Meliá Tortuga Beach - All Inclusive — Hotel in Sal

Lots of potential, but that's were it ends!||We flew out as a family with our 11yo son the end of August and were excited to travel slightly closer to home after a couple of years of long haul flights.||Easy enough to get a taxi form the airport, at 10 euro and it was money well spent, within 15mins we were at the hotel checking in.||The check in process was good, staff were attentive and the whole process took a matter of minutes before we were shown to our room/suite. ||The suite was of good size, aircon in the lounge and main bedroom, kitchen area and while the furniture was dated, it was perfectly conformable/useable. Throughout our 12nights the room was cleaned and towels replaced daily. We had heard some horror stories form people staying at the same time as us, ranging from cockroaches running riot in their rooms as well as being bitten by mosquitoes. We saw numerous people with huge bites covering legs and arms however we kept the doors and windows shut in our suite and the hotel also gave us a massive can of bug spray!!!||We spent most of our time by the quieter pool as our room was quite close, yes the pool is tired with numerous mosaic tiles missing but its perfectly useable and we enjoyed our pool days. The sunbed wars started around 7am mind and if you didn't have one by then you would struggle. This did ease towards the end of our holidays through as most of the UK families had left.||The beach is good, its never busy and the water is crystal clear, the sunbeds do seem a long way form the waters edge mind, there's a handful of sellers but they didn't pressurise and once you had said no they moved on swiftly. ||Thats the good....the food and drink are awful!!!!!!||The buffet has a good selection of various dishes, which seemed to repeat most days form breakfast through to dinner......however the food was borderline awful. ||I would suggest to steer clear of any chicken cooked on the bone as in my experience it wasn't cooked through! Sprouts seem to be a regular special (as were Iceland style chicken nuggets and squid rings) at all meals and as for the drinks, if you like your fizzy drinks flat then this is the place for you!!!! ||Throughout entire stay we didn't get a soft drink that had fizz, they were terrible across all the bars.||Going AI you normally have several speciality restaurants, this is no different at the Tortuga, however all they served was pretty much the same rubbish that you get in the buffet!!!||So much so that when we ate in the secret garden (which we had high hopes for after waiting a few days for availability) we were met with chicken nuggets as our appetiser with mayo squirted on the top, the same chicken nuggets that had been on offer every day in the buffet since our arrival!!!!!||The Italian near the main pool was probably the worse though, although the Cabana was equally as bad which was a shame as if you ignore the occasional smell of drains is actually in a really nice spot on the beach front. ||My wife is a vegetarian and spent 12 evening meals pretty much having veg lasagne as it was all they offered, gets a bit boring after a while! The funniest time was when we booked to eat in Spices which is described as "World Cuisine" however when my wife asked what the veggie options were she was met with a blank look, then escorted to the main buffet so she could choose from there.......more sprouts!||Both my 11yo son and myself became ill after eating at the Pasta Nostra which lasted a good few days so that added to our disappointment of what turned out to be a real let down of a holiday, on the upside our room as close to the pool to ease the frequent trips to the toilet!!!||In summing up, the resort is a 3* at best, the foot and drinks are awful, if I could score the food on its own I would struggle for 1 star (watered down spirits, flat fizzy drinks), food and drink forms a large part of any holiday especially if you go AI and this place simply didn't come close to delivering.||Couple of quick positives, my son used the hairdressers to get braids put in, the lad on the reception was really good, very helpful and the service was good.|Also, if you are looking to do any tours speak to Mr King, he's normally down at the beach bar and wears a yellow polo shirt.||Be careful of the overly positive reviews on FB, lots of these appear to be from people that own apartments on site, hence honest/poor reviews damage their rental potential!!!||The place has potential but we couldn't get past the really poor food hence we wouldn't go back and wouldn't recommend this to anyone, its the only holiday that we contemplated coming...

The neighborhood of the hotel:

In the immediate vicinity, there are only hotels connected by a promenade along the beach.

Every day at 11:00, there is a free shuttle bus to the nearest city in the area - Santa Maria. In this town, you can buy souvenirs, arrange excursions, see fish catches, rent bicycles or scooters. One of the attractions is also the shell cemetery, located at the end of the town of Santa Maria.

Rooms:

The rooms are very spacious, usually consisting of two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room, and a kitchen (which is large and spacious; frankly, I don't know what its purpose is because the hotel is all-inclusive, and the kitchen equipment I had literally amounted to two teaspoons). The bedrooms are quite small, with somewhat uncomfortable beds. A big drawback is also the limited number of electrical outlets; the only ones in the bedroom were behind the nightstands, where bedside lamps were plugged in. The bathrooms in the rooms are quite average; mold is visible in some places (which is not too surprising due to the climate), and the bathroom fixtures should have been replaced with new ones. I'm surprised by the lack of toilet brushes.

The doors of the hotel rooms are locked with keys; there is no RFID card system for opening doors. Definitely the biggest drawback of the rooms is the lack of internet, which results in many guests sitting on the floor in the reception area, using the internet. This is definitely not the standard expected from such facilities.

Insects in the rooms - I didn't notice any, only a few mosquitoes bothered me.

Restaurants:

There are three restaurants to choose from.

