Catalonia Punta Del Rey — Hotel in Candelaria

This was our first time staying at the hotel and visiting Tenerife. Family of 7, 4 adults and 3 children (17,15,13)||After seeing mixed reviews we weren't sure what to expect.||On arrival at around lunchtime on a Friday in lovely hot weather we entered the Reception to NO air conditioning. (First gift). We had a little queue but nothing too big as there was only us and another family checking in which was good. |First impressions other than the lack of air con was it looked lovely and clean and the reception team were helpful and efficient. The front entrance did have two doors out of bounds which didn't look great on first impression. ||We had requested first floor rooms which was acknowledged. We were on the first floor to the right of reception which was also the same floor as the show bar!!!!!!!|||ROOM......|On arrival into our room the bathroom was a nice size for the 3 of us and clean. walking into the room itself it was very cramped. |The wardrobe doors were large brown wood and when opened swung open and stayed open. As they were so close to the bed they wouldn't open fully which meant we couldn't use the drawers inside properly. (second gift)|The safe was located inside the wardrobe drilled to the wall and the door was open and wouldn't shut which was a danger to anyone going in and out of the wardrobe, I had to put a suitcase up against it to keep it closed. (third gift) We didn't need to use it which is why we didn't get a key. ||We had to have a third bed in the room and this blocked the entry to the balcony which was a pain in the bum every time we wanted to go out there. (fourth gift)||The balcony itself!!!! if we looked to the left we had a beautiful sea view however on looking to the right we had a view of the show bar!!!!!!! (fifth gift) It also wasn't an open balcony the balcony had windows on it which we had to keep shut as the balcony door would not lock and the show bar had sliding doors where people could get out and onto our balcony (sixth gift)(picture attached)|On inspection there was only 1 plug in the room that we could use as the others were located right by the beds by the mattress which wouldn't have been safe. Thankfully I always take an extension cable so this wasn't a problem, our sister had only one plug socket in their room. Advice take an extension lead!!!!|We tried to put the air con on. Once we had found the switch there was no remote and we had no idea on how to operate it. (seventh gift) (i'll stop with the gifts you get the idea ha ha) Turns out it didn't work anyway. ||We had to complain 5 times about the air conditioning not working some days it was in the high 30's and with no air con in the hotel anywhere other than the restaurant it was needed. on the fifth occasion we finally had a new unit installed and it worked amazingly!!!||THE POOL AREA......|Is clean enough however the sunbeds need a massive deep clean they weren't pleasant to sit on. |Bins could be emptied more regularly.|The tiles are deathly!!! extremely slippy and some broken. |You need to wear footwear walking to the pool as the floor gets extremely hot although BE CAREFUL. MY DAUGHTERS SLIDERS WERE STOLEN. I know they were stolen and not mistakenly taken as there were no spare shoes at the end of the day. ||SUNBEDS.....|I was up at 6.30am everyday to queue up. There is not enough sunbeds for people. |Doors do not open until 8am there is a coffee machine that got us all through the wait. |It was annoying that people were allowed to put towels down at 8am and not arrive until 5pm. Wasn't fair at all. We've been hotels before where they are removed during the day this would be a good idea given the amount of beds not available. ||DRINKS........|1 bit of advice take your own reusable cups!!!! they use paper cups which aren't very durable with cold drinks in. |You have to pay for drinks after 11pm!!!! even in the nightclub!|Very repetitive not a massive amount of choice however, pretty standard for AI. ||FOOD......|It was ok. Very repetitive we had Tex Mex night one night then had it again 2 days later!!!! Usually hotels rotate on a weekly basis however this wasn't the case here. However, saying that we all always found something to eat and the British night on a Sunday was fab the mash was beautiful!!! No one was poorly which was the main thing. ||NIGHTCLUB.......|Was ok. We went once!! no one was in there and they played a lot of Spanish music rather than rotating different songs. very hot!!!!! no air con in there either. ||STAFF.....|AMAZING!!!!! they work so hard!!!! they are very helpful and polite. ||ADULT ONLY POOL....|Can't really comment as never went. It's across the road opens at 9am and closes at 5pm. |Was told though that can be dangerous on the area around the pool so you have to tread carefully. ||TERRACE BAR......|We sat here every night as the show bar didn't seem to have air con. They had a singer on some nights and a DJ other nights. It closes bang on 11pm and you're kicked out, only place then is the Nightclub or we chose to walk out to another bar. ||SHOW BAR....|Never went because it was far too hot to sit inside!!!!||AREA......|There is a supermarket right next door that did yummy pizzas and were friendly. |To the left up the hill is a McDonalds. We ordered a Mcdonalds delivered to the hotel. If you download the Glovo app there is plenty if you fancy something different. |There is a bar outside the hotel straight across the road and down the hill beautiful setting, however after a couple of visits it seems the owner/manager took a dislike to us probably because we were a large family with children and we didn't mee this clientele. |Turn right and follow the road there is a bar which we went a lot they were lovely and drinks weren't too badly priced. take a left down the bank from that bar and it takes you to the ocean. We walked along here and there are plenty of bars and restaurants if you fancy a change. Highly recommend Habibi and MaryTierra both of these places were so welcoming as it is a residential area there isn't many tourists. ||OVERALL.....|This hotel needs closing for 12 months and having some TLC. Although clean it needs a lot of repair and decorating. Especially for the price we paid. I've paid less for much nicer hotels. I know star ratings go on facilities rather than looks but this hotel is a 3 star in my eyes for the general repair and look. |This is just our opinion and I know there are people who visit year after year. We however won't...

