Flamingo Beach Resort

On arrival at our hotel there was only one member of staff checking people in. There were no TUI representatives present to greet guests or assist staff with providing useful information so it took a considerable amount of the to check in, with one poor staff member doing everything. Although we arrived late at night we were informed by reception staff that there was food available at the restaurant however there was very little food left/available and certainly nothing two children would eat.

The following morning we woke early ready to start our holiday, we quickly noticed that there were a large number of guests waiting for the pool to open to reserve sun loungers. This was despite the hotel policy being strictly no reserving of loungers and also being advised on the TUI app that loungers should not be reserved. It seemed that this was completely ignored by the masses and never once enforced by staff at the hotel or TUI staff. Unless you were willing to wait in a queue for about half an hour (or more) each morning it was impossible to get a lounger near the main pool.

On the first day we managed to get some loungers together and decided to explore the other hotel facilities. Our boys aged 6 and 10 were excited to find and I quote “slides galore, with colourful chutes in the playground, splash pool and soft play zones” we quickly realised that “slides galore” was actually two extremely small slides at the baby pool, neither of which our 10 year old could use and our 6 year old was almost also too big to use them. To say they were disappointed is an understatement! We then went to find the playground which once again our 10 year old was not able to use as he was too big. We popped in to the soft play and saw a sign stating “not suitable for over 36 months” so agin neither of our children could use these facilities.

“Kids rule the roost at this hotel, which forms part of our flagship TUI BLUE collection. Little ones can clamber-u slides in the playground, vault through multi-coloured chutes in the splash pool, and dance into the early evenings at the kids' club” this was absolutely not the case for our children and we believe the description provided of this hotel is wildly exaggerated! It would certainly not be possible for many to be vaulting through any chutes in the pool area.

Each day there were numerous activities on at the main pool some of which children could get involved in however there were a lot of activities exclusively for guests 16 and over. Each day these activities took up half of the already over crowded main swimming pool. The pool areas were considerably smaller than what we had seen pictured and the descriptions of them considerably exaggerated!

“Then, when it comes to eating there's a trio of restaurants” once again this is a considerably exaggerated description of the restaurants. There were two restaurants, one of which was the main restaurant, the food was good however there was a distinct lack of working air conditioning when it was on it dripped and at busy times it felt like a school canteen. Dress code was meant to be no swim wear however by the end of our stay people were walking in wearing bikini tops. The second restaurant was the al a carte restaurant, which was good. Waiters were lovely and we had a really nice evening there. The snack bar was a snack bar, not a third restaurant.

During the day there was only one place in the whole resort to get water, this was the bar beside the pool and snack bar. During the day the bar area was open but the machine that dispensed water was turned off. Staff on the restaurant would not allow us to enter to simply get water. We thought this was really poor. Certainly not what you would expect from a hotel meant to be part of the “TUI BLUE collection of hotels that combine best-in-class service”.

Our football mad 6 year old then wanted to check out the football pitch. Sadly there was only one net that didn’t have holes in it, the fencing round the pitch was burst and the footballs rolled out into a car park. The gates at the football pitch were open as they needed to be so the balls could be retrieved from among the parked cars however this meant that anyone off the street had free access the not only the football pitch but the whole hotel. This does not seem very safe for a “flagship TUI BLUE collection” resort. Also the football pitch doubled up as a tennis court however when not in use and the net was removed, the holes for the net were left exposed so anyone playing football could seriously injure themselves if they were not careful.

Next to the football pitch our 10 year old noticed a high climbing trail and wondered if he could have a go. We went to take a closer look and noticed that this too was broken, with sections lying on the ground. There was a sign on the gate displaying no entry however the gate was lying open and the padlock hanging at the side. Once again not particularly safe for a “flagship TUI BLUE collection” resort.

Moving on to the accommodation, throughout our stay we were unable to close or lock the bathroom door properly. As I’m sure you will appreciate a little privacy it’s important. I reported the fault on the TUI app and a handyman came out the same day. However was unable to fix the issue and we believed he would be back, he never returned. He did however leave some screwdrivers in the bathroom that our 6 year old found! We resorted to hanging a towel over the door to jam it shut! I also reported that our balcony door was extremely difficult to open so the handyman also looked at that and fitted a new lock. However the door would then not stay closed and opened with each slight gust of wind so anyone could access our balcony and again affecting our privacy. At the same time I reported that a plug socket in the dining area was hanging off the wall and the light in the dining area was hanging loose. Both of these issues were rectified.

The room we were allocated was located above the restaurant and next to the bar. It was extremely noisy some nights and when we asked at reception if it would be possible to change room we were told no, the hotel was full.

