Hotel Riu Palace Meloneras — Hotel in San Bartolomé de Tirajana

Me and the wife went here for the first time in May and loved it so much we came back again at the end of August for the hot weather. The Canary Islands didn't disappoint - blisteringly strong sun for a week straight and not a cloud in the sky. Went half-board both times and I don't think there's any other options.||In summary, if you want to go somewhere, have everything taken care of, be in an amazing location near the beach, and relax this is the hotel for you.||Positives:|Great staff, really accommodating and helpful from cleaning the rooms frequently, giving us firmer pillows upon request, and organising a trip for us to go dolphin watching|Amazing location - near the beach, free bus, promenade for walks, shops etc.|Lovely food - buffet or set menu restaurants|Hotel also has activities during the day|Facilities are well kept and the hotel itself is pretty incredible to walk through - lots of small things are well thought out like the foot wash at the back door from when you come back from the beach||Negatives:|Pretty much the usual problem of being on holiday - the other guests|Adult pool (the infinity pool) is pure chaos and the opposite of relaxing with people moving their sunbeds, smoking, playing music loudly, and nude sun bathing. Other pools mostly don't have this problem|It'd be nice the non-smoking policies in the other areas were enforced as it felt like people were just smoking anywhere they wanted|Free water served at breakfast but not at dinner - water has to be bought|Gym is very basic - I'd love a nicer, larger gym with a barbell cage. Can get crowded at times||Hotel staff are wonderful. I used to work in hospitality and that was hard enough let alone having to do the job in minimum 2 foreign languages. Reception is really friendly and make you feel welcome. Housekeeping works unbelievably hard and keeps the place near enough spotless and I'd honestly say they clean too much - sometimes they'd set the room twice a day.||I quite liked the food options. Breakfast has the standard full cooked breakfast with a few types of sausages, eggs, beans. No hash browns although they do potatoes. Also have healthier options of muesli, fruit, and yoghurt. There's a lot of German tourists there so ham and cheese available, pancakes and pastries are also an option. ||They have different nights at dinner, hence, why there's no menu up. What's always constant is:||Grilled meats - fish, chicken, veal, steak, pork etc|Roast of the day - roast beef, pork sometimes. Best so far has been the Peking duck for sure|Hot vegetables - frozen mixed veg, hot veg like cauliflower cheese, carrots, chips, boiled potatoes|Healthy option - grilled peppers and vegetables like courguettes, salad and the like|Desserts - cakes, chocolate fountain, fruit, hot dessert like crepes or creme brulee||Worth noting if you're not a meat eater you might struggle here as the veggie options aren't amazing. Fish isn't too bad although meat is definitely king||Also really liked eating at the Spanish restaurant which is included in the price of the stay. Book early (week in advance) and enjoy some modern Spanish food looking out across the sea and the setting sun. Had the paella and the steak which were wonderful||Location is brilliant. Next to little shops (mostly designer, a couple of convenience shops at the front and back), an amazing promenade for walking and also the free bus stop literally outside the hotel where you can go out for a day if you like.||In terms of the amenities, the pools are great. Plenty of places to sit with enough chairs and towels to go around. Even when busy doesn't feel crowded. Infinity pool is great although honestly I avoided it. It's the adults only section and by far the worst pool to be in because it's mega crowded, people are constantly moving their sunbeds around, and it's adults only so smoking is allowed. Generally very chaotic around that pool. That being said, you can get poolside service for drinks - iced coffees here are really nice in 30 degree sun.||There's also a steam room and jacuzzi in there although pretty much empty most times.||Gym is very basic. If you're seriously into fitness there's a good gym across the road where it's 35 euros for a week.||Rooms all have a ceiling mounted rainfall shower head. Bathrooms are plenty big. Channels are mostly in German to cater for the majority of their guests. Pillows were quite soft although we requested firmer pillows which made the stay so much more comfortable.||All in all, a positive review overall. Really enjoyed both times here and looking forward to...

