Riu Astoria

So, myself and my wife in our early 40s decided on the Riu Astoria after staying in other Riu hotels in the carribean and knowing the Riu brand is a quality brand we were looking forward to our stay. Upon arrival we had welcome drinks and a hastle free check in, the hotel being new, was, as expected. Our room, which we payed extra to upgrade to sea view, was big and spacious and the bathroom too was also very nice and had double basin and massive mirror and walk in shower. Hotel was clean as were the rooms and a good standard of work was maintained throughout. 90% off staff were teenagers,work experience maybe, cheap employees, who knows but not really proffessional. One evening a disgruntled employee openly slated his manager, swearing and moaning about his shifts and his job. He had no idea who we were and didnt seem to give a damn either. Other receptionists were not as bad as him, but could do with smiling and being more professional at front of house. The entertainment, well where do i begin, 1 word, horrific. We are not comparing the entetainment to the carribean as its not a fair comparison, but i am comparing it to other europen hotels and this was by far tbe worst i have ever seen. Low budget, run by kids, just cheap and no money thrown at it. Even if you were so drunk it wouldnt make it better, this was no where near the standard of a hotel, let slone a Riu. Monday was no entertainment as they all had a day off, there was bingo, karaoke, and they randomly stuck jamaji movie on with sub titles...WTF. White party was another nights entertainment, apart from there was no party, and just the entertainment team on stilts posing here and there......that was it. Drinks were a lottery, depending on who served you depends on what you got. One thing for sure the cocktails were again the worst ever experienced, anyone saying they really enjoyed them have not been to hotels that make quality cocktails. The very fact squirty cream went into most cocktails was enough for me to swerve them altogether. The cream and alchahol seperated soon after it was shaken up and curdled, disgusting and not a quality or drinkable cocktail at all. We ended up going out to a bar to get cocktails at about 3 pound each for a real creamy proper cocktail, pure lazyness from hotel take on it. The lobby bar and area was like an old persons home, no music, no life no atmosphere just poor. The food was good mostly, bit repetitive but tasty non the less. Hit and miss to if a label was attached to what it is your eating, mostly no label so if you have allergys etc be careful. Smoothies in the morning for breakfast were again awful, watered down juice with mo body to the smoothie and the orange juice was not fresh juice but like a cordial. Being mostly kids running hotel, the ammount of smashing plates, glasses in the restaurant wasnt exeptable, it seemed quite regular and on one evening when having dinner we counted 6 different smashes. The staff being young, were all giggling after dropping stuff, it got annoying after the 3rd time. The Asian resturant was good and nice food, the Italian was closed throughout our whole stay, the snack bar closed on the 22nd sept and pool bar closed 26th sept. One lunch time the only food on offer was frakfurter, burger or chips, that is not 4 star hotel or any where near. End of season or not i dont expect to have restuarnts not open, and ones that are open not having a varied selections of food on offer. The location of hotel is good, 2 min walk to bars and restaurants, friendly locals, and all cheap. Mid to end september is out of season so most places are shut or shutting down. Housekeeping throughout was on point, there was a fridge in the room but empty, if its all inclusive fill it with water, beer and soft drinks. If you want water you have to get it from reception, very strange. Alex the Tui rep was good and always about,had no issues so didnt need him. I would also say in closing the design of the hotel is strange, one building block A1 blocks the sun out in the afternoon around the pool as its tall and casts a shadow accross the pool area. Lots of sunbeds although cheap ones and not too comfy. You also have to walk from one building to the other for all food and , i use the word losely..entertainment. if it rains you get wet. And queues form at the lifts to get to the buffet and back from the buffet. All in all this is not a 4 star hotel or anywhere near it, looks wise yes, looks lovely, but in the service,food, staff, entertainment,attitude and class not a chance, 3 star at best. Would not return, does not stand up to the Riu standards.

Ok, just returned from a 7 day break! Relaxed - yes, impressed -no. The hotel is new this year & is lovely, however not once did we see anyone use the pools -apparently they’re freezing & on closer inspection I can confirm that to be accurate! Drinks are substandard, basically they’re more water than alcohol. Most people were using local bars which when you’ve paid for inclusive drinks is a bit annoying. The food on day one was lovely, good choice and plenty of it, however this got worse as the week went on! Granted it was end of season but, we’re still paying guests and we need to be fed. Each day another restaurant closed, there were fewer sun beds, coffee/tea machines were empty or not distrusting what you wanted. Our room was cleaned & I use the word cleaned lightly! There was a small piece of tissue on the bathroom floor which stayed there 4 days! They don’t take or replace used glasses, and although they say they change sheets every other day ours were changed once. On day two we needed to report a broken bathroom fan only to discover the phone wasn’t working either! Reported both at reception & neither were fixed despite 2 men coming to look. If you have a dietary requirement forget it, most of the time it’s guess work as to what you’re eating and there is definitely nothing to tell you what the ingredients may or may not be!! The entertainment team seem to work hard although the one visit we made to see a show lasted approximately 2 minutes, if you like pontins you’ll be happy 😊. Staff at the hotel seem miserable & most are young and working through their summer holiday, they speak very little to no English. Golden sands it’s self is....sandy but smelly! It’ll take you about half hour from one end to the other, battle your way through dodgy looking stall holders selling cheap knock offs & take a peg for your nose because they may have shoved in goodness’s knows how many hotels but no infrastructure such as decent shops & plumbing. There are sun beds on the beach you can use, right in front of the hotel so easy to pop back for loo, drink, food etc. There was nowhere to go other than the seafront, if you’re brave enough to venture up the steep hill to the main road there is nothing, absolutely nothing it’s a very depressing & deprived area but a true insight in to the struggles locals face. I read the reviews before we went but unfortunately not before we booked! For us this was just a break away from home for a few days but I’d have been truly upset had this been my main holiday.