Occidental Grand Hotel

Be honest with you I do not know where to start from.
1. Dining room -
Before every meal we had to hunt for available table. During 2 weeks time, no once I was able to come for meal, sit down and enjoy it. Instead that, we had to look for the table, remove dirty dishes, wipe the table and get cutlery. On many occasion getting teaspoons, glasses or dishes was just impossible. Completely chaos. Queues for juice machines, there was no staff to pour beer (had to do on my own) there was no facility to buy a bottle of wine. Few times we found, that our table, which we set for ourselves has been taken by somebody else while we were getting our food?
On few occasions they run out of basic products like butter toasted bread etc. First time when it happened I decided to ask a waitress if there is any butter? I got shouting answer no butter finish - finnito! So loud, rude and arrogant - I am sure that whole restaurant heard this. I only asked?!
2. The food was cold, very little variety. At 10.10 in the morning you could see staff cleaning up, no more eggs, no more pancakes. It looked just like service was finished. Once 10.20 my husband came back to restaurant just to get coffee. The waitress who was cleaning tables seen him coming. She left her trays on the tables and started shouting we finish. Finito, it is closed. He said that he just wants a coffee - She would not let him! The food in Lobo Bar was out, in hot weather, for more then 3 hours. Nobody bothered to check if the food is still eatable, check the temperature. The food was cold and not supervised at all. Birds were flying around. Very rare you could get anything to eat after 3.30. After 3.30 pm the food have been taken away. It suppose to be 4.00 pm. Once, I have noticed that plastic ladle has bee left under the grill. I t was melting. I showed that to chef. He just say oooh, will be ok and left it.
The evening meal was exactly this same. Hunting for a table, cleaning up and getting pizza. (The hottest and tastiest dish, which kept us alive over 14 days in 4.5 star hotel). After few hungry evenings I decided to book a restaurant. Unfortunately to get a booking for meal you had to do it on the day when you arrived (if you were aware about that) otherwise everything was booked till second week. The other thing was, to reserve your table you had to wait in the queue for ages and the girl behind the desk was so unpleasant and rude. She made me feel like I am a peasant or somebody doing something wrong.
3 Snacks: Internet description included unlimited snacks from 10.00 am - midnight. I have been there for 2 weeks and can tell - this is a fiction! For so many nights we were hungry, after having a little pizza or piece of bread with soup -we would be so happy to have a sandwich, but after the restaurant was closed 21.55, there was nothing, absolutely nothing to eat.
4 The next most upsetting problem was queuing time in the bar! The queue at the pool bar was just incredible about 6- 7 m long. You could dehydrate before actually you would get served. I am not talking about luxury cocktails or alcoholic drinks, but simply water, soft drinks, or anything. We hardly had any drinks at all. Even my 7 year old daughter when she sussed out how long she had to wait for drink- never mentioned her favourite cola or Fanta - "waste of time" she said . This problem was exactly this same in ice-cream and coffee shop. After few days of queuing, waiting I lost appetite for anything there was no point to get anything, because everywhere queues and long waiting time. We ended up buying bottles of drinks from the shop.
5. The evening bar. For whole big complex only two bars open with 2 people serving?! - third person was collecting and washing glasses fourth preparing mixture for cocktails.
One bar (the main one) queues for 20 min or more. On many occasions we were purposely ignored by the bar staff. It looked like all guests from Germany been served before us, even their drinks been taking to the tables. There was priority for staff to clean up, talk and laugh and then serve us.
The second bar situated in the Reception? Full blast lights with no music or atmosphere. The situation exactly this same - to be served within 10 min you had to be very lucky, or from Germany?! On the second night my husband tried to tip some bar staff. In returned to that he been shouted at, I don’t want your money I work for hotel not for you. This came up form nowhere. Hmm what can I say? The embarrassment was great. He did never confront her again or dare to tip anybody!
6. The entertainment. If you have a child who is watching a show you have no chance to get a drinks, because the theatre has no bar or tables. To get a drinks you had to go outside, live you child unsupervised or just do not drink at all (again). If somebody decided to get a drink -had to keep it in the hand or put it on the floor. Then everything could happen. Drinks spilt on the floor?! It was so dangerous especially children. My daughter slipped four times and landed in a puddle of whiskey or red wine? She was so lucky that she didn’t bang her head?! Till today I am not able to wash the marks of her clothes? After the show, there was nowhere to go. There was no facility for people with children at all.
The bar around the reception - watching people just arriving? The other bar wasn’t suitable for children at all, nowhere to sit down. So. 10.30 pm Bedtime?!
