Review date: 07 July 2005 - A HotelStreet visitor from West Sussex, England wrote:-

Review title: "Definitely Not Four star"
Travel date: June 2005
We had enjoyed our previous stay in this area at 'The Occidental Grand' and it seemed that Sunrise Club were offering an excellent value holiday to a hotel of a similar standard.

As naturists, we looked forward to long beach walks and in the first week of our holiday the tide and conditions were such that we were able to enjoy walking towards Costa Calma along a wide, spectacular sandy beach next to sweeping sand dunes. Truly beautiful until the higher tide levels and currents resulted in the sand being covered and walking becoming a rock climbing expedition.

Fuerteventura means the place of winds. This is the windiest hotel we have stayed at on the island. It was almost impossible to find a place in the sun protected from strong gusting winds. Many guests agreed with us about the wind and also that the swimming pools were too cold. In the promenade beach bar we were amused to see a pigeon blown backwards along the floor!

If you don't enjoy gusting winds, pick your hotel and time of visit to Fuertentura carefully. There are nearby less exposed hotels that seem better designed to provide shelter from wind and have access to less windy beaches.

The access to the beach from the hotel is by a long stairway and it is not so easy for parents with babies or toddlers or for people who are not completely fit!

We did not like the 'school dinner' atmosphere of the dining room. The restaurant is closed in the evening between 7.30 p.m. and 8.00 p.m. ? a very popular time for taking meals. On your first day you are allocated a table on arrival to a session that starts either at 6.00 p.m. and must finish at 7.30pm or a session that starts at 8.00 p.m. and finishes at 9.30 p.m. Instead of being able to freely dine with people you meet, you are seated according the whims of management.

Maybe the 'inclusive' deal has become too popular. Even with this restriction in place, the low ceilings decor and concrete structure of the dining room make it a very noisy place and it is difficult to have a quiet conversation! The congestion and queues at the self-service buffet do not provide a relaxed dining room atmosphere. For us the dining room facilities were totally inadequate for the total number of guests. If you arrived later to avoid queues, then there was a restricted choice of food because food displays were not always replaced when exhausted.

One redeeming feature for us as non-smokers was that the dining room was a strictly a non-smoking area. Our first impressions of the hotel were not good in so far as the theatre and nearby 'quiet' rooms reeked of stale tobacco smoke and smoking in the theatre was encouraged by the provision of tables with ash trays. Some parents might not like their children, particularly if prone to asthma, to be exposed to tobacco fumes. To our knowledge nearby hotel theatres have a non-smoking policy for their theatres. We certainly found the tobacco smoke plus the lack of effective ventilation or air conditioning restricted our enjoyment of the theatre facilities. Some children in the theatre were holding their hands to the ears because of the high volume of amplified music, particularly bass notes.

The management had recognised a danger to teenagers and had closed a decorative pool next to the bar and animation office. A wire fence had been put across the drop from this floor level to the swimming pool below as youngsters had been jumping from this level. Some toddlers are allowed to wander beyond the eyesight of their parents. A toddler could easily wander onto the mosaic floor of the unfilled pool and the parents would not appreciate the child could easily get through the gaps between the stranded wire fence.

Could it be that the lower prices are attracting a different client basis to inclusive family hotels? In the restaurant some toddlers were obviously not used to eating with their family and regarded the restaurant as a play area. (The restaurant staff were wonderful ? always friendly to the well-behaved seated children but on the look out at caring for stray toddlers). We saw one youngster in trousers pee through them and through the seat onto the floor of the promenade bar. Nothing was done to clear up the mess although we were relieved to see that the parents put a ketchup bottle that had fallen on the ground into the urine into a waste bin!!! A toddler without a nappy defecated in the bar area. Fortunately the mother cleared up the mess ? thank goodness it didn't happen in a pool area!

The range of animation activities was restricted. There are no french boules/ petanque courts and when tide levels cover the beach this activity is not possible. Shuffleboard has been an activity popular at other hotels but there is no tiled area for this at the hotel. Aqua gym in cold water and windy conditions is not a recommended activity.

During this windy period the games room was being redecorated and the internet café was not available. Table tennis was popular but there were only two tables and sometimes there were long waits to get a game.

If one has a siesta to escape the wind rather than the sun then it would be helpful to have a better choice of entertainment for late evenings either from the room television sets and from late night film or video shows in the theatre.

One specific complaint we had was concerning the provision of the in room safe. This was was described on our booking as being included in the room amenities but the hotel wanted to charge us 85 Euros for rental. This seems to be an outrageous oncost to ensure the safety of passports video equipment and cameras, keys etc!

We were not allocated a superior sea view room on arrival and had the inconvenience of a room transfer the next day. Reception advised that as a goodwill gesture they would not be charging for the room safe.

Review date: 18 May 2005 - A HotelStreet visitor from Worcester wrote:-

Review title: "Sunrise Club Paraiso Playa Is Definately Worth A Try!"
Travel date: April 2005
We (four adults and a three year old) booked three nights at this All Inclusive hotel for mid April to start off our 11 day holiday in Fuerteventura. It was an experiment, as we hadn't tried all inclusive before ? we normally go self catering in Caleta ? but felt we had nothing to lose for a few nights.

It was fantastic:
Location: Perched on a hillside about five miles north of Jandia, the site is spacious overlooking the ocean with ample room for everybody. There are 103 steps down to the beach, which sounds awful but it was manageable and designed well. We would not recommend swimming just here though as there are rocks in the water, but a short stroll away the sand stays underfoot a long way into the water and was gorgeous. You could also walk for miles, with beach cafes along the way. There is also a bus stop just outside the hotel.

Food: Plentiful and varied, with show cooking each evening. Meal times were sensible, with dinner in two sittings (6-7.30pm and 8-9.30pm). Everything was self-service and the terrace overlooks the sea, which was spectacular. There was a snack bar and a pool bar where you could also help yourself throughout the day.

Rooms: We had a standard room which claimed had a sea view and it would have done if the trees were trimmed! The rooms though were large and clean with three beds in each and very quiet.

Facilities: We didn't end up using the gym and it was too cold to use the pools, but there were ample sunbeds around the complex. There was a good playground and a kids club from age four, which our son was too young for. There was also an activity schedule if you were interested, table tennis etc. The evening entertainment started with the mini disco at 7.30pm which was brilliantly timed after dinner, was really good fun and ended with a quiet reflecting song for both children and parents. This was followed by bingo and then the 'show', which was fine.

This wouldn't be an accurate summary without a mention of Snr Pascal (Hotel Manager), who made it his business to come round and chat during dinner and who was the star in 'Saturday Night Fever'! This was the icing on the cake for our party ? the general feeling of welcome.

We would definitely go back to the hotel, as we were made to feel so welcome and the location and food were wonderful. However, the hotel, at the moment, only deals with German tour operators, which means that you are unlikely to find any other English guests! The language barrier was not an issue for us as we like to ?have a go' and most of the guests were just as eager to try out their English! It wasn't a problem for us, but something to bear in mind.

Would thoroughly recommend stopping here for a few days if you fancy holidaying 'off the beaten track' (for Brits), but go soon as they are due to start dealing with a British tour operator from Winter 2005.

We also hired a car from the airport, which meant we could go exploring and went into Jandia and to Costa Calma. We also discovered the track that takes you to the beach, which was quite handy for saving the old legs!