Riu Papayas

Check in and reception were very good and knowledgeable and efficient Room was good sized but could do with a few changes, for example bath towels are very small, toilet paper is very low quality, no plug sockets near a mirror and it could have done with another work surface/desk area. Food was average, some days better than others. Some items were of very low quality, for example the burgers were very gristly. Some days would be heavily loaded to one particular meat so if you didn’t like that particular meat, choices became limited General service of the hotel could be improved. Compared to other Rius I have stayed in I felt this one lacked the personal touch. It’s more of a ‘do it yourself’ attitude rather than people wanting to help you. For example, you don’t get offered a drink at dinner, it’s self service and there aren’t people around the pool wanting to help you with sunbeds or parasols. These are minor issues and not a huge problem. But when on holiday I feel like they are nice to have. Overall for the price paid we think it was good value but just a few tweaks would make this hotel even better and make us more likely to want to return. Currently we are glad we went and would return to Gran Canaria but not to this hotel

Overall good for food and drinks. Cocktails were machine made which was poor. the evening entertainment was very poor.

We have had a great time at this hotel. Plenty of sunloungers but yes the best areas are took very very very early. The food has been fantastic! Really impressed! Everything has been great except really the area wasn’t really for us as not much to do. We visited the lighthouse area which was nice and also the Palmitos park which was the highlight of the trip.

Checked in (around 21:30) easy and quick. Shown to lovely large room on 7th (top) floor. Went to restaurant at 22:00pm they had saved a soup/salad for us (thanks, much appreciated). Rooms Black out curtains really good, noise level very good, could hear the main road but wasn't an issue. Air con and fan keeps room cool. Plenty of hangers and space for clothes and tea/coffee/fridge. Pool Area The Pool was absolutely lovely. The warmest one I think I've had. Heated salt water. Sun beds are all crammed in, so you can hear the person next to you, and struggle to get on the damb thing, as there is no room to move them. This is the only thing we didn't really like. Sunbeds around pool are reserved at 6am... another thing we don't like. Wasn't really a problem for us, as we always found somewhere and sometimes didn't go to pool until around 11am. Aquafit everyday at 12 is good fun. Food Really good, as you would expect, can be quite repetitive, but as a fish/chicken salad lover, I was happy. Drinks Cocktails not too bad, not the best but better than some hotels. Red wine in the restaurant was drinkable. Spirits were ok (only tried Vodka and rum though). Help yourself to wine, beer and soft drinks all day long. Water bottles available from bar to help yourself. Restaurants Usual main buffet and then 2 A-la Carte (bookable), One Asian and one Spanish. There are 2 sittings either 18:30 or 20:30. We had no trouble booking and went to the 20:30 sitting at both restaurants. Asian was horrible, the meat was all dry and hard. Spanish was nice. Gym Used the gym once and it was ok. Evening entertainment Most of the time it was good from what we saw. The Riu party (white or Neon rotating), was brilliant. Daytime activities Usual darts, bingo, archery etc but I didn't partake in any of those. Resort Not related to the hotel, obviously, but still important. We did think the resort itself was a bit dirty, and grubby. When walking to the Dunes one day we saw human excrement on the pavement with toilet roll. On more than one occasion, what looked like vomit. It seems no one cleans the pavements, unlike some cleaner resorts, that I have been to. For this reason we would not go back to this resort.

As expected another great stay at a RIU hotel with great service from all the staff throughout the hotel