RIU Hotels & Resorts review: Hotel overcrowding

Booking Ref [protected]



First of all can I thank you for organising for us to stay at the Riu Paraiso Resort Lanzarote .

The staff at the resort are impeccable and work so hard to deliver great customer service .

Sadly I do not feel the resort is of the platinum level we paid for or delivered a platinum service I would say we experienced 3 star while we were there.

We have just returned from our week away and unfortunately have to contact you on a negative note, your company is always our trusted brand and our usual go to as we both work very hard and look forward to a relaxing time and much needed break away.

Sadly relaxation was impossible as the beginning of our week was absolutely ruined by being your hotel being massively overcrowded ( this was confirmed by your reps to us ). We struggled to get a seat at dinner and on two occasion returned to our table during choosing courses to find our tables cleared, and new diners sitting there, we were forced to eat out three nights to avoid the chaos, The place was absolutely packed throughout and most uncomfortable at meal times and around the pool with not enough seats to go around, the butlins like entertainment was terrible, I could go to butlins much cheaper, in the restaurants children were running loose and touching food and putting it back, nobody monitoring them or imposing the resorts clothing policy some people often sitting in wet swimwear leaving wet seats. We even got told off for finding seats at a table set for 4 as we had no other options.

Most uncomfortable

Also at no point were we informed we would be sharing with the hotel next door and believe me I have looked at all of the hotel information.

During the day when we did manage to get a lounger later in the day we felt pressured to leave or move over in the evening as at around 5.30 the pool men were putting the sun beds back around us. Looking at their watches as if we were overstaying. It was not pleasant.

The drinks stations are a free for all with alcohol beside the soft drinks, I witnessed twice children putting lager in their glasses, surely this needs a rethink or monitoring . We have done platinum in the past and this was nowhere near the standards we expected or have experienced.

If I may suggest a few things, in the lobby bar I have never been in one that doesn’t offer glass mats, my drink dripped all over me , no nibbles or even ambient music. The restaurant could at least have an adult only section, it’s big enough and maybe some outside entertainment as we were unable to get a seat due to the volume of people. I did complain to the reps via chat but as there was nothing they could do about overcrowding I left it to the end of our stay ticket No [protected] they offered me a £100 for two of us off a next holiday that I declined as we spent more than that on eating out.

I feel this is not enough to compensate us for our extra costs to eat and drink out for 3 days to avoid the mayhem.

We both look forward to holiday again with you soon but hope to not experience the disappointments we have endured I am sure there will be other people unhappy as we were.

On a positive the hotel staff always managed a smile and kept the resort impeccably clean

I look forward to your reply.