Hotel LIVVO Los Calderones — Hotel in San Bartolomé de Tirajana

As a very seasoned traveller to Gran Canaria (20 weeks spent in Gran Canaria since 2014) for both work and leisure purposes, I have stayed in a wide range of apartment and hotel complexes in Maspalomas, Puerto Rico, Puerto de Mogan and Taurito.

Myself and my wife have just returned from a week’s holiday at Livvo Los Caladernes in Maspalomas. We were attracted to this property as it was advertised as a 4 star hotel, with pool and spa facilities, as well as having an on-site restaurant and bar.

Firstly, the good things:

Check in was very pleasant and the rooms (split level with bedroom/bathroom upstairs and living room area downstairs) were nicely appointed and clean. The rooms were cleaned every day and housekeeping staff were very pleasant and friendly.

The pool area is very nice and there is also an upstairs sun deck with a smaller pool and hot tub, with gym located beside this.

Next, the “not so good” things:

We opted for breakfast each day, which was ok….it’s a carvery based breakfast offering a range of hot and cold food to choose from.

We ate dinner in the restaurant on the first evening (carvery based), but overall it was quite bland, as other reviewers have stated, and we quickly realized the food offering was the same each evening, so we ate out for the remainder of our stay.

As this is an hotel, there are no cooking/kitchen facilities, just a mini bar and kettle. We were provided with 2 complementary bottles of water each day, but these required a bottle opener (non screw cap), and there was no bottle opener provided. A small thing, I know, but nevertheless, a fail in my books, for a 4 star hotel.

Likewise, the remote control for the TV downstairs didn’t work properly – these are small, simple things that should be tested and addressed as part of room changeover.

And finally, the negative things:

The biggest disappointment was the pool bar. A lovely area with tables and outdoor heaters for the evening time, but this bar was never staffed properly. Every time we visited, we were waiting for up to 20 minutes for a bar person to show up. Usually we had to walk to the restaurant (at the other end of the complex) to request bar service.

A few nights ago, after having returned to Los Caladernes having dined elsewhere, we fancied a drink, as there were 21 others sitting in the bar…..no barman. At one stage, 5 tables of guests were waiting for service. Eventually, a barman appeared, served some guests, then disappeared again!

On 2 other nights, I saw guests waiting at the bar for service, for up to 10-15 minutes, and eventually walking away, as there was no staff behind the bar.

As I provide sales and marketing services to businesses, especially to the hospitality business, I realise the importance of hotels generating additional income from guests, internally, be it for food, drink or leisure.

Many other hotels and apartment complexes gain a positive reputation, and many repeat customers because of the poolside bar, the friendly staff, the music, the happy hour (if provided), etc. At Livvo Los Caladernes Hotel, none of these were provided. In terms of the pool bar, this actually serves no purpose whatsoever, in the manner in which it is being managed.

Last, but not least, checkout time is 12pm – quite normal and acceptable. We spoke to guy at reception desk who said they have a secure storage area for guests luggage, if required (not applicable for us as we had a rental car), and we could also use the shower facilities upstairs, which we did avail of, as we didn’t need to leave for the airport on our final day until 14:30.

The shower facility was located in the sauna suite, and towels were provided. Unfortunately, the drain of the shower was blocked, and water leaked out on to the floor (a lot of water) and by the time I realised this, my clothes that were on the floor were soaked.

To summarise, Los Caladernes is nowhere near 4 star standard.

Next year, myself and my wife plan to spend 3-4 weeks in January in Gran Canaria…..would we return to Livvo Los...

A huge disappointment. We found ants coming out of the sides of the power socket next to the bed two days after our arrival, and they said they would send someone over to spray. We never understood if they sprayed or not, since we were out all day, but we trusted they indeed did it. When we came back at night the bed was FULL of ants. We asked for a change of room, and the receptionist tried to help, but the second (supposedly "the only available") room was also full on ants on both floors and filthy. She asked if I could speak with her manager who was about to come to work soon, so we did, and the response we got was even more disappointing and unacceptable. The manager (Stefan) gave us the options of these two rooms, so we were left to choose between a room with ants and a dirty room with ants, which he admitted was indeed uncleaned. I repeat: He admitted they sent us to a DIRTY room. We asked if we could change hotels, since LIVVO is a chain, and he said "I don't know" and that "he came to work just 5 minutes ago". He gave us a spray so we could do it ourselves! Our last resort since we couldn't change hotels was to just change the sheets and spray all over. We pulled the beds from the wall, changed the sheets ourselves, sprayed and slept with the horrible smell of the repellent spray. The next morning the other receptionist (Wesley) was luckily way more helpful. He immediately sent the cleaning and maintenance staff over and the problem was indeed resolved, and sent a box of chocolates as a gift. He also said we could have two free drinks at dinner, which didn't happen because eventually we paid for them, something we realised after leaving the hotel.

Communication with LIVVO offices also failed, since they said to us to just "speak with the reception".

Apart from that, there was a bad sewage smell in some parts of the hotel, and the WiFi didn't work at all in the upper floor. Some of the food was bland and the desserts of the buffet were mostly inedible.

I would rate it as one star, but I need to recognise the efforts of most of the staff to run the hotel and satisfy the customers, like Wesley at the reception and Alejandro at the bar, as well as all the restaurant employees. The pool area was thankfully tidy and clean. In general it's a calm hotel, and although the location is not ideal as there are not a lot of things at a walkable distance, with the car you are in 5 minutes at Playa Del Ingles or Meloneras beach.

Overall, the hotel needs huge improvements and we were...

For the first 3 days we had water dripping from the ceiling at the top of the stairs and no air conditioning upstairs . We reported this and told that it’s condensation. I made a video of it and the pool of water gathering in a very precarious place . It was certainly not condensation. They sent maintenance so we had to miss our bus and go with him for him to tell us because we have the bathroom window open . There is no fan in the bathroom or ventilation so you have to open the very small window slightly . So we closed it and the same thing g happened the next day . We again had to go with maintenance and he told us it’s the air conditioning again and condensation. Honestly we know all about condensation and this wasn’t it . I almost slipped all the way down the narrow stairs one morning , it was a real health & safety issue . No one seemed to be taking us seriously or seeing it as a problem . So again we reported , showed the video and another maintenance guy came and solved the problem . We then spent every day for a few days complaining about the cleaning of the accommodation. One day , no replenishing , sink left untouched , balcony left , next cups left , glasses left , shower left , floors not cleaned . It’s sounds as though we complain a lot ! We don’t , but spending £100 a night in an alleged 4 star you should have a clean room . The biggest flaw however is no sink downstairs , so you have to go down to get the kettle , come up to fill , go down to plug in wait 30 mins for it to boil then come back up . Also they do not replenish tea bags etc but I suppose in the 30 mins you have for it to boil you can pop to the shops . Pool towels are only changed weekly , so when the week had come and we asked for clean towels we were told there were none available . We moaned that it’s been a week of using a dirty thread bear towel and eventually we received one towel about a metre squared . The cleaner did then bring us some bigger ones to cover our fandango’s. The other major gripe is the rolling bed on wheels . Don’t sit up in bed or you will end up in next doors apartment . Terrible beds . Good points …. Staff very friendly , pool is clean , peaceful hotel , breakfast plentiful , good choices and tasty . Overall we wouldn’t recommend . Too many issues and no one to really care...