Riu Palace Palmeras

We have just returned from a wonderful 11-night stay at this lovely hotel. It's in an excellent location, just a short walk from Playa del Inglés beach and the Yumbo Centre. The hotel grounds are immaculate, with staff constantly cleaning and maintaining all areas to a very high standard. Our room was comfortable and well-equipped, with a spacious bathroom featuring his-and-hers sinks, a large walk-in shower, fluffy white towels, and a hairdryer. There was plenty of storage space, a free-to-use safe, an iron and ironing board in the wardrobe, and a well-stocked minibar that was replenished. The balcony was a good size and had comfortable reclining chairs, making it a lovely place to relax. The only downside to the room was that the bed was a little too firm for my liking, and it was quite creaky. Every time I moved during the night, it would wake both me and my husband. We also found the bathroom sensor light a little disruptive, as the frosted glass panel allowed the light to shine into the bedroom whenever one of us got up during the night. The food in the restaurant was very good, and the branded drinks were an added bonus. We'd like to give a special mention to Alexis and Paco in the restaurant, who were always warm, friendly, and attentive. They even remembered our drinks order each evening, which was a lovely personal touch. The evening entertainment was good. We particularly enjoyed the Tina Turner tribute act, the skaters, and the fantastic female singer who performed in the bar area. We hired a car for five days during our stay and didn't need to pay for parking, as we were always able to find a space on the nearby side streets. Our only real complaint was the constant smell of cigarette smoke in the outdoor seating areas. Although we tried to sit as far away from the designated smoking areas as possible in the evenings, the smoke continually drifted over. There were several heavy smokers, and by the end of the evening our clothes often smelled of cigarette smoke when we returned to our room. Overall, we had a fantastic holiday and thoroughly enjoyed our stay. This is definitely a Riu hotel we would happily return to, and we wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to others.

We absolutely love RIU Palace hotels but just couldn't quite stretch to the Meloneras RIU Palace this year. The RIU Palace Palmeras is a much smaller and an All-Inclusive hotel in Playa Del Ingles which has some very lively nightlife at the Yumbo centre. You'll find some great bars, perfume and clothing stores.

The grounds of the Palmeras are beautiful and our smallish but spotlessly clean room on the 7th floor, had stunning views across the sand dunes and ocean. There are 2 pools and I believe one is more for families and those who love water polo although being in our late 50s, hubby and I spent our time in the other pool. It's just my view but I'd really like there to be an Adults-only pool where no ball games are allowed and those of us that work can get some much-needed rest (so sorry, this isn't meant to sound grumpy- I'm just expressing my personal preference). I do think the difference between the pools should be made much clearer. The All-inclusive drinks included branded spirits and soft drinks and the cocktails were lovely. Food on the second week was really good and the Afternoon Tea of sandwiches and sweet treats at the snack bar was such a lovely touch (but if you want a burger, fries, chicken nuggets or salad it's all there too). Now for the not to nice aspects: as a British nurse, I found it dreadful that a British family of 7 thought it was okay to take the sunbed of a very disabled man and his parents who when questioned why were met with the most abhorrent and disgusting behaviour of the British mum who was 'defending' her 3 teenagers. It seemed they hadn't been honest at what they'd done and rather than owning it, wound up their mother who was simply dreadful to the poor family. Why are people so unkind! No one asks to be disabled and my husband felt so cross he felt compelled to intervene. Another example was another British family of 3 sitting around the noisier pool drinking from when the bar opened at 10am until bedtime. Come on now- you're letting us down. We all want a lovely holiday but not at the expense of drunken idiots who think it's okay to be rude to the hard-working RIU staff. We felt so sorry for the lifeguard who was trying to maintain safety standards in the main pool only to get shouted out and threatened (you guessed it- another drunken Brit). Despite this small number of incidents it didn't spoil our wonderful break. However, RIU staff really try their upmost to make everyone happy and as a Brit I did feel some folk let us down. Special thanks to Juan in the bar and Fonqui in the dining room: you were stand-out above and beyond stars who made our holiday special.

Nice hotel with fabulous views from the top floor (7). The branded drinks are great! However, the rooms are small, the service is a bit hit & miss and unfortunately, the food is only average. We will go back to our favorite Hotel RIU Palace Meloneras, next year & pay for our drinks!