HL Paradise Island

Check In/Reception - first impressions run down, receptionist was dealing with three different sets of people at one time. Was not a personal check in, handed peice of paper which was mostly written in Spanish and sent off to find room with a paper map again written in Spanish. No water or food was offered to us as we arrived late in the evening. Reception had dirt on the floors and basic furniture. The staff in reception dont know whats going on within the hotel and couldnt answer questions around the supposid entertainment.

Room- spacious but basic. Plenty of storage space. No provided tea or coffee or complimentary water (supposed to be all inclusive). Bathroom was cleanish but needed a deep clean due to built up limescale. We did not get clean bedding for 10 days. We had to request for the room to be cleaned. Even when it was cleaned it wasnt done to a high standard. Example being.. the bedroom floor was mopped but the main living space hadn't even been swept. Small stones and dirt remained on the floor. We had to ask for toliet roll. The gardens surrounding the rooms were pretty. We did have alot of ants in our room which kept getting into our clothes. If you are on the ground floor the balconies are spacious. Dead cockroaches were found under the bed upon inspection. The floor under the beds looked like they hadn't been cleaned in a while. Upon arrival our fridge did not work and we weren't provided with a remote for the aircon (only way it works). The TV did not work in the second room we had for other family members. A couple we spoke to who were there for 9 days had to wait 6 days before they were issued a fan by reception for their room.

The pool - dirty and so cloudy you cant see a few feet infront of you. This is either down to an over use of chloride granuals, the filtering system not working properly allowing an increased volume of suncream and other bodily secretions to build up or the water source has algea in it. Since writing this I have been informed by a family member they watched hotel staff topping up the pool with a hose pipe. A review has also come to my attention where it states a young child was seriously effected by the chemicals in and around the pool and needed medical assistance. Where unfortunately reception failed them by not calling an ambulance but instead a taxi! I am going to post pictures of of the chemical burns/reactions that my family experienced and how they are only starting to clear up now (been home nearly 3 weeks). I developed a strange rash on my leg following two days in the big pool and did not go back in for the rest of the holiday and the rash cleared up taking around 2 days to fully do so. The pool is always overcrowded and never seems to shut for cleaning. A few evenings people were still in it gone 8.30pm. We didnt see one official pool member of staff the entire 10 days we were here. The baby pools are slippery but clearer and cleaner than the main pool. One lady slipped in the shallower baby pool and smacked her head and upper back. This lady wasnt ok, visibly shaking possibly due to shock or head injury. She was left with bad bruising. The floors around the poolside are always dirty.. didnt see any members of staff clean these. There are broken tiles and the lady who injured her head and back also cut her foot on one of these. Theres hardly any shade! All the days we were here the UV Index was above 10. There are also not enough sunbeds.

The Water Park - nothing like the pictures that are used to advertise the hotel. Again no shade down there with a small amount of sunbeds. Half of it is abandoned and resembles a shanty town! All of it needs updating. The equipment is not inviting and again the pools are cloudy. You have to pay for drinks down there aswell even though the hotel claims to be all inclusive. The football pitch looks shoddy with loose netting flapping about in the wind (wouldnt advise letting young children around this). The go-karts.. old, worn out, just dumped alongside the track, oh and you have to pay for them!

The pool bar - not all inclusive. If you want ice cream you have to pay for it. If you want a milk shake you also have to pay €7. The bar has a small selection of drinks that are all inclusive, the rest you have to pay for. The cocktails wernt of good quality and some of the machines get turned off in the evening as its outside the all inclusive time frame.. The bar doesnt have enough seating to reflect the number of guests. Floors are sticky and unclean. The tables and chairs aint cleaned after use. Its manned by minimal staff who stand around and chat. Same for the bar downstairs where they do children's entertainment.

The Entertainment- horrendous & non existent.. its supposed to be a kid hotel.. for the first few days only one activity was done in the pool. It then seemed to pick up to two activities per day. The staff aren't visible, non enthusiastic and I didn't see any kids club which is advertised on the TUI website. Theres a mini disco for the kids at 8.30 which lasts around 30 minutes. The evening entertainment wasn't great. We were meant to see a stevie wonder tribute but instead two women showed up.. we didnt bother going back. The gate at the top of the spiral staircase leading down to the mini disco isnt secure. The lock is broken so be mindful for toddlers/young children. The Entertainment is also advertised in Spanish with all Spanish songs... the majority of guests are English. Never to early or late to learn a new language I suppose.

