Sandos Papagayo Arena Hotel

5 readers found this review helpful

Prior to attending I was concerned that the hotel was going to be large and inpersonal, after reading some reviews about it, however there was no need for any concerns.
The transfer from the airport took approximately 40 mins, we were the last family to be dropped off,after visiting about 5 other hotels on route. The location of the hotel is at the far end of Playa Blanca so a bit out of the way ood size and from the main town (40 min walk)
The hotel itself is big but not huge, its very clean and welcoming. The staff were more than helpful and were a real credit to the hotel.
It didnt take long to get your bearings and find out where everything was within the site.
The room itself offered great views of the poool and sea with a nice sized balcony.
Overall, its a great place to stay as a family or couple.

6 readers found this review helpful

We arrived at The Papagayo Arena Hotel on 13 January 2011 for one week. Reception staff very welcoming and friendly but directions to room was not very clear, eventually found our way to block D. Rooms very clean but the huge double bed was not very comfortable, very hard. Only when I came back did I see the review from another guest who had requested memory foam matress, will remember this in future. Plenty sunbeds around the three pools. Towels are issued for the pool area on arrival and can be changed when necessary. Ongoing maintenance and cleaning throughout the Hotel.
There are four Restaurants but as I am Coeliac and have to have gluten free food I stayed at the main buffet restaurant. The Restaurant Manager and staff were exceptionally helpful, they showed me each day what I could have and some of the dishes actually specified they were gluten free. On my first night the chef made me a special welcome dessert which was delicious. Each morning I would show my gluten free card to the waiter and he would bring me GF toast, biscuits and muffin. Plenty of fresh fruit, breads, croissants. hams, cheeses and the usual cooked breakfast available although the bacon was very fatty. There was a great variety of all types of food for both lunch and dinner and you could eat as much as you wanted. The tables are generally set for couples but the tables are close together so you meet a lot of other guests this way. We met some lovely people and as we are Scottish we tend to meet up with the Irish.
The Hotel is situated at the far end of the Papagayo area but you can enjoy a beautiful walk in to the Rubicon Marina along the shore path which takes 15 - 20 minutes. You can continue right along Playa Dorado in to Playa Blanca and this walk from the Papagayo Hotel takes approx 2 hours but there are plenty of things to see and shops along the way so it a pleasant morning out.
We were fortunate to have hot weather all week 23 - 27 degrees and although it was a bit windy we were very glad of this as it made it more comfortable to lie in the sun.
There is a painist in the Green Bar twice a week and music in the Canary bar twice a week, both pleasant to listen to but the entertainment at 10 pm was a big disappointment. To be fair we only saw a couple of the shows as we were told by other guests how awful the entertainment was not good.
Water, coffee, tea, soft drinks, wines, beer are all included but you have to pay for Baileys, Liquers and Whisky.
We would definitely recommend this Hotel and would go back in the future.

