H10 Conquistador — Hotel in Arona

Overall experience = OK

My boyfriend and I stayed here on all-inclusive basis from August 24th 2020 until September 1st 2020.

Pro's =

The hotel complied with COVID-19 rules very well. You were supposed to wear masks while walking (the staff was always wearing masks), there was hand sanitizer everywhere, the sun beds were far apart and you had to make reservations for the restaurant (for every meal). The hotel was quite clean and big. The location is great: there are a lot of shops and stores around the hotel and the beach is a 10 minute walk. The food in the buffet restaurant was really good (seriously, I do not understand any of the complaints). Every night has a different theme and out of all the buffet restaurants I've ever seen, this one had the most variety (at night). I have not been bored with the food one single moment. The quality of the food is also great, so this aspect is 5/5 for me. Our room was very quiet (however, I do think it also helped that there were less people because of COVID-19). The rooms got cleaned every day and we got fresh towels every day. We got a late check out (15:00 instead of 12:00) with an extension of our all inclusive stay for only EUR 20. I thought that was a great deal and I really appreciated the gesture. The drinks at the bars were really good.

Con's =

The rooms are mediocre at best. Granted we had the cheapest room (just a standard two-person room), I still think they could make the rooms nicer. They are not very big to begin with but they could definitely use a make-over. For instance, the hairdryer holder kept falling off (see attached picture), exposing the wiring. While I thought the hotel itself was pretty good and worthy of 3/4 stars, I don't think the rooms are worthy of more than 2 stars. I'm sure the more expensive rooms are nicer but I just expected a bit more from the room. We also had a power outage once (which, to the credit of the hotel, was fixed within an hour) but yeah those things just aren't great for the price you're paying. Due to Corona, the a la carte restaurants are only open one evening a week. Also, the coffee place, was also only open between 17 and 20. I think that must have been because of COVID-19 but I found that timing quite inconvenient. Usually you would get a coffee around/after breakfast or after dinner, but I usually wasn't done with dinner before 20:00 so no coffee for me from the coffee place. Due to these COVID-19 restrictions, we did not get a free a la carte dinner which was included in the all-inclusive package (one a la carte dinner per week). On Friday night (after dinner) we wanted to book a dinner before we left on Tuesday evening, but we only found out then that the a la carte restaurants were all closed until Wednesday. Other than the late check out, I didn't think the service (at the service desk) was great. When we checked in, I specifically asked if we could get a room with a wooden floor (online the room we booked was either with tiles or a woorden floor and my boyfriend preferred a wooden floor although it was definitely not a must). When I asked, the lady just said 'Hold on, I have to check what room you're in'. She then gave us our room number and key and when we came upstairs, the room was tiled. It's not a big deal but it made me feel like she didn't listen (she could have said "I can't check that for you" or "Your room is tiled" but instead she just kind of ignored the question). When we inquired about the a la carte restaurants (we thought something was wrong with the app) and we were told that the restaurants were only open one evening a week, I said (nicely) that I understood but it would have been nice to have been informed about this (as we wanted to book a dinner between Saturday/Monday but that was impossible). We were told that "we can't provide you with ALL the information at check-in". I thought that was a little rude; we ended up not being able to get an a la carte dinner. All-inclusive is not all-inclusive at all, unfortunately. It is, however,...

We decided to book the Conquistador in privilege based on a family members fantastic experience here on several occasions. We stayed here for 7 nights on a half board basis. On arrival, we were impressed by the large, bright lobby with plenty of friendly reception staff available to check us in. We enjoyed a welcome drink of cava while our bags were brought up to our room.||Our room on the sixth floor was compact but we had enough space for all of our clothes and toiletries, it was helpful that we had two wardrobes. We did not have a double bed, instead it was two single beds pushed together, the beds were slightly firm but we had no issues other than feeling the gap between the beds. The bathroom is clean and modern, however, the water pressure was weak throughout our stay. One evening, we did not have any hot water, luckily, it was resolved quickly. We did not hear any noise at all from the rooms either side over the noise of the air con. The air con was poor and I felt that it was not cold enough, it also leaked on two occasions. The balconies for the privilege rooms are larger than the rest of the hotel and we enjoyed the view over of the ocean, we loved watching the waves crash by and seeing the surfers below.||The reason to go for the privilege pack is for the privilege terrace and lounge. There are always enough comfortable sun beds on the terrace and it felt like an oasis of calm above the buzz and entertainment below on the main pool area. There’s no reason to rush down in the morning as the sun did not reach the terrace until around 11:30. There are a few plunge pools and a hot tub on the terrace but be warned, the plunge pools are freezing! I loved being able to use the complimentary bar at the lounge, there is beer, wine, branded spirits, hot drinks and plenty of soft drinks available as well as a few snacks. The girls who worked on the privilege area didn’t stop, we had tapas around lunch time handed to us, often Spanish omelette, breads and cheeses and at around 5pm, we had little cocktails. It was a very luxurious experience.||As privilege guests, we were able to have breakfast a la carte at the Italian restaurant, each morning we were greeted by our privilege host, she was absolutely wonderful. There is a great choice of breakfast options such full English, Spanish, continental and you could even have salmon and caviar! We also enjoyed pancakes, waffles and omelettes. All of the breakfasts were served with a bread basket, fresh orange juice and a hot drink. We did not try the buffet at breakfast.||Dinner every evening was a joy. We dined at the Italian and Steakhouse restaurants, both were fantastic. I had one of the best steaks that I’ve ever had at the Steakhouse and we both had large but tasty pizzas at the Italian, both washed down with a delicious bottle of rosé. The main buffet had a huge choice of tasty food, something for everyone, I did find that it was heavy on pork. The buffet was always very busy but there’s a huge number of tables.||The location is perfect, a short walk to the main avenue and golden mile. Plenty of bars, restaurants and shops all around. The beach is around a 15 minute walk and Siam Park is around a half an hour walk. We mainly stayed in the hotel though.||Unfortunately, on our final day, we were disappointed, we were unable to get a late check out, but instead, we had a curtesy room for half an hour. When we arrived at that room, it was filthy, it had just been used, the towels were over the floor and the toilet was disgusting. We returned to reception and we were given another curtesy room with no apology, it was cleaner than the first and perfectly fine to freshen up in. ||On the whole, we really enjoyed our holiday at the Conquistador, apart from a handful of minor issues. I would highly recommend staying privilege, especially for the terrace and lounge. It is well worth paying the...