On top of all of this the bathroom was in poor condition with mould around the silicone and tiles, the drains outside were absolutely putrid - smelling of raw sewage, cups were left lying at the bar area till the next day, cups were left in the collection area till the next day, the resort was covered in broken drains, which again could cause injury, broken tiles etc.

When we were looking at booking this hotel we saw the 4 star TUI rating, we read the wildly over exaggerated description of the hotel and thought this would be a good choice of place to go with two children. Had we looked at things closer ie the VERY bottom of the description and web page we would have realised this was in fact a two start resort. If we had realised that at the time we would never have booked this accommodation!

I am extremely surprised and disappointed that the TUI BLUE name continues to be put on this hotel and the focus on children is so wildly exaggerated. The resort feels like an 18-30 holiday for adults and their kids. Even the kids disco that was 45 minutes long the 6 year old thought was naff. For our 10 year old we were really disappointed in what was available for him to do, especially in the evenings.

Overall we were extremely disappointed with this accommodation and would not recommend it to friends and family.

The “customer service” we have recieced from TUI several returning had been an absolute disgrace. At this point I will never book a holiday through TUI in the future. Happy to take you money but do dare try and complain!

The Hotel:

The hotel is little on the lower side of what you would expect from a TUI Blu all inclusive hotel.

When we first got into the room on arrival there was a strong musty smell, as if it had been left unoccupied for some time

Our room wasn’t actually cleaned all week. Beds were made (not changed) 3 times in 7 days & towels changed once.

The room was somewhat in need of renovation… this applies also to the hotel itself.

There’s hotel WiFi all over and to be fair it wasn’t too bad.

Food/Drink:

The food selection was very good in the main restaurant & I thought it was quite impressive that there was even a good Vegan selection. The restaurant area itself mimics that of a college canteen. The Snack restaurant we found was ok, but the staff couldn’t really keep up with those “self entitled” guests who just have no care for anyone else & leave piles of uneaten food on the tables for other to clean up after them. The drink selection is actually really good… & I was actually impressed that the self serve wines were actually quite good.

Entertainment:

The entertainment team do their best and there’s lots going on through the day. And in the evening they cater well for the kids. Sadly for the adults it wasn’t so great with quiz’s seeming to be the end of evening entertainment, no band/DJ or music The Bar area where this is hosted is boiling in the evening and not very comfortable to spend time in.

The Problems:

We thought that the room should have been cleaned at least once during the stay.

There’s lots of litter all over the hotel. I was leaving the hotel & a member of staff dropped a glass on the walkway to the restaurant. It was still there later that day.

The pool area is covered in used plastic cups & plates that the lifeguards do their best to clear… again this is bad behaviour in my opinion of the guests…. It’s not difficult to put them into the assigned collection bins.

Cups and plates in the restaurant were very often dirty.

Evening entertainment for adults lacked any kind of atmosphere.

The ridiculous morning run to reserve sunbeds,,, I hate this but if you don’t you will not get a sunbed all day.

The beach was covered in litter & cigarette butts which is very off putting but when we saw broken bottles in the sand we left the beach.

On 2 days of our stay the main pool was closed due to people essentially, using it as a toilet, it was disgusting.

This caused a real problem, You couldn’t get anywhere near the other pools.

We spoke to onsite TUI rep & asked her what was going on with pool areas as for us as a family it’s an integral part of the holiday. In short we were told to contact TUI when we arrived home & they would deal with it in way of compensation. Sadly that’s not the case. All they have done is taken our complaints, called to confirm them & then told us that since we didn’t report the issues on the App it was in breach of terms and conditions so we wasn’t entitled to any kind of compensation. I feel this is a very simple “get out” for TUI. The issues were raised with their staff onsite. I don’t feel that I should have to complain about issues twice during our stay. Essentially the rep is there to sell you those over subscribed excursions were everyone is rammed into a coach and driven to a location, that if you looked in to it yourself, it’s cheaper and more convenient to book the location and hire a car/use a taxi. They’re just sales people that in my opinion don’t really care about your problems.

In conclusion.

The Hotel isn’t bad, just don’t have overly high expectations. Don’t use the beach Don’t expect anything from your TUI rep.

Also I want to add that we were not the only people having problems. And speaking to other guests they were directly asked not to post negative reviews & that compensation was going to be given. I don’t feel this is morally or professionally correct. And this kind of shows that TUI are aware of problems but they are trying use the compensation as distraction from the real issue. I know of one guest whose child’s cot literally fell apart in the night leaving a 6 month old baby on the floor. They were asked not to post a review mentioning it… it’s disgusting behaviour.