Sbh Costa Calma Palace

“Too monumental, 8 floors ... an organized, clean and nice eco-monster”

Certainly not the preferred solution but in Fuerteventura they are all large buildings, eco-monsters that overlook the beaches and unload tourists with big bellies as if they were on a cruise and getting off transatlantic ships. Population is 95% German and over seventy. Opulent breakfast and din... more

Certainly not the preferred solution but in Fuerteventura they are all large buildings, eco-monsters that overlook the beaches and unload tourists with big bellies as if they were on a cruise and getting off transatlantic ships. Population is 95% German and over seventy. Opulent breakfast and dinner with good choice; very busy buffet place despite the two dinner shifts. Fortunately the turnout is Teutonic style, noisy and congested but not chaotic as it would be if they were Italian or Spanish. Clean and functional rooms, we had a sea view and in fact we were in the front row downwind. In essence, although we avoid such structures like garlic, on this island there is no choice and this is an excellent compromise. The cost is also competitive compared to others there, even from the same SBH chain. The waitress Daiana particularly, and the receptionists, are very careful and very friendly. Also che chefs. Compliments to the staff !

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“Moved to SBH Costa Calma Palace”

We arrived at our hotel (Crystal Beach -Adults Only) on New Year's Eve to be told the hotel is full!! I was very anxious as we had researched the hotel we booked. We were called a taxi and transfered to the Costa Calma Palace in SBH Group (not adults only - no problem for us). First impression wa... more

We arrived at our hotel (Crystal Beach -Adults Only) on New Year's Eve to be told the hotel is full!! I was very anxious as we had researched the hotel we booked. We were called a taxi and transfered to the Costa Calma Palace in SBH Group (not adults only - no problem for us). First impression was the hotel looked very nice. Reception staff were very accommodating and helpful. We were given complimentary drinks at the bar. Being NYE we wanted to celebrate but dinner booking was 5.30pm we asked to change this but had to go to the dining room to sort this out ourselves, we managed to find restaurant manager and change this before the first cover. NYE Night we went to dinner, more complimentary drinks and praise by the Manager to the staff and various managers! Musician on hand to entertain us all. Dinner you have to sit at the same table for your stay - we were up a corner in the restaurant not in the main part but staff were lovely in our section. Food was outstanding and very special as it was NYE. Fireworks on NYE were brilliant too. There was lots of choice each day for breakfast and dinner. The one thing that did not seem necessary was long trousers for men in the evening, smart chino shorts should also be acceptable, jeans worn every night as did not expect this to be the case. Other's wore jeans and shirts so not exactly smart dress. The rooms were comfortable, beds comfortable but needed more pillows. Rooms very clean. Have to pay for the safe €27.50 per week which is quite expensive. Tea bags €1 each, coffee€1 cost for all what you would expect to be complimentary even the water€2 - However there is Spar down the road but our fridge was not very cold. Rooms have hairdryers, and there is towels aplenty. For beach towels it is €10 a towel deposit and €1 per change of beach towel if you need a clean one Grounds are nice and maintained - unbrellas and some beds need updating as very old. If you go to beach the beds it cost €15 for 2 beds and umbrella. If you want to visit Oasis Wildlife Park you can get complimentary bus to the attraction, just ask at reception staff will advise pick up times and where to get the bus - admission is €39.5 for adults €25 child €35 if 60+ pensioners Overall our stay was very good, comments about food could be warmer is true often tepid if you attend later after the restaurant opens/reopens. Staff are helpful and pleasant. Thank you for a pleasant stay and a Happy New Year!!