If you are looking for a hotel with that nostalgic feel that you had going on your first holiday in the 90s then this might be the hotel for you. The problem is it’s 2025 and that’s not really the vibe you want on an “all inclusive” holiday nowadays. Although when I say “all inclusive” I’m not sure the hotel knows what that means. I genuinely cannot work out why there are reviews on here who go back year after year – after less than 48 hours we were already asking to move hotels or go home, it was that depressing.||Let me start with the few positives from our week at Punta Del Rey…||Good stuff|• The food in the restaurant was pretty decent. There was always plenty, it was generally hot and there was a theme each evening for dinner. |• The wifi was strong and never dropped out anywhere unlike in some hotels. The beds were big and comfy (but we’d have preferred a double bed in a double room). |• More about drinks below but the beer on tap was actually quite good and there were a couple of places where you could serve yourself to avoid queues. |• The infinity pool on the other side of the road was genuinely just about a holiday saver. In comparison to the main pool, it was so much more peaceful where you could actually relax on your holiday. The glass panels could have done with a clean to give a proper view of the sea but in general in was a good experience if you could get a bed in that section.||Bad Stuff|There are some things you just need to make the holiday be just ok and some of the basics really weren’t there. Good sleep and nice drinks should be a prerequisite for a holiday you pay good money for.||• Trying to get a good night's sleep at this hotel is so difficult. The temperature of the room was so hard to get right – putting the aircon on should hep but it was so loud during the night that you had to just cope with a warm room to get any sleep.|• Noise was also a major problem. We were put in a room right next to the show bar so there was no chance of any sleep before 11pm. I get that isn’t a big issue because a hotel should have decent entertainment but when its still not peaceful after the show has finished. For some reason there is a nightclub in the basement of the hotel. For a hotel that comes across as quite dated and has a clientele where the majority are of an older vintage it seems slightly bizarre. Despite it being in the basement and our room being on the third floor, the bass of whatever music they were playing, for what I heard was about 6 guests, travelled right up the stairs making it still horrendous to get to sleep till after at least 1am. Oh and if you go and speak to the reception about it you’d get a very rude response from someone who doesn’t get that tired guests will be cranky guests. Tommy behind reception had absolutely no empathy for our situation seeming to suggest it was our problem that it was noisy at that time.|• When you book an All-Inclusive break, you would expect basics to all be included. However, there is so much simple stuff missing unless you go Premium which really doesn’t seem worth the cost. You get no kettle for drinks in the room, the safe needs to be paid for at the reception and even bottles of water can only be got by paying at the vending machines. There were machines to get water but bottles at the bar or in the room would be so much more convenient as part of “All Inclusive”.|• As for the rest of the drinks, the whole thing was a bit of a travesty. One of the great pleasures for most people when they go on holiday would be having a proper cocktail in a nice glass. However, this hotel’s idea wasn’t to mix anything and to have them come from a machine with one button press in paper cups. These were only available at the pool bar so couldn’t even be had in any kind of glass never mind a nice one. Soft drinks were poor quality tasting like cheap knockoffs of what they were supposed to be. |• The paper cups though. It was just depressing every time you got a drink! Anything outside would come in these and after about a minute they would just feel like they were going to collapse if you didn’t hold them just right. We were told that they changed to these a couple of years ago due to people complaining about the plastic. That would make sense to help the environment if they were even recycled but no – they went in the bins with the rest of the rubbish!|• Talking about the rubbish – there never seemed anyone around clearing up during the day. Tables would be dirty and covered with other people’s rubbish if you went to sit at one during the day or night. That included plates of food from the snack bar and this would attract a host of pigeons who would hang around all day just trying to get after any morsel of food. One even flew at my face coming out of from under a shutter at one of the bars – the day didn’t feel so relaxing after that. Cockroach spotting also became a fun game in the outside areas in the evening and by fun game I meant a reason to want to go anywhere else.|• We booked 2 rooms – one didn’t even come with doors on the wardrobe which is where the only mirror in the bedroom should have been. It’s not great when it’s better to use electrical items to get ready away from the water in the bathroom.|• As I said above the infinity pool was a lifesaver but there are not enough sunbeds for everyone to go there. The main pool was overly crowded and very loud. You would see a lot of people having to sit on chairs all day because they couldn’t get beds – it just wasn’t big enough for the size of the hotel.|• For a place that is supposed to be hot most of the year there was a distinct lack of air conditioning throughout the hotel anywhere other than the room. The inside bars, the restaurant and the lobby were generally stifling. That’s if you could stand to be in the lobby with the smell of smoke coming from the smoking area next to the open windows at the front of the hotel – not the most welcoming sight when arriving for the first time.||This is the first hotel in my nearly 39 years on this planet where I genuinely considered going home rather than staying for the whole week. We just about survived it when the weather got better but we definitely came home less rested than when we went which is pretty much the opposite of what a holiday should do.||I know we’ll get a reply from the hotel on here saying they’ll take it on board but from evidence they is no way we can see them...

