you get once you’ve checked in. This isn’t updated to say whether something isn’t on, some activities are weather dependant.
Bowling - really old, smells awful in there. You have to take socks & wear the bowling shoes. We didn’t bring socks so couldn’t play. Did get busy in there from what we saw especially in the evening & on overcast/rainy days.
Paddle/Tennis/basketball courts. Available to use at any time of the day.
There is a batting cage in need of some love but works fine.
Evening entertainment is listed on the app or via a message from your butler (they use WhatsApp to communicate). Shows are good. Some are outside the main square & some are in the indoor theatre area. Much prefer the outside shows as it can feel like you’re trapped in the theatre during a performance/show.
Kids club areas - always something going on. PlayStations & pool tables for older kids. No booking required. Check app for activities.
Food & Drink
Food is quite good, the main Buffett restaurant can get a bit repetitive but the quality is good.
As privilege guests, you have access to all the restaurants as many times as you want. You can book this via your butler or the app.
Japanese - this goes fast even for privilege. If it’s full to book you can queue from 8.30 (go early some people queue hours before - mad) at the buffet restaurant to make a reservation. They might try to upsell you into buying a bottle of wine to get a better seating time. Food was alright. Nothing massively special & unfortunately the performance aspect of it was lacking. We ate there twice.
Privilege lounge - breakfast (small buffet & menu items), nice & chilled, not as crazy as the buffet but not as much choice either. Lunch is just menu options, nice food. Dinner - delicious!
La Laconda - Italian - average food. Great service. Nice environment.
Steak restaurant- nice food, really slow service. You can upgrade the steak options. We got two free steak upgrades as part of our package which could be used in most of the restaurants.
Margarita restaurant - Mexican. This place is a walk up but if you are privilege you can make a booking. Food is really average. Vegetarian option has chorizo so not sure how that works. Service is slow. Wouldn’t go back.
La Terreza - can’t book via privilege, walk up only. Has sittings for 6pm & 8pm for a dinner show. Make reservation on the night at 5pm there.
Ice cream shop - doesn’t open until 4pm which is a shame. Alright choice of flavours but nothing like what’s advertised. You can get mr whippy style ice cream at the bar by the water park during the day.
Mikes coffee shop - good selection of coffees, teas, iced coffees, smoothies, pasties, sandwiches etc. cups size for coffee is soooo small. Queues at peak times are very long & slow. Nice vibe inside though. Not unlike a Starbucks/costa.
Sports bar - smelt bad; like an old social club with years of sweat plastered to the walls. Left quite quickly.
Room service - delivered like an uber eats/delivery within 45 minutes. Included in privilege.
Beach
Quite a thin beach area but it’s nice. Seaweed is rife but cleared quickly. Can be smelly first thing in the morning.
Lots of sunbed choice.
There is also a pool right on the beach so best of both worlds.
Privilege beach area is at the back of the restaurant & has waiter drinks service (but actually everywhere does for everyone so not that special).
There is a juice bar serving fresh smoothies.
There are water sports activities you can book (pay separately), but there are also some activities like paddle boarding which is included, again these are weather dependent. Timings can be seen on the app.
Beach is well kept & sand is lovely.
It isn’t a private beach so there are walkers up & down from other hotels. Seems pretty safe though.
Shops
Obviously overpriced as always in these places.
Snacks, clothing, jewellery, souvenirs etc.
They do sell cigarettes (yes, even though banned you can buy cigarettes & smoke at the resort in certain areas, no vapes although people do sell these on the beach). Smoking areas are cordoned off by rope sections in various locations. No policing though so people would leave these areas. Not bad though. Never bothered us.
There is an arcade place but everything is extra cost in there. Everything seems a bit dated. They have a random escape room & laser tag but really basic so don’t get excited.
Gym
Gym is massive & fairly well equipped. Biggest one I’ve seen at a hotel. Gets busy early morning.
Spa
We didn’t book treatments. They were all very expensive. You get 10% off as privilege & access to a 30 minute hydro circuit session.
Getting around
It’s not massive, you can easily walk around to get where you need however there is a regular shuttle service that runs between the beach & main lobby area, you can just hop on & off.
Overall we had a lot of fun and would definitely return.