The main restaurant (serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner buffet-style, no reservation required) is small, noisy, and often lacks tables, with cleanliness leaving much to be desired. I must also mention situations when there was a shortage of plates, glasses, utensils, and I'm not talking about just one type, but all of them, so some guests resorted to putting food on saucers from coffee cups. Unfortunately, the waitstaff hardly clear dirty plates until guests are seated at the table; from what I observed, there are usually three waiters in the entire dining area. After guests leave the restaurant, the tables are wiped by the waiters with a cloth, or not at all. To find a nice, prepared, clean table, one must rather be among the first in the restaurant because later the tables are not properly set. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if soon guests themselves have to clean the table, set it, and then clean up after themselves and take the tableware to the dishwasher. The dishes are very monotonous, with many fried dishes. Drinks are not served to the tables; you have to personally go to the vending machine and pour a drink (you can choose from 4 types of juice, soft drinks, beer, and wine).

Pastora Nostra restaurant, an Italian restaurant located by one of the pools. Snacks are served in the restaurant between 11:00 and 17:00. Unfortunately, the snacks are the same every day (fries, onion rings, roasted potatoes, calamari, two types of sandwiches with already dried toast, a few fruits, and a few types of cookies); there are no drinks or service in the restaurant, so to have a drink, you have to go to the pool bar and bring your own drinks.

Dinners at Pastora Nostra are served from 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM. The menu is much more interesting and refined than at the buffets. However, I must unfortunately point out that sometimes some items are missing, and the tiramisu I ordered for dessert was already sour. Despite this, I believe it's worth visiting this restaurant.

O Grille Restaurant - serves à la carte lunch from 12:30 PM to 3:00 PM (it's difficult to find a free table, and I think the time for such a number of hotel guests is too short). Personally, I think the lunch in this restaurant is excellent, with a wide selection of grilled dishes that are very well prepared. I must mention that during my visit, all the tables were occupied, and...

This is NOT a 5-star resort. It redefines the ‘all’ in ‘all-inclusive’ and is in dire need of attention or intervention.

I should point out that we had a great week in Sal, but this was in spite of the litany of issues you’ll find below. The beach, the sunsets, walks into Santa Maria, watching the kite surfing, and just chilling in CV’s perpetual summary … but you could do that at other hotels in the area.

Our 3 guest, 2-bedroom apartment had only towels, glasses, and cups for 2 people, and one tiny bottle of shower gel. It was resolved, though the shower gel turned up in the form of those small, single-serve bars of soap. There's nowhere to hang wet gear, so the chairs on the outdoor area was the only option. There was no iron, so we requested but nothing came. 
The 2nd bedroom has no aircon facility, so the door has to left wide open to take advantage of the common area’s aircon.

THIS IS NO WIFI IN THE ROOM - again, we raised this and was told it was only in the lobby area (though not true - the beach bar has WiFi too).
Even in areas where WiFi appears there’s so much contention it’s incredibly slow.

Outside, the place is beautifully set, but is let down by poorly kept grounds. The gravel between the rooms and apartments is used as shortcuts by staff and all, is not groomed, and so looks like a cow path with gravel dragged onto the actual paved pathways.

By the main pool, a grassy area has been overtaken with sun loungers and has turned into a dirt bowl - clearly the result of not planning enough space for the number of guests.

The towel hut is only open for two 2-hour slots, but don’t leave it too close to the 5pm close - he’ll have gone well before that.

The pools are clean and well maintained, and there’s a quiet pool and a loud, activity pool. Don’t expect to find free bed after 8am - there is no ‘sunbed squatter’ policy, and many beds that are occupied by only towels by 7:30am don’t see a body until midday. Infuriating.

The lobby bar only opens at 9am - get your morning coffee from machines in the restaurant (if you can find a cup!) All bars offer local beer, wine, and spirits - premium spirits are charged. The beach & pool bars regularly run out of clean glassware - so paper cups for you! The night entertainment is spotty, with the occasional musician in the lobby bar and performances on the small platform outside the lobby area.

It's describe the main ‘Spices’ restaurant as an adequate sweatbox. Relatively small given the size of the resort with no aircon and disappointing choice of food. Reduce food waste? Yes! Calamari, sautéd cabbage, boiled carrots, creamed meatballs, or fried pepper & onions at breakfast and dinner? No! Dishes are often empty for lengthy periods - same for plates, bowls, glasses and cups. There's no table service (even RIU’s 4-star places do this) and the staff are clearly harangued. The daytime snack bar is just a couple of mystery sandwich options (no labelling), fries, fruit and cakes. The saving grace is the O Grille for lunch and the a la carte restaurants, where there’s table service and the food is delish. Sadly the Italian Pasta Nostra was a let down when we visited, absent of ALL pizza and two other dished, and terrible service (40 minutes to be served wine).

The gym rarely has water and never had towels. The aircon was ineffective, half the equipment is in need or repair.

There’s a strong up-sell through out the resort shouting “look at all these amazing things we have for you … if only you could pay just bit more” - so you’re getting 4-star with an optional, premium, 5-star “DLC pack”? No, it just drags the whole lot to 3-star with an expensive “paper of the cracks” option.

This place is significantly under resourced and poorly managed. Not enough staff, crockery, or glassware. Food not available and notably re-used. Everything runs on “just in time” which inevitably turns out to be...