So just got back from a Week at Punta Del Rey. Although i wont criticise too much. this hotel is a long way away from 4 Stars.||On arrival we were given the most dreadful room, with no bed for our daughter so she ended up sleeping inbetween us (not ideal for an 11 year old). Someone had vomited in the hallway just outside our rooms and there were no staff available to clean it up as we arrived 11:30 in the evening, there was only security and front of house available.||At the time we arrive we were not offered a drink unless we paid for it, as the all inclusive finishes at 11pm. After debating this with the front of house night man, he eventually showed us to the back of the restaurant where there was a fridge with a couple of ham sandwiches in and a few bits of fruit .||After a few hours sleep we got up and went to reception the night man had reported the rooms, and we were advised we would be moving later that day. No upgrades were available and i wasnt aware there was no fridge in our room, So i had to pay 24 euros to hire a fridge. We eventually got moved around 3pm that day, after naggin the tui rep. ||From there on the room was some what acceptable but the rooms are very small and 3 beds in the room are a push and very tight all week with luggage and getting changed etc. Rooms are fairly clean but could do with a major refurb. ||Following on the rest of the hotel was ok. Food wasn't too bad even for a family of picky eaters, we just made the most of the snack bar, where there was pasta, pizza, burgers chips and a toastie press. We did eat out on one occasion too just to get something different Menus are very repetitive but always a good selection even if it wasn't to our tastes||The drinks were very typical Spanish Resort however only the poolside bar does cocktails and they wasn't great all from a machine i halved mine into another cup and added some lemonade. All the bars have snacks available but it is just crisps and salted nuts.||The pool Bar is open till 11:00 every day, but you are literally dragged out by a security guard at 11 and you cant go back into the pool area till the next morning.||Coffee is available all day self service from the reception bar, but it doesnt open till 3pm to get a cold or alcoholic drink. One of the biggest downsides to the drink is everything is served in Paper cups outside. and inside for self service coffee||The pool was very cold, and needed constant cleaning however i noticed in the week there was a couple of different lifeguards one seemed to clean and tidy around and in the pool the other just sat on his phone.||I must say all the staff were very friendly (apart from security guy) and everyone was very helpful. There a handful of shops inside the hotel lobby and their not too expensive and give you an option for alcohol for your room and iced cold drinks. and some touristy clothes and drinks.||People seemed to be segregated into a couple of categories. There was what i would call lifers, regular visitors who were very friendly especially one group who made us feel very welcome, one even leant us a plastic cup while we were there.||Then their is the Darby and jones Groups. They pretty much live there for lengths of time. Hate visitors especially children, get on with certain staff and pretty honestly dictate how well the rules are followed. No this group seemed to have an issue with family's and children playing in the pool. And was very abusive to the children because they got wet. However they were sat at the side of the pool. There is ample seating in around 7 different areas away from the water but did'nt feel they had to move. Oh and directly over the road from the hotel there is an ADULT ONLY !! pool and seating area with its own bar. that they didnt think to use.||Entertainment was regular / ish but again very repetivie with the same people playing and winning Bowels darts etc. so we lost interest in these. There is a large show bar upstairs on Floor one. We visited this for Both the Elton and Elvis shows, both were really good, however the show bar is very busy and difficult to get a seat as it holds no where near enough people for the capacity of the hotel. The sun Terrace at the side of the closed pool also has a range of evening entertainment however on 2 occasions during our stay no one arrived and no one explained or arranged anything different. And one those night the entertainment in the show bar didnt show either.||We did speak to the local car hire company opposite and rented a car for a couple of days which was great to get about, we visited Sant Cruz and the Market, the car was ok and very reasonable even did a deal to keep the car over the weekend. ||There was alot of people on here and on the social media complaining about roaches etc. I did see a few but these were outside the hotel at night. Along with lots of noisy crickets||The day before we left there was a lot of rumours floating around about a visit from the Catalonia Management. And it appeared after benches were quickly painted lift doors the same. All staff in full uniform i.e. jackets etc instead of the usual shirt and badge. I did witness what appeared to be these guests arrive and float around, but you could certainly tell they had been notified they were arriving||On the day we departed we tried to get a late checkout as we didn't leave till 7:30 on the evening but we were advised Tuesday and Fridays are busy UK flight days so they don't allow anyone to extend the room. However there is a luggage room with a key that your provided on checkout and you can continue till use the all inclusive till you depart||We did book our stay though TUI and I'm informed that the hotel used to be a Adult Only hotel, and had recently changed (last few years) into a more family orientated approach. However i must say i don't think the hotel is ready or equipped for such a hotel. The rooms are way to small with no interconnecting rooms, the nature of the current regulars make it uncomfortable for families||However for a last minute booking approaching uk half term we had a very good price and the weather in Tenerife made up for the flaws in the property. Hope this helps anyone thinking of...