Hesperia Playa Dorada Hotel

Spent two very enjoyable weeks at the Playa Dorada. The rooms were very comfortable and serviced on a daily basis, the restaurant was excellent with a very good selection available. All staff members were friendly and helpful, the evening entertainment was of a high standard and the days activities were well organised by Sara and the team. I would without doubt return again.

Not only did we enter a really disgusting smelly room but it took us 3 days to obtain an air freshner after we had admitted defeat at the chance of moving rooms. The cleaners admitted that the same problem throughout our particular wing. All the furniture was falling to pieces and we were unable to close the drawers at all. Management admitted the room wasn't up to standard and also the Thomas Cook rep. who tried to assist but no joy. This room was defininately not a 4 star standard and would worry at giving a 1 star. The most unpleasant supposedly 4 star accommodation we have ever had the misfortune to stay in. Unfortunately when speaking to the Manager he admitted that when we had the good fortune to leave the following day someone else had been allocated it, so therefore they had no intention of any remedial work. Be aware....

We picked to stay at this hotel based on the positive reviews on the tripadvisor site. Although we enjoyed our holiday I would say, however, that the hotel is only average in comparison with other 4 star hotels we have stayed in. The first thing we unfortunately noted on arrival in our room (ground floor) was the strong smell of mould. The room was clean enough, but maybe a little shabby round the edges. The manky red carpet could also do with ripping up! The beds were comfy enough though, although the bedding was not changed all week. Also, don't expect to sunbathe on your terrace or balcony unless you are on the top floor as below this get no sun at all. Air conditioning in the room was very good with a number of different settings, also quiet enough to leave on at night. The hotel has pools in 2 separate areas, we tended to stay by the one nearest the sea - stunning views. The pool area was very nice and we had no problems getting a sunbed at all. There were very few English guests at the hotel, so makes you wonder if the stories about Germans reserving sunloungers at 3am are totally untrue, and it is actually the Brits who do this?! Restaurant was OK although the choice at dinnertime was pretty repetitive and limited. Breakfast more enjoyable. The bar area is quite small with a limited number of seats, we struggled even in June to get a seat where we wanted. There is another bar in the entertainment area if you enjoy hotel style entertainment. Staff were OK although generally rushed off their feet and dashing about like headless chickens. I have been learning spanish and was hoping to pass the time of day a bit with the staff but they didn't seem like they would have the time! Playa Blanca itself is a wonderful resort, miles of promenade to wander along and lots of bars and restaurants. Would definitely recommend the resort but may try one of the other hotels next time.

we stayed there this march the room we had over looked the garden the smalll golf course. also a sea view. The hotel staff were pleasant the reception girls on the whole were fine contary to what people say. The area was situated in a good area lovely walkalong to the ferry. We had a really nice time the food was okay being buffet lots of choicewas better than l was expecting so we would go again.

We stayed at the Playa Dorada for a week, mid March 2006. It was a fabulous hotel. All the staff were polite and helpful. Our room on the top floor (only three floors) had a medium sized balcony with table and chairs, it had a superb view of the Rubicon Marina and sea plus it overlooked the golf course at the side of the hotel. The room was spacious, well decorated and furbised. It was cleaned everyday, bedding changed twice, towels and toiletries replaced as required. We could not fault the housekeeping standards. On the food side we had half board and were delighted with the choice, standard and presentation of the food at breakfast and dinner. There is a three sittings system at dinner but it is flexible, we never had a problem finding a table or accessing our food. The Hotel facilitated daytime and evening entertainment, with several activites such as aerobics, archery, rifle shooting and petang during the day and in the evening a music trio which you could dance, following this some kind of entertainment in the 'show' room e.g. dancers: 'riverdance' cuban; casino evening; music quiz etc; this room and bar was open until 1am. The location of the hotel is superb, walk out of the back gateway onto the promenade, you are facing the sea and Playa Dorada beach, which is lovely and clean and has sunbeds/umberellas to hire. Turn right along the promenade, past the beach and eventually you will be in Playa Blanca centre, about 10 mins stroll. Turn left out of the hotel along the promenade and you will arrive at the Rubicon Marina, which has some shops, mainly designer, plus quite a few nice bars/restaurants with a view over the classy Marina. Again about 10 mins stroll. Both directions are flat paving and very accessible, for walking, wheelchairs and buggies. Hot Tip: take some shoes comfortable to walk in! If you carried on past the Marina, still on the paving you would eventually come to the Papagayo area (around 3K) approximately 2K further on over rough ground you come to the beautiful Papagayo beaches, there is not much else there, a small cafe charging high prices for refreshments and 1 Euro for the loo! There is a drivable route over rough ground. We took a taxi from the Rubicon Marina , which dropped us at the Papayago Arena Hotel (about 3Euros) and we walked over the rough ground about 20 mins to the beaches. The other alternative is to get the glass bottom boat from the Playa Blanca Harbour or Marina and disembark at the beaches. (15 Euros each) they pick you up later! The weather was excellent, around 72F all week. I would have no hesitation to recommend the hotel as suitable for any age group/ability/family/singles.