I came on holiday to this hotel with my fiancé, and family. The first impressions of this hotel when you walk through the door certainly has the wow factor. We were met at the door by a member of staff who took our cases in for us and then later to the room. Check in was quick, efficient and the girl who did this friendly and professional, We were offered a welcome drink but turned this down due to the late arrival time and wanting to have time to eat at the buffet restaurant. One thing that would improve the room is emptying the fridge of the mini bar drinks and making this an option to fill if you want it. We removed the drinks ourselves due to using the fridge for water and placed these on the side. We did notice also that one of the drinks was past its use by date and many were the following month which shows the lack of people who have used this service in the room we were in. ||The hotel is in a nice location right by the sea and within easy walking of a few shops and restaurants. These are however very pricy so be warned!||The room was spacious and kept incredibly clean by the maid throughout our stay. We saw our maid often and she always had a smile on her face and a friendly hello. Our room was often turned down for the night also when we returned later with fresh towels. We opted for a side sea room which was perfect for our needs. We requested a quiet area of the hotel and this request was met. During the night there was no noise from the hotel entertainment or surrounding restaurants. ||We ate all our meals in the buffet restaurant and the food was a very good standard. There is a large range of choice so that all dietary needs are catered for and even the pickiest of eaters would be able to find something they liked. Every mealtime I came out full to bursting. It was delightful to see the range of vegetable options each evening making sure that we were able to include these in our meals, and I loved tasting and trying the different types of fish on offer. If I am being picky, sometimes there was too much oil and salt used when cooking the food so this could be mentioned to the chefs as after a while it did begin to effect the meals. However, it does not detract from the lovely selection of food and quality of it.||The pool areas are lovely and the adults only infinity pools a nice touch for those of us wanting a more peaceful day to relax. The pools are kept clean and there are plenty of pools towels that you can take and change each day. If you do want a sunbed by the adults only pool however, I recommend going down early as a lot of people reserve their beds. This to me causes an issue when they don't return until 2-3pm and people have been looking for beds. A suggestion to the hotel is to remove all towels at 10am if people have not appeared on them. This would help to stop the reserving of beds all day. All the staff by the pools are friendly and nothing is too much trouble. We did not eat by the pool but the food that other people were having looked delightful. The pool toilets are also the cleanest I have used in any hotel. They are constantly being mopped and ensured that they are not slippy. ||The evening entertainment is very hit and miss. There were a few ok singers and the aero act was good, however I would be questioning some of the acts they have on. The drinks are a bit pricey and can be hit and miss how they taste, but this is due to them being made fresh and not out of a bottle which I understand. You are able to go to the next door hotel on a Friday for the Riu Party which we chose both Fridays to do. The first week was the Neon party and we enjoyed this a lot. However, the White party the following week not so much. There were a lot of guests were getting boisterous and this ruined the atmosphere so we went back to the hotel. The drinks which were all inclusive were also not as nice at the White party and left an unpleasant aftertaste. ||Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed our stay and this hotel and with a few minor tweaks the hotel could be unbeatable. We would certainly come back and stay at this hotel in the future and would not hesitate to choose another Riu hotel in...

This hotel is honestly great, for a few different reasons:

STAFF: The staff on the hotel was lovely ! I felt like they genuinely liked their job and outdid themselves with the service. And with “staff” I mean every single person working at the hotel - at the reception, in the restaurants, cleaning staff etcetera. The staff in the reception spoke fluent english.

FOOD/DRINK: The food was outstanding! The buffet has everything you could wish for and was very fresh, had many options and tasted great. The options varied each day so you didn’t get tired of the food alternatives. There was also two à la carte restaurants. One thing that we regretted was not booking the à la carte restaurants earlier on our trip since the food presented there was truly delicious.

One thing to mind is that you should care for your own hygiene at the buffet and wash your hands carefully/use the hand sanitisers placed around the restaurant. Although the food is prepared in front of your eyes, the chefs uses gloves and the food looks very fresh, my husband still managed to get a mild food poisoning, probably from so many guests having poor hand hygiene.

Another thing to note is that there were not many people among the chefs who knew english. Although all of the meals had allergens marked on signs it was a bit complicated to ask the chefs about the content of the foods.

A variety of drinks were offered (for a cost) at the bars, by the pools and at dinner. Although the drinks were very good we felt like they were a tad bit pricey. The average price for cocktails were around 10 € and higher. The wine prices varied a bit more, from around 5 € and higher. Water/soft drinks were about 3.5 €, mocktails around 8 € and milkshakes were about 6.5 €. There was also a snack bar were you could buy lunches (pizza, nachos etcetera). The prices ranged from 6 € and higher if I recall correctly.

ROOM/CLEANING: The room was good/ok. The AC was very good, although it should be noted that the humidity in the room was very high, making the bed and bed sheets feel moist/damp. Another thing that we didn’t like about the room was the quilts/duvets. They were very thin and did not feel cozy to sleep in. The room also had a mini bar with some drinks. One thing to know is that water was not drinkable from the tap and there was no free water bottles offered at the hotel. One bottle from the mini bar in the room cost around 3 €.The cleaning in the room was great and without remark. If you wanted to you could change your towels every day to fresh new ones.

HOTEL AREA/POOLS: The hotel area was beautiful and well kept. There were four different pools in the hotel area. Two of them were for adults only, which was greatly appreciated by us. Staff went around the pool area basically all the time if you wished to order snacks/drinks.

The pools were great. There were a lot of sun beds to use and it was not difficult finding one. One thing that bothered us were the opening hours for the pool (08:00-19:00). We felt like the pools closed very early and would have wished for longer opening hours.

OUTSIDE THE HOTEL: The hotel is close to a supermarket and two different beaches. Other than that, the area outside the hotel basically consists of other hotels, luxury brand stores and tourist traps. The area around Playa del Maspalomas felt somewhat shady with some tacky restaurants and people trying to sell you fake luxury bags. It was a relief that the hotel area was so nice and safe, because honestly there is not much worth exploring outside the hotel.

SUMMARY: In summary the hotel felt very luxurious and we would definitely choose to stay here again.

The main ups: +The service minded staff +The delicious food and drinks +The beautiful hotel area

The main downs: -The humidity in the room -The prices on drinks and snacks -The opening hours...