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“Stay was tainted by my arrival”

To be honest my stay was tainted by my arrival. The receptionist who checked me in said that I needed to pay for my stay, even though I had already paid via Expedia. When I got to my room there is an absolutely terrible smell, what smelt like strong cigars or burning. I spent 10 minutes trying... more

To be honest my stay was tainted by my arrival. The receptionist who checked me in said that I needed to pay for my stay, even though I had already paid via Expedia. When I got to my room there is an absolutely terrible smell, what smelt like strong cigars or burning. I spent 10 minutes trying to figure out the cause of the smell - when I found the fridge I noticed ash on the floor below it and that some of the front door seal had burnt. So the smell was in fact toxic burnt plastic! Because I have social anxiety and I I found the receptionists intimidating, plus I was knackered from travelling all day, I decided to keep the room, unplug the fridge and put it on the balcony. It took over 24 hours with the patio door open and repeatedly using air freshener and air neutraliser to finally get rid of the smell. I noticed another fridge on a stairwell that looked burnt, so I have to question the safety of them. The hotel itself is in a great location with the beach right in front. Considering how big it is, its lovely and peaceful in the communal areas. The majority of customers are older Germans. The daily breakfast was good with a big variety of options. The rooms look somewhat dated but are fine.

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“Good in parts”

Firstly I did email the hotel’s head office with this feedback but have no response - I felt I should write to you directly concerning elements of our recent stay at the above hotel and before I post other online reviews to see your response. My wife and I had stayed previously at this hotel i... more

Firstly I did email the hotel’s head office with this feedback but have no response - I felt I should write to you directly concerning elements of our recent stay at the above hotel and before I post other online reviews to see your response. My wife and I had stayed previously at this hotel in 2018 and found there to be certain areas where we feel that standards had fallen below what should be expected. We were not happy with our first bedroom after paying for a sea view and asked to be moved, we were just told the hotel is full. After asking again the following day and persisting and showing photographs of our view to Iris we were informed that we could move to a different room the following day. One of your reception team”Walter” certainly needs training in customer service. In relation to the buffet and dining room experience. The hotel was at 100% capacity as we were frequently told but large sections of the seating area were cordoned off. We actually requested to be moved 3 times during our stay. Generally we do find it somewhat outdated that when ordering drinks in the restaurant or any bar that a handwritten ticket is produced, a copy given to me, the customer while you retain a copy which has then to be manually keyed into a till point for it to register against our room number. Surely there is a better and more efficient method in these times of internet capability, tablets and point of sale devices. It seems overly complicated in this day and age to watch restaurant staff keying in such orders. The buffet system needs to be looked at. The cooking stations are too close together, the whole buffet area is not utilised effectively in terms of space as there are areas which are not used but large queues build up at various points. This is especially worrying at the dessert area. All the desserts are situated in a long line starting at fruit and ending with ice cream. If you only want to have something from the middle of this line for example you have to join the queue at the fresh fruit counter. Guests are not happy if you just want say ice cream and we were rudely told to go back and join the long queue. Also there is a dessert cooking station in the middle and this would be better placed away from the other desserts to help ease the backlog. As I said there is plenty of unused space in the buffet area which could be used for this. The queues for the cooked fish and eggs at breakfast were unacceptable. Items were not replenished and there was a total lack of supervision in the buffet area to check on items running out. The vegetable selection was very limited and repeated most evenings. It was just too busy for us and definitely down graded since our previous visit. We did not expect to be queuing up together into the dining room and joining a mad rush at 8am to get a table in the outside terrace! The hotel is in need of repairs and renovation. You can see from the attached photographs of our balcony and bedroom furniture that if you do not attend to this soon you will need to take large areas out of use to repair which would be very expensive and time consuming and limit the hotel’s capacity. The sun loungers are very uncomfortable by the pool area. The spa area as a whole is quite run down with broken showers, elements which do not work eg jacuzzis and no soap or shower gel is provided. The windows all suffer from condensation and it does not give a good impression. We did raise these concerns with your senior manager who just said in relation to food and the buffet experience that prices have increased and the hotel is full. He agreed that renovations were needed but was relying on head office for decisions. While we generally enjoyed our stay we feel there is a sense of complacency as you just do what you have always done without seeking to update and improve. You rely on returning guests but soon this will not happen if improvements are not made. So all in all a somewhat disappointing stay this time. As other reviewers , visible under all reviews tab, have recently mentioned the hotel has distinct advantages- beach access, good swimming pools and location but importantly it does need attention and upgrading.

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