H10 Rubicon Palace Hotel

I have just returned from the Rubicon Palace and will not be returning. We found the staff unhelpful but then again the hotel was understaffed. The food was good but the lunch time menu was very repetitive.
There is a spa on the resort but children are only allowed to use the indoor pool 1 hour per day and you have to pay to use the facilities. 15 euro for adults. The pools outside are also very cold so not very accommodating to everyone!!
Two of the restaurants were shut and therefore we only had buffet style. The hotel is supposed to be only a 20 minute walk to the marina but it is much longer.
We also found that the waiting staff and some of the bar staff were very rude and even when we wanted to pay for drinks they seemed not to have time for us. We all felt that this hotel was not very welcoming to the British.
Also certain times of the day you cannot get snacks and also at night there are no facilities to buy drinks or late supper. Therefore make sure you stock up your fridge with nibbles and drinks especially if you have children with you ( fridge 3 euros per day!!)
BEWARE!!!! Breakfast finishes at 10.30am and regardless of whether you are still dining all the power is turned off and the dishes are removed...
On a good note as I don’t want to sound like Mrs Doom!!!! The hotel is situated in a beautiful location with fabulous views but it lacks atmosphere and needs to overall its customer relations and policies!!
I would recommend going down into Playa Blanca where you will find some lovely little restaurants and bars.

2 readers found this review helpful

Having spent a glorius 10 days at the Rubicon Palace in Oct 2003, we were really looking forward to our overdue 2 week holiday.
Unfortunately, the hotel has rapidly gone downhill since our first visit and we were sorely disappointed.
90% of the crockery in the restaurants were either dirty or chipped. We saw many cockroaches scapering around the restaurant floor, my husband even saw one crawling along the edge of the buffet counter.
Staff were unhelpful and the complex was very dirty. Two days into our holiday, a beer bottle had been smashed around one of the pools. I reported this to a member of the cleaning staff and 3 hours later the glass was supposedly cleared away. However, the day before we were due to leave, I was still finding large shards and was picking them up myself.
My husband and my daughter also both caught ear infections, along with many others, due to the dirty pool water.

We have just returned from our holiday in the Rubicon Palace Hotel. Overall we had a lovely holiday in Playa Blanca and the weather was wonderful.
There is a promenade to walk along from the back of the hotel along the coast into Playa Blanca and is a 20-30 mins stroll.
The beaches are small but there are several dotted around the coastline. Some may get a little busy so if you prefer something a little quieter try the Papagayo Beaches. These can be reached by hiring a car as taxis will not take you right to the beach. You can get a taxi to the Papagayo Arena Hotel and walk over the hills this takes about 15mins although not ideal for young children or the less mobile. The track down to the beach is not steep and the view is lovely.
Once at the first beach you are able to walk around the rocks to gain access to other beaches or you can take a taxi boat to the smallest beach. When visiting these you need to take your own refreshments as there are no facilities, well worth a visit!
The sea although a little chilly when first getting in was beautiful ideal for snorkelling with lots of fishes.
The Hotel was very big and beautifully maintained it was exceptionally clean, rooms spacious, well furnished and the maid service was the best we have experienced.
Our room 6002 had a wonderful view of the pools and the island of Fuerteventura, which you could visit by a short 15mins trip on the ferry.
There were several pools and plenty of sunbeds to relax on, you could also participate in activities around the pool if you wished to do so.
Nightly entertainment at the hotel was mainly your typical holiday shows although you could sit in the piano bar where there was on occasions a singing duo. If you prefer something a little more lively you could take a short taxi ride into the town and use the bars the Old Mill Irish bar had live singers nightly and the staff were welcoming and friendly.
Hotel restaurants were large and the food was well presented and a good selection offered although often coldish (there was a microwave to warm it but it took a while to heat through).Food did seem to be a little repetitive over a two week holiday.
Staff were hard working and friendly they always spoke when passing you by.
Although we met many people on our holiday because of the vast size of the hotel and grounds it was very rare that you bumped into them again.
I personally think with hotels of this size you lose that personal touch but it’s down to individual choice.
This Hotel is very impressive the entrance hall is stunning and it is a lovely place to spend a holiday.

