Bakour Lanzarote Splash

Just returned from one week at this hotel. The hotel is very clean, the rooms were amazing. We were in a 2bedroom at the back of the complex overlooking the splash pool. Was lovely sitting out on balcony in the evening enjoying a quiet drink although many ground floor apartments don't have the level of privacy we did. They are modern and the showers are fab.

The next biggest plus was the animation team, I can't think of his name but the guy with the mustache and dreads, he puts his heart and soul into entertaining the kids and is very thoughtful and considerate particularly with kids that were shy and found it hard to join in. He is a real asset to the hotel.

The food was hit and miss. If you found something you could eat, it nearly always tasted fresh and incredible but we found ourselves as a group trying to avoid eating here. We went next door to Lidl for pastries at breakfast and ate out for dinner and availed of the snack bar for lunch. There seems to be one guy trying to manage everything behind the counter so at times there were huge queues for a fried egg or an omelette. If you want to avoid the wait times you could go earlier but I wish they would give this guy some back up. We spoke to some guests who had been there over previous years and the said they felt the numbers of staff had reduced. Maybe this is what it wrong here they are short staffed but it definitely made us avoid the dining room. Also just personal preference but didn't like having to go down into that very warm space for every mealtime, not sure what the hotel can do about that as it's on a small enough footprint but would have been nice to have option to eat meals above ground too, outside of the pool snack bar which has been commented on already in previous posts. Agree this guy doesn't come across the friendliest, I never found him rude, but in fairness he is stuck inside this tiny corner unit on his own with hot pans and cookers etc for hours. And wait times for a quick poolside snack were sometimes up to 40 minutes.

The entertainment in the evening wasn't great. It largely happens in this small space above reception and the heat can be stifling. Mostly just standing space as seating is very limited. It was just enough to entertain our 4-7 year old group but they honestly preferred just running around outside with other kids.

The final piece I want to write about is the biggest reason we would not return here. On the Sunday we arrived very soon after a very tragic incident which saw a couple lose their 4 year old child. Firstly I want to say how heartbroken I am for them and secondly I want to say how disappointed I was in the hotel for not acknowledging what had happened somehow. The very least could have been a minutes silence on the weeks anniversary, or a closing of that one pool for a day but nothing, it just felt like business as usual yet you could feel this dark cloud, it was palpable at times. We saw the lifeguards patroling around but spoke to so many guests who told us they hadn't seen this behaviour in the days previous, they'd seen them sitting in chairs at pool level height on their phones. How upsetting it must have been for the parents to suddenly see what should be standard lifeguard behavior after the fact. Doing something for the guests who witnessed the tragic event unfold, acknowledging it happened at your hotel is not owning culpability, its human compassion to allow space to say this happened here and we are all heartbroken for the family and those who tried to help.

For the parents and little brother I will always keep you in my prayers. May you find peace knowing you will see your little girl again.

Just returned from a 7 night stay at the hotel, all in all our stay was good.

Positives: Room was very clean and there is a cleaner who comes in everyday and changes sheets and towels as well as cleaning the room, the pools are fantastic, the kids loved them, they are kept really clean (We see maintenance out every morning cleaning them) and there is always a lifeguard on duty which gives you that extra piece of mind. The bar is brilliant, the all inclusive drinks are nice and strong (I may have knocked back 1 or 2 Bakour Cocktails), The animation staff are fantastic (There are to many to name) they are always getting the children involved and say hello to everyone as they go around, The waterpolo was very fun for myself as an adult and the kids loved the Watercarpet. The reception staff were very friendly and always available for any requests. Salem in the restaurant was fantastic, always helping us with my wife in a wheelchair and always asking if he could refill drinks for us and asking if we needed help, he is a real asset to the hotel staff.

Neutral: Our room was a disabled access room as my wife is a wheelchair user, so with the entertainment so close to our room it was a little loud outside, but i cannot consider this a negative because we needed to be close to all the amenities. The food in the restaurant was not the greatest in our opinion, but that is more about our preferences then the kitchen itself. they did have nights for different cultures, but we spent a few nights just having fish fingers and chips.

Negatives: The hotel is situated a long walk from the main bar and shop area in Puerto Del Carmen, and coming back to the hotel is all Up Hill, so you may want to consider a taxi back The gentleman that was working on the snack bar during the day (most days) was very rude at times, one situation he placed fresh fried chips direct into my 9 year old daughters hand and she dropped them because they were hot, and he told her off for dropping them and shouted for her to pick them up, my daughter came to me and i went over and he said 'stupido', one of the animation team saw he and moved us away saying he would tell the manager, i don't know if anything got said to the manager.

All in all it was a pleasant stay apart from the one incident, will consider booking to go back, but maybe hire a car for next time to get around easier