Hotel Barceló Fuerteventura Thalasso Spa

We were so excited to be visiting this hotel for a holiday in October (having booked in January) after reading such lovely reviews. We then recently saw some poor feedback on the facebook page so were a little worried, but decided we would be open minded with our visit. The good bits: - breakfast for those with no allergies was varied and good quality - staff in the restaurant and bar were mostly very friendly and helpful - chill out area behind the pool bar was great - mini golf was brilliant - excellent location and lovely resort - short transfer time - hotel accommodating at swapping breakfast to lunch when half board - great halloween themed evening in the restaurant Mixed - the entertainment was a mixed bag. Some good and some bad, but this is not what makes our holiday so we were not too fussed. There was a good atmosphere in the bar and stage area and we were very happy with this. There were some very poor shows, it didn't bother us - we just found it amusing! The bad bits: Rooms They are tired and need a refresh. mattress old and had been covered by a topper but dipped in the middle and gave me back ache. Air con controls were not responsive and were often cold. Cleaned well and also every day which was a bonus. Catering for allergies I contacted the hotel ahead of our visit as i have a gluten allergy and can't eat fish, On arrival I was given a card to take to the restaurant stating this in Spanish. On first visit to the restaurant I was told I could eat everything off the buffet except desserts and bread, This was not the case and there was no labelling on the buffet. After further conversations, a chef or waiter would point out what I could and could not eat, however, gluten containing items were placed next to non gluten containing items and as with all buffets people double dipped! This meant it was not safe to eat from the buffet. The hotel were very accommodating and offered to make separate food if preordered. However, a couple of times I ordered for example gluten free pancakes the day before, arrived at the time they said. My family ate their breakfast and I waited over 45 minutes on some occasions for food. The live cooking stations always had long queues and seemed to be one staff member too short most of the time. Staff were really friendly and tried to help, but we ended up eating out a lot just so that we could all eat together. Kids clubs kids club wasn't well attended for the older aged kids and not very engaging Pool area The pool really is the main part of our holiday and booking a 4* hotel we hoped to have a lovely pool area that we could enjoy. Unfortunately, the pool area really is not up to scratch. It is WAY overdue a LOT of maintenance. Missing tiles, mould, dirt, broken lights, and parts of the pool wall peeling away. It was a real disappointment. I have attached photos as they show this really is a longer term issue that has not been addressed for some time. The pool was really dirty, grit under foot all over the pool and very bad around stairs, Loads of missing tiles, parts of the pool wall peeling away and all of the grout was moulding and stained. Around the edges of the pool the plastic trim was damaged and had bits missing. My daughter cut her foot in the pool and when attended to by the lifeguard they mentioned she was the 6th child that day who had cut themselves. Not really good enough for a 4* hotel. We also made friends with another couple of families and children from both families cut their feet in the pool as it is in such a bad state of repair. Very disappointing and for this reason would not book to come here again. The hotel did send my daughter a lovely letter and some goodies because she cut her foot, however, we feel they would be better spending on repairing the pool area.

Good location with nice walks along promenade. Staff pleasant and helpful with 24 hour desk. However food average and repetitive. Animations team very enthusiastic and put on couple good evening shows.

Excellent Customer service. The staff could not do enough for you. Very clean everywhere, in your room, in food areas and around the pool Friendly. Amazing location Good food So relaxing just what my husband and I needed.