OK so I wanted to give this hotel 4/5* and they were doing great for a while.. we were staying 7 nights in one of the privilege rooms on floor 8 on Half Board basis. We arrived on Saturday and all was pretty great until...

On the Tuesday night the 'Entertainment/Show' became a mandatory experience. It was gone 10:30pm when the show finished, the volume was horrendous, Boom! Boom! Boom! in my Room! Room! Room! and not the kind of banging I want in my room! LOL. My partner uses ear plugs so I tried some.. nope.. still bass boom permeated them.. I phoned down to reception after 10:30 to ask what time the music would stop and said about it being much louder than Sat-Mon nights.. I was advised it was the show, nothing they could do and it would go on until 11pm.. I am sorry but I stay in a hotel so that I can sleep.. anytime of day in my room.. that noise level in my hotel room is not acceptable in my opinion.

I went to sleep much later than intended as I was annoyed and had a headache due to boom boom boom.. and when paying the £250+ price for the room that night a bad taste in my mouth. My partner spoke to another guest the day after who said it was a Karaoke show.. and the other guest agreed it was way too loud so were were not alone.

If you have an early flight, a hangover, a headache or don't want to get a headache trying to sleep do not stay at this hotel if there is a show on.. unless of course they change their approach to show sound system volumes!

Otherwise the good points: Rooms are nice, a little small but big enough for two people. Balcony view is amazing from 8th floor privilege rooms. Shower was excellent and bathroom modern. Staff were all super nice with the exception of a few detailed in bad points below. Privilege terrace is lovely place to be with drinks snacks all day 9am-7pm. Breakfast in Italian is lovely and chilled, food good and great service. Steakhouse restaurant food is good.. but only a single steak on the menu. Italian restaurant food is v good.

And the bad points: Toilet in bathroom had rubbish flush not sure if bad design or broken. Two of the wait staff had a bit of an attitude in my opinion.. the lady receiving guests in the Italian for Breakfast on Sunday 19th was brash. A bearded mincing waiter in the Italian serving drinks/food on Tues 21st scowled at me pulling pouty looks. The BOOM BOOM BOOM experience (which pulls my overall score way down!) Had to wait a long time for check-in. was send from normal desk with lots of staff free to privilege desk and waited ages.. then room wasn't ready.. but that was ok as we were arrived before 12 noon.. given free lunch/drinks. Beds were pretty rubbish, they moved around as they are on casters so pillows often fell off between bed and headboard as the headboard is fixed to the wall and the bed moves on the casters! At the main buffet restaurant on the last day there was an insect in the bread that was next to the toaster.. and a large cockroach skuttled past my feed at the breakfast table.

For privilege Half Board guests you get to book any of the speciality restaurants.. I suggest doing this in the Hotel mobile App asap after arrival as there is limited availability. The main buffet restaurant can be a bit of a zoo and can be very busy..

Thanks for the response.. if I have a standard room at the rear of the hotel I would have to put up with street noise with no access to all the privilege services.. fair enough it would be cheaper however not the experience I am looking for. The music stopped after 10:30 and when I phoned down after 10:30 I was advised would go on till 11pm. Not all guests finish dinner at 9:30pm, as you know well the restaurants open at 6:30pm.. I shall stay elsewhere thankyou again. Hope the main dining room refurb includes a full pest...