1 reader found this review helpful

Arrived Thursday 14th October 2010 for two weeks. Given keys and a map and sent to find our room. Hotel is in blocks, A,B,C,D,E,G,H etc with (at last count) 17 lifts. Some floors are under ground level built on the side of the cliff and some are above. This means a change of lift. We did not find our room and had to go back to reception and was then taken to room by friendly security guard. Saw lots of people throughout our stay wandering around on arrival and had to help a few of them. Room was large with only a part sea view - room D 243. We aked for a change and after been offered two other rooms (one with no sea view at all)we got room C428 the next day. Magnificent sea view across to Fueteventura and the ocean liners which went past every night at sunset. Room was the largest we had ever had but a little tired. Twin beds were very hard. The air conditioning was wisper quiet - previous room had been very loud and we had to turn it off at night. Room kept very clean by maid service. Had to pay for safe which should have been included in price. Fridge was free but not stocked. Food - four restaurants but really only three as the Italian one is really part of the main one. We tried the Tai restaurant once but didn't go back - miserable place with no atmosphere and sour staff. Never saw the French one being used, probably because this was not part of the All Inclusive package. The main restaurant was OK at first but as more people came it became a free for all. It is amazing that no-one was knocked off their feet by each other, or by the staff wheeling their trollies at a fast pace. The noise level was dreadful, screaming children, babies, and clatter. The acoustics of all the main areas is atrocious. The food was repetative and the quality of the meat was poor. The veal (which I don't eat) was served up for three days. I saw one member of the kitchen staff place new salad on top of old and very sad and slimey looking salad. The waiting staff looked very fed-up and did not smile. They must have been told to clear away plates as soon as they were emptied. This is good in one respect but when my husband and I went for another drink we came back to find our plates had gone. After this we took it in turnes to get our next course. Tables for two were placed together and I don't think they could have squeezed another table in the place. If you are looking forward to a quiet and peaceful evening meal this is not for you. Drinks - white wine in the Canarian Bar smelled of urine and tasted disgusting. Beer seemed to be the best drink to stick to. Not sure if any of the others were what they said they were. We found we could not find any peace in the hotel, just endless noise. However, the rooms were quiet and well sundproofed between rooms.
Overall, a clean hotel, food OK but restaraunt like a factory canteen. Noisy design which meant that noise travelled everywhere. Atrium reception area very noisy. Seats - NOT A COMFORTABLE CHAIR IN THE WHOLE HOTEL. Entertainment - apart from two professional acts - dire. Avoid the poor parrots - they must have been dragged around other hotels before coming to this one and had abviously had enough of it. I felt so sorry for them. Pool area - plenty of sunbeds always available.
This is a mixed review - would I go back? No. Not a four star hotel.

7 readers found this review helpful

Extremely large hotel which was quite intimidating on arrival and check in. We where given a map and instructions of how to reach our room which involved taking two lifts and was a bit of a trek with suitcases would have been nice to be taken to our room.
Once we got to the room we where rewarded with quite a large room which was nicely decorated if a bit tired with huge super king-sized bed and separate sofa bed, fridge and air con. The room would be large enough to accommodate two adults and two children comfortably. The most stunning thing about the room was the balcony which was larger than average and looked out over a small pebble beach. Most rooms have sea views we stayed in block B. Blocks A, B and C all look out over the small beach and I would recommend requesting to stay in block C which is the most central.
The three pool areas are all close to each other which makes it easy to use all three without having to move to other sun beds of which there where plenty even in high season we where able to get a sun bed there are signs that say no sun bed reservation and on one occasion I had got up early and sat on a sun bed reading for over a hour got up to go to the shop for fifteen minutes and on return my towels had been dumped at the side and there where other people in my place. I think the pool attendant must go around the pools just before they open at ten o’clock and take the towels off any un attended sun beds although this was the only time this happened to me and I didn’t see it happen to anyone else but as I’ve said there where plenty of sun beds. The pool areas are kept clean and tidy and the pools themselves where a bit cold even in the middle of July but a great way of cooling of in the heat.
The public areas of the hotel are stunning and kept spotlessly clean. There are numerous bars and restaurant open at various times throughout the day. The food and drink was plentiful if a little repetitive but even the fussiest eater would be able to find something to suit. Pizzeria is part of the main buffet restaurant and there is also a Chinese (part of all inclusive) and French (at a supplement) didn’t go in either as bad reviews of Chinese and French was uninviting and looked empty every time we looked in. Bars have an array of different drinks on all inclusive wine was very palatable, beer drinkable and the spirits where large measures as you would expect also a range of cocktails available and sangria.
Hotel offers an entertainment programme but I can only comment on the Mini club which was extremely poor. The club itself is tucked out of site and would benefit from a bit of investment. The animation team and programme could have been a lot better It seemed to be geared mainly towards Spanish children so of course it was mostly attended by them which meant my five year old who is normally out going and gets stuck in took nearly a week to get comfortable with things. I do appreciate that they have to accommodate many different nationalities but there didn’t seem to be any one encouraging the children to join in. A tip for hotel management ( good idea would be for animation team to walk around pool areas encouraging children to join in at the start of the sessions. I have seen this at other hotels and it works well.)
I would not normally comment on individual staff members when reviewing but feel the need to comment on an English member of staff who I overheard tell a guest when asked if she enjoyed it her reply “well it’s a job isn’t it” was less than encouraging but did I suppose fit in with her general attitude.
Evening entertainment was a bit hit and miss with some really professional acts mixed with poor hotel organised activities.
The location of the hotel was outside the main resort of Playa Blanca which isn’t a problem as your all inclusive and it is a lovely walk along the promenade to the Rubicon marina (about 20 mins) with its selection of restaurants, bars and market on sat and wed. Then a further 30mins walk into playa blanca itself. Hotel offers a courtesy bus a number of times a day but taxis are cheap and frequent. A word of warning if you walk back along promenade to hotel late evening they close the gates from the beach so you have to walk around to the front of the hotel which will add another 20 mins on to journey.
Would recommend booking any trips with customer travel who have an office in Rubicon marina I found them extremely professional and good value. We did the 1 hour boat trip to Papagayo beach which took us past the hotel and the south trip to the volcano.
Overall I would highly recommend this hotel and would definitely stay again

