Riu Paraiso Lanzarote

If you like Self Catering, then this is the Hotel for you. We have been to many RIU Hotels, but this is the first one where you have to got to the bar to top up Coffee, Tea, Sugar, Milk and Water for your room! When we go on Holiday, we expect to be looked after. Not having to go fetch items that should be replenished by staff. Having said that, all other parts of Hotel are very good and well organised. All the staff are so happy and courteous. The food in all restaurant was perfect. A big choice of hot and cold very tasty dishes. Could not fault them, as we had something different every day. The food is absolutely wonderful! Our room (05) needs updating. Not the best room we have had at a RIU, chipped cupboard door, badly marked walls, shower leaks onto floor (large gap all the way down the door) no dressing table in bedroom, just a small unit to put suitcase on. Or room was in a central position of the hotel. Ideal for going to either pools and close to gate to beach . We hired a car and explored the island. Looks like this Hotel is in the best area and ideal for the beach. The beach is lovely, with plenty of sun beds. The sea was warm and shallow, you can walk a long was out. Unfortunately, we would not rush back to another Riu Hotel, if the rest are like this one.

We had a mixed experience at RIU Paraiso Lanzarote. On the positive side, the rooms are very spacious and the hotel is absolutely spotless. The housekeeping team does an excellent job, and both the cleaning staff and the gardeners are incredibly friendly and always happy to say hello. Most of the bar staff were also lovely and provided great service.

Unfortunately, the reception staff weren’t particularly welcoming and often came across as quite rude, which wasn’t the best first impression.

The biggest disappointment for us was the food for coeliacs. If you don’t have any dietary requirements, the buffet is perfectly fine with a decent selection. However, the gluten-free options are very poor, and I wouldn’t recommend the hotel to anyone with coeliac disease. This is the main reason we wouldn’t return.

The other major let-down was the entertainment, especially for families. The hotel has two main pool areas. The larger family pool had no entertainment or activities going on at all during the day, which made it feel very quiet. The only entertainment was at the pool near the buffet restaurant, but it’s quite a long walk away, and it’s not practical to drag children back and forth every day just to find something for them to do.

Despite there being a kids’ club advertised, we never really saw any meaningful activities. The entertainment staff would occasionally walk around the family pool smiling at guests, but there was very little interaction with the children and almost nothing organised for them during the day. The only regular children’s activity was a mini disco at 4:30 pm every day, which seemed like a very odd time and is unlike any family hotel we’ve stayed at before. Overall, the children’s entertainment was extremely disappointing.

The hotel has plenty of positives, particularly the cleanliness, spacious rooms, and the friendliness of most of the staff. However, because of the poor gluten-free catering and the lack of proper children’s entertainment, we wouldn’t choose to stay here again.