Cotillo Beach Hotel

8 readers found this review helpful

Rooms
Hotel was very clean and quite modern. Cleaner cleans rooms 5x per week. I have not seen even one cockroach which is a huge advantage, as trust me- they are huge and disgusting in Canaries. Rooms are functional and of a good size if 2 people are staying in the room (probably not as comfy, if there are 3 people and the sofa is unfolded). Nice size balcony overlooking the sea or the swimming pool (one row overlooks the town I believe). There are 2 double wardrobes, some extra hanging space, side tables and a desk, so in short- enough storage even for 3. Our bathroom was clean and comfortable, although if you are a real pain, you will notice the workmanship was not perfect. There is a hair dryer in the bathroom. There is no air-con, but the fans on the ceiling do the trick and are probably more healthy. We were using card as a key and although there is a safe in the room, we felt our things were secure in the room and we did not hear anybody complaining of anything being stolen.
Staff
All the staff were very friendly- the receptionists, waiters, cleaners- efficient, nice and helpful.
Hotel entertainment
There was a field for playing football, volleyball and basket ball. It was nicely shaded in the aternoons, however I believe that you would have to go with a group of friends to actually be able to enjoy it, as the guests did not seem to be interested, or they could not get themselves organised. There were also darts, pool, table tennis, tennis, some other table game, rifle shooting and boule (?). The entertainer, Claire was new, she came on the same day as we did, so she was slowly trying to make the plan of activities. She intended to add some stretching.There were various quizzes in the evenings,not many people attended, but the ones that did, seemed to be quite happy. The guests are from different countries, during my stay there were mostly English people, Germans, some Spanish and Italians and a couple of Polish, Dutch and Russian people. Just in case you miss it (I noticed it on the third day), the activities plan is on the pool bar door.
Swimming pool
Swimming pool seems to be very clean and there are more than enough loungers for everybody. There are sunny and shaded areas, so you can just get your drink from the bar by the pool and relax. The downside was that the pool was a bit cold in Sept/Oct.
Food
There is a reasonable choice of food; eg for breakfast there is a choice of full English, various cereals and variety of dried fruit, donaughts and other sweet rolls/cake type things and finally cheese, ham and some salami.
Lunch and Dinner would usually be one or two kinds of grilled meat/fish, fish in sauce, meat (lamb, beef, pork, chicken, rabbit) roasted and/or with sauce, some fried meaty snack eg. chicken nuggets, a few times I saw paella, there was always some pasta, grated cheese and tomato sauce, if somebody was interested (kids?) and finally a choice of vegetables- one or two kinds of warm vegetables and a number of fresh vegetables to be eaten as a side salad or with tuna. Choice and quality was quite good and definitely worth the price.The downside was that the food was made to suite all tastes, so was not very spicy, the vegetables sometimes tasted as if they were not very fresh, but then we went at the end of September when the hotel was not full, so I it is understandable the food was not being used up very fast. I did not enjoy the deserts very much- mostly tinned fruit and some milk desserts. However, there were always bowls of fresh fruit to chose from Finally, all inclusive option entitled to wine, beer and soft drinks to go with the meal. The alcohol was ok and the coffee was lovely.
Beaches
There are three beaches in El Cotillo.
The one to the left, where I was going in the mornings is some 20 minutes walk from the hotel. It is quite a long sandy beach with a lifeguard. The waves are big there (smaller in the mornings), so perfect for surfing or jumping through the waves, fighting with them and being massaged by them (excellent massage ladies).
My evening beach was one of the two to the right from the hotel.
The first one, 5 minutes away from the hotel is a sandy beach, enclosed by the rocks, so that the Laguna is very calm. Too shallow to swim in the morning, but in the afternoon it is like a sea swimming pool- lovely. No lifeguard.
The second beach to the right is also an enclosed laguna, about 20 minutes away from the hotel. It seems to be more private, with a few more "stone circles" to protect you from the wind and gaze of other people. There are more people coming there than to the second one, it has a lifeguard (I did not see one though), a beach bar and showers to wash off salty water.
Although beaches on Costa Calma seem to be more beautiful, the beaches in El Cotillo provide more entertainment as you can both play in huge waves as well as swim in calm waters.
Please be prepared that you are highly likely to see naturists on your beach. In fact I saw them on all beaches I visited, even the quite busy ones, so if you find it shocking- Fuerteventura may not be for you.
Town/Island/Transport
El Cotillo is very small. There are probably a few shops, a supermarket and a few restaurants, so if you are looking forward to partying or walking around the town looking at souvenirs, that is not the best place for you. However, the hotel is a few metres from the bus stop, from which you can catch a bus to Corralejo- much bigger place with some clubs and many more shops, nice dunes as well. Personally, I recommend to rent a car. We paid £130 with insurance for the car rented at the airport from Cicars- one week- and were very satisfied with their service. Prior to our travel we booked a car (a bit cheaper) with holiday autos and it was a TOTAL DISASTER (we cancelled the booking).
If you have a car, you can go on a couple of trips- to Corralejo to see Dunes, and to the south to see nice beaches between Costa Calma and Morro del Jable (i think the one I loved was Playa Barca). If you are not scarred of hights you can go to the south with the western main roads- lovely views, high hills with oasis on the bottom. If you are scarred of hights, take the coastal road to the east leading from Corralejo to Puerto del Rosario and the airport.In fact, this is the road I would recommend for travelling to the hotel from the airport- coastal to Corralejo and from there to El Cotillo. It may seem longer, but is more comfortable and straight. If you are bored with Fuerteventura, you can take a ferry to Lanzarote or Lobos from Corralejo which is only some 20 mts from El Cotillo.
Hotel- "finishing touches"
The reception area was nice, modern. There was no internet connection in the rooms, but you can get connection at the reception. There are many sofas and some desks with computers there, so you do not need to take your own laptop. The hotel had some things to make life easier such as scales for the luggage, books in English for sale, cards and stamps, car rental was available in the hotel as well, plus vending machines with snacks and drinks. We also borrowed from the hotel quite good umbrellas to take to the beach free of charge.
Enjoy your holiday!