1 reader found this review helpful

We have just returned from the Papagayo Arena. We stayed for a week all inclusive with our 2 children ( age 1 and 6).
First impressions were fantastic and we did finally work things out, even though we were the only ones left on the bus as even the rep got off at the hotel before! ( we werent sure if that was good or bad news)
I must admit i did indeed read all these reviews of the hotel before we left..and i thought we would be in for a treat!
BUT..We found the staff very grumpy and blatingly fed up of their work in general.
The hotel is very "spanish" oriantated and they all speak very little english.
We arrived during mid evening and found our room easily, again the first impressions were good,(apart from the broken travel cot fully made up for my 1 yr old which i complained about, and the reception member said she spoke litlle english and could not understand the reason for my complaint???) full of shiny marble and cool tiles and welcoming air conditioning.
However the weather was awful...apparently it had been overcast and grey clouds for 2 weeks previous.( bad luck on our account)
We were given a timetable of all the restrants and bars opening times, so found the pizzeria easily for a late dinner.
We did find it strange to help ourselves to drinks though.
After a few cloudy days the sun shone, which brightened the mood around the hotel a little. There seemed to be a comman theme around the english ppl we spoke to that they werent too impressed with the food or the evening entertainment. I have to agree with them...the food was very BOG standard for a 4****and the staff were grumpy and very impolite, with the head waiter tutting and scowling at my husband one time for borrowing a fork from our joined table!! and the Animation team were ...well how can i put it....awful!
They steared mainly towards the spanish children and tended to ignore the english children. So much so...my outgoing 6 yr old son turned very shy, as he didnt understand what they were saying. We only found out on the last day, that one of the main team was actually English herself.
The childrens entertainment in the evening was surposed to start at 8.45pm (itself a tad late for the little ones)only we arrived at 8.45pm and they were already halfway through the routine. We later discovered in the holiday..they did the same routine EVERY night, same songs and dances.
The other thing that we discovered was the lack of babychanging facilies...we only found a few near the end of the holiday.
The pools were VERY cold. with a scorching day the baby pools warm up by about 4pm.Despite sunbeds aplenty...some families had to wait and cue for beds, due to residents reserving beds, whilst they went off for ages.despite there being plenty of signs asking not to reserve them.
The hotel itself is in a very remote spot..but with stunning views on a clear day. We only left the hotel once for a short walk though. No supermarkets within 5 mins walk anyway.
Maid service was alot to be desired too...Our room wasnt swept or mopped for 3 days including fallen plaster from the Balcony wall..and only half done, after my complaint. Our sheets were not changed all week too, neither was the childrens beds. Not impressed, my 1 yr old got filthy crawling around the room (seeing as a wetwipe came up clean out on the poolside tiles). Bathroom cleanliness was alot to be desired too.
The plus'....
The best bar by far was the Canarian Bar (level 0)...free cocktails till 11pm, snacks at lunchtime too.
TV for footie and F1 for all the men. Lovely music in the PM too.
Lots of games and pool tables for bored children on level -3.
All in all....a pretty hotel..but has hidden flaws.
Won't be back to the Canary islands.

