Hotel Coronas Playa

We are only just writing this review as we have spent the last six months trying (unsuccessfully) to get compensation from TUI for a very poor Holiday. We have had several happy holidays in TUI Gold and Sensimar hotels for many decades and have never felt the need to complain before, and can definitely state that TUI should not be selling this hotel as a four-star facility. We would normally not write a candid review like this but we would not like other holidaymakers to suffer the same experience as we had. We were very surprised when we arrived at the Hotel in Costa Teguise on the 31st of March, it looked very tired and dated, not at all what we had come to expect having holidayed in many TUI Gold and Sensimar Hotels over the years. As we were celebrating my husband’s retirement with my Sister and Husband we were determined not to be put off and to make the most of it. Whilst the hotel staff and the food were adequate, the cleanliness of the Hotel left a lot to be desired. The bathrooms are very poor and the exterior of the building leading to the beach was shocking, and it had the appearance of being derelict. Our rooms (326 & 327) were above an area that was being worked on by builders, the noise at times was dreadful. We found several live cockroaches in our rooms, on one occasion my husband removed four from the room. When we reported this immediately to reception, we were assured that the room would be deep cleaned and fumigated, we weren’t sure exactly what that meant as we were just left with a bug spray! The whole saga of cockroaches continued for the rest of our holiday, where by a maintenance man put a box behind the fridges to catch or kill the cockroaches, we were never informed if this was checked upon or even asked if everything was now okay. On another day there was a dead cockroach in the bathroom, we informed the TUI staff this time and were told again that the room would be thoroughly cleaned, but on our return from a morning out the cockroach was still there! We reported it back to reception where we were casually told that this is Lanzarote and this is what happens. We got the impression we should have just been dealing with it ourselves and just put up with it. We had a mouldy pat of butter one morning at breakfast which we gave to the waitress who said she would inform her boss. We expected someone to come and have a word with us and at least apologise, but nothing was said, I don’t know if this is how things are dealt with on a regular basis or we were just unlucky. We don’t know what the policy was on Ferrell cats at this Hotel but we were also disappointed to see so many of them wandering around the pool area and sitting on the sunbeds as if this normal behaviour at this hotel? One evening we went into the café by the Hotel where some of the staff and entertainers were sitting, whilst we understand staff are off duty and have down time we were shocked by their bad language. It was so bad that the lady who ran the establishment had to ask them to stop. By this time, we felt very uncomfortable and only used the Hotel as a base to eat and sleep. I would like to give credit where it’s due and would say the local area rep Chris was a lovely lady and was most informative when we went on her tour. As we have already stated we felt so badly about our experience on this holiday, we have spent the last six months trying to get a small percentage of compensation from TUI but to no avail. At first, we wrote directly to TUI and told them everything that happened, (including photographs) but we were just sent a couple of emails stating that this is what happens and that the aspects we had complained about are acceptable to some customers! They also stated that the facilities provided at this hotel are controlled and managed by the hotelier and therefore TUI has less influence over the issues we complained about! These were not the answers we expected from a reputable tour operator. We therefore tried to use the Money Saving Expert website “Resolver” facility and ABTA to come to a satisfactory conclusion but, apart from taking TUI to court and having to pay the ensuing additional costs, we have had no option but to give up on any form of compensation.

Had a great week here on our first visit, everything perfect, the weather was really good with lots of sunshine, staff and facilities good, entertainment was hit and miss but reps tried hard to keep you entertained, resident duo was ok but not much stage presence, she wore the same dress for 6 of the 7 nights, wondered if she lost her case on arrival , still a really good stay and we will be back.

This hotel is a great place, the rooms (select) are vast. Large balcony, with two sun loungers plus table and two chairs. Two pools with loads of sun beds, we liked the fact that we were not lying on top of each other, the beds were spaced well apart. Lovely gardens too. The breakfasts were wonderful, with everything you could wish for, even porridge! Evening meal was just average in my opinion. Not very hot, and a bit of a mish mash. Enjoyed the soups. The TUI team Alex and Mary, well to be honest we have seen much,much better in other “gold” hotels. Perhaps it was because it was end of season, they looked as though they didn’t want to be there. Chris, the local interest rep was absolutely fantastic though, it is such a shame that TUI have decided to scrap these staff in gold hotels. She was having to finish on 31st October. Big mistake TUI, please think again on this decision. As I stated earlier, the bedroom was really lovely, had everything needed. Bathroom also, was a good size with shower over the bath. However, the towels need replacing, they had a really nasty smell. We did complain to the head housekeeper, and they did put better towels for a day or two, then back to the smelly ones again! We put up with it after that. Some couples return year after year, some, two or three times a year! We are undecided, we have stayed in much better gold hotels than this, for us, it lacked atmosphere!