10 readers found this review helpful

I booked this holiday just a week before I went. It was also the first time that I was going to try All Inclusive so was a bit apprehensive on that front.
I so didn't need to be because from the moment the coach drove into El Cotillo I was in love. It is a traditional sleepy Spanish town quite unspoiled and very pretty. The Cotillo Beach Hotel was very impressive and did not disappoint in any way. Extremely clean and well kept, Fantastic staff, fresh beautifully prepared food with a wider variety than I expected.
The beaches are spectacular but if like me you enjoy poolside relaxation then you can't do any better.
I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of my stay and intend to go back in September.

6 readers found this review helpful

We booked a week at the hotel only 5 days before travelling. The hotel was absolutely fantastic, it was so clean and tidy, the food was excellent and the hotel staff could not have been more helpful and friendly. There is something for everyone no matter how young or old. The Pools are the cleanest i have ever seen and so much time is spent each morning cleaning the pool and the sunbathing area. There is entertainment every evening but its all tucked away at the back of the hotel so not in your face if you dont want that type of thing. Definately will go back and will recommend to anyone who will listen!

8 readers found this review helpful

After booking this hotel back in July 2010 I was a little bit nervous about where we were going as we had read good and bad reports aboutit but I have to say the reports got better from summer 2008 to summer 2009!!
We arrived at the hotel about 9.45pm on Saturday 14th August 2010 to be greeted by the most friendly male receptionist you would ever have the pleasure of meeting. After being informed that the restaurant had shut at 9.30 he told us of places we could get food either a sandwich at the hotel bar or he said he would order us a takeaway to eat in our rooms. My son wanted pizza so it was ordered by the receptionist and my son kept going to see if it had arrived and struck up a brilliant friendship with him so much so that he became a real friend to us and even bought my 11 year old son and my 18 year old daughter presents when we left.
The whole experience was a wonderful one, no towels left on sun beds a 6am you could just walk out after breakfast and always get sun beds. The rooms were fantastic and clean and I'm really fussy when it comes to bathrooms and all I can say it was cleaner than mine! Clean towels every day, maid service every day, clean sheets 2 or 3 times a week, the staff were lovely and couldn't do enough for you, the animation trio were just brilliant especially the two men who always made time to come and chat, the food was delicious alway hot and tasty with a huge variety ie italian one night, indian one night canarian one night etc and my son and daughter are really fussy and they both ate well. The snacks during the day were tasty and hot and plenty of them, chicken nuggets, sausages and burgers.
I would love to say something negative about it as I really don't want to tell everyone about this fantastic place but there is not one bad thing to say about it.
We would love to go back at the end of October but unfortunately it won't be open but we'll definitely be booking up again for next year.

4 readers found this review helpful

We atayed here last year (August 2009) and had a wonderful relaxing holiday. The staff were friendly, the food was good. The entertainment was amusing.
We are going back again this year (July 2010)
Would recommned this to ant ine who wants a quiet holiday with stunning beaches on the doorstep.

