H10 Playa Meloneras Palace, Gran Canaria

Great location, very clean,staff super friendly Choice of pools,food had a good choice and the gateux are to die for Don't like singling individuals out because everyone was very helpful, pleasant and welcoming However shout out to "its raining men a 5*" Xenia. The "crazy man" Alejandro absolute legend

Were just back from a week at Meloneras Palace 2 adults and 2 teens (13 and 15). There were good and not so good parts to our stay, but overall, we enjoyed our holiday. The hotel is in a good location, with a short 30-minute transfer time from the airport (we paid 55 each way with ZipTransfers, who were excellent). There is a promenade which is a fairly easy 20-minute walk along to the main Meloneras resort (lots of expensive shops and a Funde Grube!) and a few shops in front of the hotel, although these werent up to much. We had 2 Privilege rooms on the 5th floor and quite a walk from the main areas. The hotel is on a pretty large site, and it took us a good few days to find our way about easily. There are lots of steps, and the lifts are not so easy to find (and the lift floor numbers dont match the map you are given on arrival), so do bear this in mind if steps arent your thing! Our room was clean and functional, and had obviously been updated fairly recently, although you can tell the hotel has been around for a while. The room was cleaned daily and we had our linen changed once during the week. An evening turndown was part of the privilege package, but this only happened 4 nights out of the 7 not sure why. We used the new Privilege Lounge a lot it was excellent never busy and always fully stocked with drinks and snacks. The pool areas were lovely, and it was great to see the no reserving of beds being enforced. There were plenty sunbeds and we never had an issue getting 4 together, even on the days when didnt go down til after lunch. We spent most of our time at the waterfall pool and the one beside the Naturalia. The main pool needs a bit of maintenance, but I believe this will be attended to next year. It certainly didnt spoil our enjoyment in the water. The buffet food was ok. There was plenty of choice, but as with all buffets, it is never properly hot and it gets repetitive after a while. The massive positive for us was how well they catered for our peanut allergy. Every night, chef Sergio would come and talk us through all the options, letting us know what was safe to eat. He always offered to make us something fresh and, on the chocolate fountain nights, he brought my girls a portion plated up in the kitchen to avoid cross contamination. This was really, really reassuring. Unfortunately, on the nights when Sergio was not there, the other staff wouldnt accommodate this, which was a little disappointing. The Italian was brilliant and the staff there Afrika and Marcia were fantastic. Those were our favourite two meals. We tried breakfast in the Gaudi (part of our Privilege package) but we found the staff there to be rude and unfriendly, which really surprised us given the other excellent reviews it had. We cancelled our dinner reservation based on the poor breakfast service. Breakfast in the buffet restaurant was good, but the coffee from the machine was not. Some mornings we were offered a pot of fresh coffee, and some mornings we werent we couldnt work out the criteria for this! We had drinks in all the bars and found the staff to be friendly, if a little inconsistent. It was not clear whether to order at the bar or wait at your table. In the lobby, disco and outdoor bar we sat for a good 10/15 minutes before going up to order but when we went to order, we were sent back to our seats so they could take our order there. We didnt ever figure out the protocol for that! The hotel gets great reviews and clearly has a regular clientele, who staff know and seem to, perhaps, favour over other guests. On checkout, no-one asked how our stay was, and if wed had a nice time. Did we have a good stay? Yes. Is the hotel worth its 5-star status? No. Would we come back? If the price was right for the Privilege package.

The hotel was kept spotless and the staff were very friendly. We stayed half board and privilege. Our room had recently been refurbished so was very nice and had a lovely view. The hotel itself is massive and we found it hard to navigate especially as my companion was on a mobility scooter. Its a bit of a maze which got frustrating at times and more signage might help. For us the main disappointment was the food. Although on privilege we usually used the main buffet restaurant as it was flexible time wise. Breakfast was fine but dinner was often salty, repetitive and of poor quality for a 5* hotel. For us the position of the hotel didnt work either as we prefer to wander along a busy beach front with lots of shops rather than massive hotels. We only used the pool on the privilege level, which we found too cold. The snacks on offer there were disappointing compared to what weve experienced in similar setups. The evening entertainment was generally poor apart from the wonderful saxophone player and pianist. I dont like to be negative as the staff work so hard but overall we were disappointed and although the hotel has lots to offer it fell short in too many areas for us.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:- My wife and I wanted some last minute sun and relaxation, and we booked H10 Playa Meloneras with Jet2 from a carefully considered shortlist, based on flying out of Leeds/Bradford airport, short transfer time, guaranteed weather and good reviews. Overall, we were pleased with our choice and had an enjoyable time. LOCATION:- Within a half hour drive from the airport, the hotel is a two minute walk from Meloneras beach (beware of large rocks and stones both on the beach and the sea itself). There's a lovely pedestrianised promenade walk to the much better Maspalomas beach and the dunes area (takes around half an hour). You can also walk around the rocks in the other direction towards the pretty marina of Pasito Blanco. The hotel itself is quite spread out from the magnificent central building, and it takes a day or so to completely get your bearings and work out the best ways of getting from "A to B". HOTEL ROOMS AND HOTEL FACILITIES:- The rooms are spacious and reasonably well-equipped. From what I can tell, Privilege rooms are exactly the same size but have had a relatively recent makeover; the normal rooms are a little dated. Loads of room around the main pools, and plenty of sunbeds and parasols to go round, but the Privilege pool very cramped and crowded. There weren't many children around while we were there, but there appeared to be a reasonable selection of daily activities for them in the "Daisy Club". There was a modest selection of daily activities for adults plus a well equipped gym and spa. Entertainment in the early evening was a superb saxophonist or pianist, great for pre-dinner drinks. It's a shame that the later evening entertainment consisted mainly of various dance troupes. More variety, and more music to dance to, would have been better for us. FOOD AND DRINK:- There are various options to choose from , B&B, Half Board, All-lnclusive. Meals on each of these arrangements are in the buffet restaurant. We had booked all-inclusive, but paid an extra cost on top for the "Privilege" service, which allows you to eat in one of the 4 additional a la carte restaurants for dinner, and have breakfast in the Gaudi restaurant. It is essential to book in advance for these, and not all restaurants are open every night. Personally, we are really glad we did this; the food and service was excellent and much better than the buffet experience. LITTLE NIGGLES:- We were a little disappointed that the "Privilege" offer fell short of our expectations. Whilst we did enjoy the facility of eating in the a la carte restaurants, we found the Privilege lounges underwhelming (beds in the pool area were packed close together). The advertised offer to keep your room on day of departure "subject to availability" wasn't actually available to us, or anyone else as far as we could tell. Room servicing was inconsistent, and pool towel arrangements unnecessarily complicated. Overall, we had a good restful holiday, and while we would recommend many features of this hotel, the All inclusive and Privilege aspects fell short of the standards we have experienced elsewhere.