This is most definitely the best hotel I have ever been to in the Canary Islands.
It was a bit further away from the main resort than I initially thought (we did on one evening walk down to the harbour via the coastal pathway from the bottom and even though it took about an hour it was nice to do just the once). However, getting a taxi is very easy as reception will call one for you and there is also a couple of taxi ranks in town. The taxi was only €3 so very cheap!
The food at the hotel was quite varied. Each night had a theme from around the world. Bit of a shame that a British night wasn’t included! There was: Chinese, Italian, Tex-Mex, Canarian and a few evenings of International Buffet. The waiters and waitresses were all quite helpful. We always ate in the Janubio Restaurant as the other just didn’t look as nice or as comfortable!
Maid service everyday. Towel change whenever you want, bedsheets changed three times a week. All cleaning was very thorough, I was arrived back at our room to find the maid had pulled the beds out to sweep and mop underneath them - this was the day after we had arrived!
Rooms were spacious. Mirrors everywhere! Twin rooms include two double beds! Balcony view was amazing, we looked out towards the lighthouse rather than directly at the sea but it was still visible!
The staff were all very friendly. The train drivers and taxi drivers always waved and shouted hello when they went by our room even though we were five floors up! Very nice people. And in case you're wondering, the train takes you around the site as it is quite a big place! When you arrive, the train takes you and your luggage to your room. A bit of a bumpy ride but fun all the same!
The only real problem was with the reservation of loungers (expected everywhere now). We found loungers had to be reserved at about 7.30am around the main pool. However, some Spaniards decided that when they arrived at the poolside around 10.30am they could just take towels from loungers and use them themselves.
The pool and the pool bar were great. The main pool was salty and felt quite cold when you first got in but it was a wonderful place to have an early morning swim and definitely the pool to cool down in! If you swim out towards the bar you can actually go underneath and look in through glass windows in the floor! There is also a concrete boat in the main pool. Many a game was played around the boat in our case anyway!
If anyone has any questions then drop me a line in the forum!

A truly fabulous hotel. Excellent food and good entertainment. The staff are very friendly, highly motivated and enthusiastic. I have visited this hotel three times (something I wouldn’t normally do) and have never been disappointed.
The only down side is the location which is somewhat distant from the resort centre. However, there is a courtesy bus into Playa Blanca and at 3 Euros for a taxi into town, travel is non restrictive.
A superb base for a quiet holiday and a great jumping off spot for a day trip to Fuerteventura, which is 15 minutes away via the Fred Olsen Ferry.
The Rubicon is a first class hotel and I look forward to subsequent visits.

An excellent choice for a family holiday. Accommodation, food, service, activities all first rate. Service in the buffet/carvery style restaurants was second to none. We had been concerned at the location as some reviewers suggested it was too far on the outskirts of the resort. Taxi was very cheap but everything we could have wanted was on site so only went into town once to have a look and once to do some take home shopping.
Activities ranged from a kids club for 3 hrs in morning and afternoon and mini disco at night to free trial scuba diving in the heated pool every day. Activities started every 30 mins and had something for everyone. For those of us less activity minded, the large salt water pool is the best I have come across with both shallow and deeper parts, the aforementioned heated pool is large enough for children to play even when a game of water volleyball is underway at the other end, and four smaller pools with waterfalls in quiet locations were also great places to enjoy a relaxing break.
Only comment on the quality of the food was that it was so good I had difficulty choosing!! Different themes were used each day so no boring menu ( although the kids buffet table did have mostly the same (pasta(different type each day)/chips/chicken nuggets/fresh pastries/ice cream selection) but children were welcome to choose from the huge selections for the adults if they wished.
Already thinking about booking for next year at the same place!