6 readers found this review helpful

The hotel was beautiful and very quiet. The rooms were spotless and the food was excellent, it was different most evenings of our fortnight but probably not the choice most people would expect because there were not enough people to have too many variations. There was usually a meat, fish and salad dish with perhaps a burger or similar and plenty of lovely veg. Four of us went and we would highly recommend this hotel if you want a quiet holiday. We do stress quiet though the hotel and the resort

5 readers found this review helpful

We had a fantastic holiday,11 days of peace and relaxation, this was our 2nd visit to cotillo beach hotel, the hotel is 1st class for a 3star, very clean and tasefully decorated,the staff are really helpfull, nothing is to much trouble, one of the waiters loved to play little tricks on us, also sang during meal times, he was quite good to, the beach is breath taking, you leave the hotel turn right and walk at the most 5 mins, cross over the rd and the beach is in front of you, it is really quiet, white sand and amazing sea, when the tide goes out it leaves lagoons, which are great for children, my husband fly fished every day and we both took our snorkelling gear, my husband spotted a puffer fish, this hotel and resort is really quiet, there are a few bars and eating places in the town, but if its bars nightlife and shops your wanting this is not the place for you, it a chilling out beach hol, you could stay round the pool, but the beach here is not to be missed.

3 readers found this review helpful

After having sugery on my spine my husband and i decided we needed a "quiet" holiday that wouldnt require much walking about,having read a couple of reveiws about cotillo beach hotel it sounded perfect, we couldnt have been more wrong, we arrived on the saturday early afternoon, expecting a 1 bedroom apartment, which we had booked specifically as my husband has a massive snoring problem and to share a room would mean myself and our daughter not getting any sleep for 2 weeks, there are no 1 bedroom apartments in the hotel however this is how they advertise their rooms. we wer given a large room on the first floor at the front of the hotel over looking what can only be described as a war zone, the whole surrounding area is just a massive building site, as the hotel is situated on a mainroad as well, we couldnt sit on the balcony unless you wanted the builders and anyone passing gawping at you. the hotel is very clean, and rooms were cleaned every day with fresh towels, however now we get to the best bit ..... The food and drink!!! when we arrived we expected to be able to grab a snack from the snack bar, except there is no snack bar! all that is available as "snacks" is food that has been reheated from the dinner the night before!!! no sandwiches or fries just pieces of pork chop and bits of fish. breakfast was ok if you dont mind green beans and carrots with your bacon & egg, lunch and dinner was the same thing over and over pork, fish and pork and fish!!! served with fries some more fries and some plain pasta. the food was consistantly cold and undercooked, the salad was ok, but it was tuna or tuna take it or leave it. 2 days after we arrived my husband was taken ill, i dont need to go into detail im sure you can imagine!! as for the drinks if you can manage to get served your lucky, the staff were so unfriendly unless you are spanish no worries! they deliberately ignore you, then if you do manage to get their attention if you want 2 different drinks theyl give you the first one you ask for but not the second, they move on to the next person or just clear off, it was really infuriating. the pool bar closed at 8pm even tho its supposed to stay open till 11.30pm, the staff have to go and help in the restaraunt. then at 9pm they open the evening bar which is just a big tent with a stage, again dont expect to get served. the entertainment was really poor, tho it wasnt thru lack of trying from the entertainment "director" Fransisco he did try. there are quiz nights, bingo and some spanish pub singers, haha made me laugh anyway!! best bit is tho if you win the quiz or bingo you win alcohol!!! just what you want in an all inclusive hotel. during our two week stay my husband was ill twice in the first week, my daughter once and me just once, however we arrived home sat 30 aug by mon 1 sept my husband was admitted to hospital with a severe parasite infestation and food poisoning. as i said the hotel is nice and clean with a nice pool which is freezing, but that is all, the surrounding area is a major building site, the beaches are not 300m away they are a good 1/2 hr walk away uphill mostly. I really regret spending the money on our holiday, so do yourself a favour dont waste your money here go somewhere else.

5 readers found this review helpful

we went as a family of 5 and were very wary after reading some of the reviews, but this actually turned out to be 1 of the best holidays we have been on. the staff were very friendly and helpful, the maid service was excellent as was the hotel facilities. The kids had a great holiday, participating in water polo and other activities throughout the day. We also met a great crowd of people whom I think really made the holiday. It may be far out of the main centre but that adds to the people you meet within the complex itself. Overall I would recommend this hotel to anyone with a family or looking for a relaxing holiday, however I would not recommend it to young people or couples looking for a wild, partying holiday.

4 readers found this review helpful

The hotel itself is very nice, extremely clean and staff are cleaning and maintaining around the clock. However, service was extremely poor. Staff were unhelpful to the point of rudeness. It says all inclusive drinks 10am til 11.30 however, they close the pool side bar in order to staff the dining facilities so you cannot get drinks until the dining period is over. When someone complained to reception they were told - tough, that's just the way it is. They seemed extremely short on staff and moral seemed low. When we went to get a drink from the bar there was often nobody there and a long wait, or they would stand with their back to you or just ignore you. When they did serve you drinks were just put down in front of you, with no eye contact and before you finished with your order and there were no pleasantaries. Any visitors from the UK may also observe that it appears only Spanish, Italians and some germans are given rooms on the ground floor. All UK visitors are on the top floor out of the way - or so it seems. On this basis, I would not consider returning, which is unfortunate as it has all the ingredients of an excellent hotel. More staff with better attitudes would be a great start.