7. The bedroom. I am 100% sure that standard of the bedroom is far away form 4.5 star. Ants in the bedroom, scruffy bathroom with dirty curtain, moldy (black ) grouting and broken tiles looked very shabby and unhygienic. To have a shower I had to hold the shower in my hand otherwise water went all over bathroom.
I read on internet that the bed should be changed 3 times per week, but our bed been changed once for whole stay and only because after 8th days I decided to strip my bed and put dirty sheets into a bath, otherwise I don’t think we would get a clean bed. There was no air-condition. One of the holyday maker went to the reception to ask for it, but she has been informed by receptionist that air-condition is not on yet and won’t be turned on till end of May. Lack of air conditioning created massive problem for me and my daughter who is allergic to mosquitoes bits. Next morning after the wind dropped, and the temperatures rose up, she woke up with swollen face and hand as a result of mosquito’s bits. Luckily I had a medicine. For the faster effect I had to increase the doze which obviously is not good for small children.
8. No live guard on premises! 4.5 star hotel, complex with so many pools - but no live guard at all. The was nobody, absolutely nobody who could help if something would happened. I do realise that parents are fully responsible for the children but I thought having a life guard on a complex is essential and the should be no question to ask. There were children diving in on top of other people’s back and there was nobody to stop them! I would not dare to live my daughter unsupervised even for 1 minutes you can imagine how stressful and inconvenience it was!?
9. No entertainment during the day at all. First 12 days (out of14) we did not even know that there is any entertaining group. There was no music around the pools, no atmosphere on the complex. Normally there are reps going around asking for water polo or other games, - here absolutely nothing (except aqua aerobic and Bingo where you had to pay 1 euro to get ticket no price except certificate- I am wondering where the money went, extra income for hotel?!).
10. In the middle of our holiday in order to get a drink, ice-cream or whatever - they started asking us for room cards. I found it very inconvenience and unfair. I had to carry it everywhere! Once I did not have this card with me and I have been shouted at: "you no card - you no drink!". My daughter cried, I felt very uncomfortable and embarrassed. I could not understand what is all about. When we arrived, reception did not mention that procedure. I had my all inclusive bracelet on my hand, and had paid for all of it few weeks before I went on this holiday.
11. On few occasion I tried to contact our rep. But I could not find the folder on the bookshelves. So I just simply gave up. But one day I was so upset, stressed and determinate to talk to her. I spent half an hour going through every folder from different companies to make sure that I am not missing it. But the folder was not there. I went to the Reception to ask for details and the receptionist brought me the First Choice folder form the back office. Was there any reason why was it not available to us? Can they realise that people want to use it? I completed a complaining forms in the Reception. Couple days after I had a letter posted through my door, telling me they tried to contact me between 11.00 - 5.00 but there was no reply. Could you please tell me who is spending all afternoons in bedroom waiting for call back form the customer Services?
The letter instructed me to contact main reception during those hours. So I did. Unfortunately unlucky again. The person who I should talk to was not available (was on the lunch). Irene the Guests Service Rep rang me next morning - 4 days after my first complaint. We met next morning but unfortunately she couldn’t do nothing else then listening. Apparently as she said she was very busy (so many complaints to sort out?!) To be fair, I have to mention, she offered and booked the restaurant for us for one evening, but unfortunately this evening I wasn’t well, as I suffered from the food poison (vomiting and with diarrhea).
In a matter of fact I spoke to few people, and they weren’t happy at all. Had some problems like us with bedrooms and etc… Some of them even mentioned that even they did not even bothered to put an English flag on Theatre. There were flags of so man countries, but no British. Is it supposed to mean something?
On the last day I asked for all copies of my complaints. Unfortunately I could not get them, because like Irene said, it is internal document and she made some notes on it and she could not give me them. But Charlotte - First choice Rep promised me that she would be ale to obtain them.
In addition to that, to finish holidays off in, good style our meal on aeroplane was absolutely cold. Another few hours of hunger!
This is only few examples which had a massive impact on my holidays. Summarizing - two weeks - sleeping in dirty bed using scruffy bathroom. Hunting, cleaning and setting my own table, eating cold food or pizza, being hungry, stressing ourselves in queues for drinks, ice-cream or coffee and in bed at 10.30 pm. I am sorry to say, but this was more likely like a two weeks of sentence not holiday in 4.5 star hotel.
I am just wondering what did I paid for? In a matter of fact I just wasted my 2 weeks time off from work. We came back more stressed then we went. Also I am very sorry to say but I have lost my faith in First Choice company. How do they rate this hotel?

