Hotel Fuerte El Rompido — Hotel in Cartaya

Stayed as all inclusive guests and found several issues with this: The daytime snacks - There was a lack of variety and healthy options, so there was fruit, but no cutlery to cut these with, but absolutely no salad, crisps were often not topped up, the chips only appeared the 2nd week but were luke warm and hot dogs needed to self cooked (unusual at most all inclusive). Snack locations need to be much clearer, we couldn't even find the snacks on the first few days we often saw non all inclusive children taking food from the Dosfaros snacks very limited seating area around the snack bar, mostly taken up with people drinking at the bar All inclusive drinks the quality and quantity of the beer was better than most, spirits were good and decent quantities, however the white wine in the day around the pools on the first and last days of our holiday was like bad home made wine, however it seemed to improve in between and was better at dinner and the evening bar, There seemed to be 2 wines served, one of which was very bad. water was easily available what was available for drinks on the all inclusive was very confusing and changed in the evening. The waiters didn't seem to be sure what was correct either Often difficult to get waiter service in the evening unless you had a table close to the outside entrance. If you were inside and away from the bar you often didn't get served, although if you went to the bar in the old fashioned English way there wasn't much of a wait, but I wasn't sure you were supposed to that. Restaurant Food was good quality and well topped up However usually with all inclusive there is an option to use a least one more restaurant for free for variety of food. Too many children allowed to run around. There was one main exit to outside and this was a bit dangerous, especially at breakfast when carrying hot drinks and the big step out. It would be better if coffee and tea was served to avoid the children running or not looking where they are going. Staff In general most of the bar and restaurant staff were excellent and very helpful. Particular staff that stand out are Neera (might not be spelt right) who was at the entrance of the restaurant, Emilio who was particularly helpful, Francesca (who has a lovely personality and was always very happy and helpful), Diane, Paula, Maria Jose, Pagui (daytime bars), Christina (daytime bars). Queues for the restaurant were not long. Cleaning - room cleaning was excellent and always done during breakfast if we left the sign out, restaurant floor cleaning could be a little better. Sunbeds we were always able to get a sunbed easily which makes a nice change sunbeds were not always clean though, especially those left under the trees from bird dropping *Pools excellent sized main pool and good adult pool, but it could do with clearer over 18 signs and more enforcement of children using the area

*Rooms spacious, quiet and clean Bike hire No bike hire available at the hotel as advertised on website, and although there was a bike company outside the variety of bike sizes was limited and we unable to hire bikes, due to our height.

*Security The back door out of the hotel premises was always open and never locked automatically *Hotel app -Didn't work for meal booking and when we showed this to reception they were unable to get this to work as well, so we quickly gave up on it. *Manager after not understanding the all inclusive drinks and snacks on the first day we talked to reception and were told the manager would call us, but this never happened.

Robin Knowles Posting publiclyLearn more about writing...

Overall we really enjoyed our stay.

The room was fine, though basic. The bathroom light didn’t work properly and neither did the bathroom fan- but these weren’t huge issues. The child’s bed was really uncomfortable. The main bed was comfortable. Good shower pressure. Lovely housekeeping staff.

All the staff were extremely helpful and friendly, and everything ran smoothly which was remarkable given the number of people needing service.

I felt it was cheeky that half board didn’t include even soft drinks at dinner- not even water.

The breakfast and dinner buffet were fine- the fresh options were usually good though the standing items were often still frozen, dry, stale, etc. The eggs, sausages, and bacon in particular were awful. I’d recommend maybe a reduced offer but better quality, and fresher. Most of the salads were still partially frozen and a lot of things like pizza and pasta were either cold or dried out by the time you ate them. The Paella was always dry and over cooked.

Lots of sun loungers and umbrellas in our experience.

Bar Noble staff didn’t know much about different types of alcohol, even when I could see it on the shelves!

Kids activities were great, my son loved them.

Mini bar never restocked so spent a surprising amount of money on water!

Lovely location.

My biggest issue was the in-house photographer. She took loads of photos of my son and I at the pool, getting him to pose this way and that way, and then kept finding us over the next few days to hype up “his” book of photos. He’s five so naturally was really excited every time she mentioned it. We finally went to look at the photos and the girl kept pushing the book- to my son and not to me, getting his hopes up and making it sound like a done deal that we would get one. The books were €75 for ten photos (not including any of the digital images) of about 3x5 size. Total rip off but I felt obligated to buy it because the photographer had made such a big deal about it and all but promised it to my son. This really made me angry.

Finally, it is €7/day for parking. This seems ridiculous as we later found out there is loads of free parking behind the hotel, and it’s a fair walk to the car park anyway- it wouldn’t have been much different just to park for free outside the hotel. Paying for parking at a hotel is unusual especially when you are paying over €300/night to stay.

I would come back but wouldn’t do the half board option as the food just is not that good at the buffet. I also wouldn’t allow our photos...

I have stayed at this hotel many times before and will continue to do so again and again. It is in a prime location in the middle of El Rompido village - the only hotel that is within a reasonable walking distance. The staff are superb, hard working, friendly, and are all a credit to the hotel. The gardens are exceptional, the food is good with a wide range of options, the beds and pillows are comfy, the hotel is lovely and clean and the decor is well designed and comfortable. The spa and the team are wonderful and the treatments were well worth the price, very competent and friendly beauticians. The hotel is geared towards families and the large pool area is noisy but a very happy place for children. Couples can enjoy the adult area and pool. There were a few annoying things this year that were sadly not rectified during my stay. The adult pool showers did not work. The gym equipment was broken and dangerous, and despite it being reported 4 times during my stay, it was never repaired. German guests left their towels on the sunbeds at 8am daily and did not return to them until 4.15pm daily - selfish- but nothing was done to stop it which was disappointing. Some guests ignored the no children policy of the adult pool and this was also frustrating considering that children can enjoy a good 95% of the rest of the grounds. Birds flying into the restaurant are a pest, it is such a shame as they are encouraged in by guests that feed them! This is a beautiful hotel and I would not have written negative comments had my issues been addressed whilst I was there...