24 readers found this review helpful

Having just returned from a week's winter break at the Papagayo Arena Hotel in Playa Blanca, I cannot think of a single fault with it. Rooms were spacious and clean, the staff went out of their way to assist you, and the food was really good. I would have no hesitation in staying here again.

27 readers found this review helpful

We have just been to the papagayo arena for a week, we arrived back 2 days ago. All i can say is that this hotel is fantastic!!! The food is brilliant, everything that you can want is on the tables, meat, fish, salads, fruit etc etc. There is also a snack bar at the side of the pool, serving food and drinks all day, and re opens after 11 at night, where you can make your own toasted sandwiches and snacks. The pools are fantastic, and there is no sunbed reserving, which was great, there is always plenty of sunbeds, and because the hotel is probably 85 per cent spanish travellers, most days we had the pool to ourselves in the afternoon for a couple of hours as they all went for siestas. There is a free shuttle bus a few times a day into the local town and beach, There is a kids club which is run by a scottish lady, which was brilliant for our two eldest. The rooms are fantastic, ours was a sea view, and u could hear the waves lapping up, the pebble beach was so close. There is loads of room, we had a pull out double bed, and a king size bed which slept three, the bathrooms are immaculate and the balcony's are huge!! I can honestly say that this is the first holiday i have been on where i cannot find fault with the hotel!! It is worth every star it has and more!!!

7 readers found this review helpful

This hotel met its expectations, was in beautiful surroundings! Rooms were spacious and extremely clean! Staff were very friendly and helpful. Swimming pools nice and clean with plenty of space to sunbathe and relax. Being an all inclusive, there is more than plenty choice, having international, chinese and italian restautrants as part of AI and a French one that you pay extra for. Even plenty for the fussiest of eaters. Although AI ends at 11pm, beer and wine and snacks are served 24hrs in the poolside bar/diner!
Hotel complex very large so took a while to get bearings but nothing bad to say at all. would definitley recommend to anyone for a relaxin quiets break.
Not much nightlife etc local if you are looking for this but we just went to relax.

13 readers found this review helpful

I travelled to the Papagayo Arena on holiday with my family. Dont beleive half of the moaning people that write on here, its nonsense.This hotel is 4 stars and thats exactly what you get - 4 star! The hotel is gorgeous, has 4 pools and a kids pool lovely restaurant and plenty of variety in the food. The hotel was full on our second week and was a bit much but only because of british travellers im ashamed to say. We came out every morning of our second week to see people putting towels down on beds to save their space, on one occasion someone put out 9 towels and then left for the entire day and didnt return until after 4pm! Eventually the hotel took action and the attendant starting lifting all towels and moving them which we thought was hilarious !! One woman actually had the cheek to complain about it to reception.
The hotel entertainment was good most of time and varied for all ages, for anyone my age (26) there is the disco at 11pm every night as well. I have to say the pancakes at the snack bar were great!! every day @ 4pm and needless to say i put on a few pounds!!
The trips on offer seemed good but can be booked for cheaper if you venture into playa blanca town. The market at the Marina is on wednesdays and saturdays and i would highly recommend it.
I would definately recommend this hotel to anyone and be aware not to read into all that you hear people moaning about.

4 readers found this review helpful

Just back after a week at Papagaya Arena. Beautiful hotel but 1 week all inclusive sufficient. Just wanted to make people aware of lovely Austrian Gent on the pier at Playa Blanca who sold us a dodgy boat trip. We sat waiting at our hotel to be picked up - no show. Rang him to be told boat was in for repairs and apologies. Went and demanded my money back which he duly gave but was clear there was no boat trip planned at all. Left with 3 very disappointed children. Clearly a chancer but felt very left down - avoid at all costs. Book any trips through your hotel!!