The Food - oh boy! Where do I start?! I think they may be on a prison budget of £1.75pp per day! The quality was nasty! I am a vegetarian and I am ok with others eating meat around me but this made me feel physically sick. Some bits of meat were inedible covered in grizzle. The chicken was pink most days and gave one of our party food poisoning. Within the ten days we were there 6 other people got food poisoning. We watched one of the cooks cook raw pork on a grill then use the same grill and utensils to cook vegetables, not cleaning inbetween!! Which is not fair on vegetarians or vegans. We then watched him reheat chicken from the fajitas trays already out for guests.. this goes against basic kitchen practices. The mash potato looked like wall paper paste! Upon reflecting this back to hotel staff it was abit thicker a few days later, not that I ate it. Theres hardly any vegetarian options and the kids area was mostly pasta and sauce, very limited options for children. The cooks also dump fresh food ontop of old food thats just been sat there. Alot of the food is luke warm. Alot of the fruit isn't ripe and gets left which is a waste. Available plates also run out quickly and aren't replaced straight away. Make sure you check the glasses/coffee cups before use as sometimes they are dirty. The fresh coffee is more drinkable over the machines. The crosciants have a sour taste to them making them inedible. Alot of families including ours struggled with the food here and had to spend money going into the town to seek out a decent meal. The drinks area to the far left of the dining room has a wet dog smell to it which needs to be addressed. The windows in the doors in the dining area also need to be cleaned along with the chairs after use. The second dining room offers a small amount of themed food again not much for vegetarians. The staff are quick to clear your plates but dont interact. Alot of the staff here dont speak very good English. It doesn't take much to notice how bad the food is by the continual high level of food waste!! A real kitchen nightmare!!

General Grounds - not sure what the water feature is bridging the dining area to the pool area but it was full of dirt. Bleach was chucked in it, I guess in hopes it would clean itself. The wind transforms it into a bleach based foam party! So be mindful! The terraced is worn, dated and squeaks in the wind. There are no staff that come around offering drinks or cleaning. It is all self serve. Theres a local shop next door that has a good selection of items. We did not use the spa. The grounds are not lit very well. Alot of people were having to use their phone lights to get down the stairs and ramps. This is a safety hazard especially with suitcases and pushchairs/wheelchairs.

Overall - TUI has this hotel rated as a 4 star. This in my experience and opinion does not reflect 4 star accommodation. I have stayed in cleaner hostels in Asia with better facilities. On the Hotel Website and booking.com a room per night is priced at €152. Again I dont believe the price reflects the reality of what was presented to me. I would expect the room to be priced between €75-€90 per night. TUI advertise this hotel as all inclusive but this is not accurate. As stated above you have to pay extra for certain foods/drinks/entertainment. The hotel does not provide 24 hour all inclusive either. Checkout is at 11am and you can pay €30 to keep the room for an extra 2 hours. You also have the option to pay €10 to use the hotel shower if you have a late flight. The WiFi drops out constantly and it can take a while to get back on. This becomes highly frustrating along with walking around holding my phone up in the air like we did in the early 2000s!. As reflected back to staff as a family group of 7 we paid £10,260.39p for this trip (TUI Prices).. theres a Love Holidays plaque in reception with best holiday award 2025! Maybe we should have wasted our money with them as their prices better reflect the reality of the place! I felt sorry for all the families who have worked hard to provide their kids with a decent summer holiday.. because this aint it! I will be visiting my local TUI branch back in the UK with this review and all the others who fell victim to this place. I hope this honest review will influence TUI to atleast change the starring on this hotel and at most stop doing business with them. There is a sister hotel down the road but you have to pay to use all their facilities which again is uncommon with all inclusive. I would encourage you to watch the reviews on TikTok for this place before booking here. Overall its been a disappointing stay and as I sit here writing this now I cant wait to get back to the UK later tonight.

Since being back in the UK alot more videos and reviews have gone up and the majority we as a family can relate to as we experienced it ourselves. As termed Parasite Island by online users id advise to stay well away!! I wouldnt have even rated it a 1 but you cant put 0 ...

We had a lovely time as a family with 2 boys, aged 6 & 11. The entertainment team were amazing, great with the kids & always getting us to be join if we wanted to! The kids always want to go to Kids Club & can't wait for Mini Disco every evening.

Great water park and pool area for kids.The food and drinks were decent .Staff were exceptionally nice and helpful.Rooms large and spacious but beds hard and uncomfortable.Air conditioning in bedroom only .Needs upgrading.Had trouble with cockroaches and was given a spray and the room was disinfected after asking twice.Overall a good family holiday!Taxi to the marina was 7 euros each way!