Don't believe the negative things said about this hotel. Yes the reception is slow at the beginning and end. Unless you are the winging complaining type there is absolutely no need to go back throughout your stay. Probably the same people who would prefer to seal the door to the bedroom and never leave for the whole holiday so they don't get bitten by mosquitoes. All of the staff are very friendly and accommodating. We needed to change rooms to be closer together which was dealt with and sorted immediately. We went with three generations from 9 months to over 60 and it perfectly suited everybody. The food is far better than we were expecting from the reviews and was in fact excellent. There was ample choice and very good. There were no queues or waiting. Admittedly we went down early as we had children but were very happy. You don't go to this sort of hotel for fine dining. It is mass catering but done very well. That is high praise as I am a chef and own hotels and restuarants. I wouldn't agree that the nearby rubbish tourist restaurants are any better. There are a couple of oddities such as paying a 12 euro deposit for the swimming towels and 1 euro each time to change them. And having to wear a swimming hat in the indoor pool (3 euros to buy). Nothing that is worthy of criticism. It is fantastic location with a short walk through the grounds, along a promenade and on to the beach, with no traffic. The walk in either direction is lovely. I would highly recommend this hotel and would be happy to go back at any time.

Just spent a week at the Hesperia Playa Dorada hotel - the building itself is good, and close to the beach, but lots of problems with staff, mainly centring around the reception (where you inevitably have to wait 10 minutes every time because they aren't enough staff). They messed up our booking first, then gave us the wrong type of room, failed to bring our bags to the room, gave us incorrect information about facilities and times, messed up our late check-out etc etc. The staff did their best to be friendly and helpful, but they were hopelessly overworked and sometimes completely incompetent. Shame, because the hotel itself otherwise is fine. Like other people say, the food is only okay, but go for bed & breakfast only because there's plenty of good restaurants / bars within walking dancing outside.

Stayed here in July on a colleagues recommendation and were very pleased - it is a real find. Much closer to the beach than the Lanzarote Princess and apparently much more relaxed. Only British tour company is Portland and they have a limited number of allocations. We only heard one other British couple the whole time we were there. The hotel is used mainly by Spanish holiday makers who have a very laid back attitude. No problems in getting a sunbed at any time of the day. It was a pleasure to look out from the balcony at 9 in the morning and not see towels on sunbeds and it was the same every day. Both breakfast and dinner buffets are excellent. The restuarant near the bar is by far better than the other from the layout point of view ( the food is the same). Pool restaurant was a little disappointing as not a very varied menu but perfectly adequate. Hotel was in a great location for the fabulous blue flag beach. Fairly close to the marina for restuarants and up market shops and about a 20 minute walk into the main shopping area which had some very tasteful shops and restuarants. A few bars, restuarants and shops on the way. A very pretty resort which seemed to a appeal to the slightly older holidaymaker.

Just returned from a week at the Playa Dorada, hotel is very clean, very spacious grounds, well maintained and good position in Playa Blanca. Staff are the friendliest of any hotel we have ever stayed, nothing is too much trouble for them and service is excellent. We mentioned to the housekeeper that our door kept sticking and within 5 minutes the handy man was there and fixed it. It is an exceptionally well run hotel and would be very suitable for anyone less abled. However, I found the food a bit dissapointing, although there was plenty of choice (apart from the deserts) the food was cold, there were strategically placed microwaves in the dining room which was a little worrying. Having said that my husband dissagrees with me and say's Spanish food is never as hot as English people would like. He has a point, but in my opinion it was'nt even warm, but that is the only thing that I would change. If you want a totally chilled out holiday in a well run hotel with walks along the prom then you won't go far wrong here.

The rooms are very clean. The technical staff are avaliable immediately if there is a problem. The reception staff are particularly helpful and friendly. We never had to wait long to get attention. The rooms are very nice but do not have a minibar/fridge. The only problem with the rooms (most of which have a seaview) is the fact that the door (of most rooms) opens on to a corridor with access to the open air directly. As a result we were bitten by mosquitoes. The hotel provided us with an apparatus but we were still bitten (perhaps in bathroom). If you are allergic to mosquitoes many of the rooms are not suitable. Moreover the restaurant was not very good. We stayed from 22nd to 29th December 2004 and there were often long queues to get a seat in the restaurant. The fruit and salads were good. However the main courses were not appetising. The hot food was often lukewarm or even cold (even the chips and the potatoes). There is a shortage of staff in the restaurant but the staff are very pleasant. The main dinner on the 25th was very badly organised. We had to choose to go for the 1st serice or the 2nd service although they only changed the tablecloths and napkins (very nice Christmassy ones) in the usual manner. The entertainment is limited - the same band every night and not many shows while we were there. On the other hand, the architecture of the entrance is very impressive. Also the hotel is near the promenade which enabled us to go for long walks by the sea. It is also near the beach and has fine swimming pools.