We went to this resort in a big group, just as well because of the amount of Germans there were!
That’s really the only bad thing I can say the weather was hot the drinks and the food was flowing! The food, I am a very fussy eater, I was stuffed every night.

The taxi ride was about 10 mins and there is not that much to see and do so stay in the hotel is the best answer after all you have paid for it! Loved every minute of the holiday.

Just returned yesterday from the hotel which overall I have rated as 8 out of 10. I booked the hotel on the strength of all other reviews which were overall good. Party included myself, partner and small children 1 year and 2 year olds... So looking at it from a mums point of view with young family here are my views.
Building very smart typical Canarian style rooms big enough to play in as well as sleep in! we had a room in block 20 on the ground floor which was close to the swings and slides, sand pit and climbing frames included. Children’s club open twice daily with nice reps. Plenty of activities for them you can stay or leave your kids and be close by sun bathing if you want, only concern for youngsters the area was not secure so they needed watching constantly!
Take a kettle for your baby formula if you use it! Fridge tiny and not cold enough for storing many items. Baths very slippery so pack a bath mat. Mosquitoes present at night.....
Microwave in main restaurant........ Kids food available at buffet, plain pasta and sauces each meal and pizzas and burgers and sausages. plenty of fruit, yoghurts and juices, no apple juice though!........Food 6 out of 10 and I am not a picky eater, I found it not hot enough and overall disappointing in comparison to other all inclusive hotels I have stayed in! saying that there was plenty of choice.
Mini disco nightly. 8pm face painting followed by disco.
Beach access difficult with tiny ones! Two lots of steps down steep cliff pack to go for the morning etc. bit of a hike back up and down....lovely once down. Look for the rock squirrels in the next door hotel wall at their beach entrance.....nice for kiddies to see, feed them and get up close.
Pools cold but didn’t expect any thing else, kiddies put their toes in and that was it!...weather disappointing, cloudy all week and wind very strong as the islands name states. Look at the weather forecast before booking if you’re flexible!
Shop sells nappies for all sizes that’s the only baby product.
Good access around for pushchairs although uneven in places for toddlers with slippery surfaces.
We wont go back again that’s our third time to Fuerteventura, next time back to the holiday village in Benalmadena, 10/10 for that hotel.
Have fun. oh.. we booked kiddies meal which cost £2 extra for flight worth it!

This was the best holiday we have been on in a long time. the food was excellent and was available from 7am right through till 10pm with an enormous variety including things like smoked salmon, fresh prawns, tapas Italian, Chinese, the choice was endless.
The drinks were fantastic you could have anything you wanted they had it all and it wasn’t the cheap stuff either! the pools were clean and warm. entertainment was also very good plenty to choose from. best of all we got left alone to do our own thing never got pushed into doing any activities, which we didn’t want to do unlike other ai we’ve been on.
I would highly recommend this hotel to anybody. only downfall was the trip up n down to the beach it was a right trek! but once down there it was like paradise! Would have gone for two weeks instead of one.