Restaurante La Bodega — Restaurant in San Bartolomé de Tirajana

We (2 couples) stayed here 14 - 21st September booked through Jet 2 Indulgent Escapes on an all-inclusive basis. I would say the majority of guests were couples over 40, which suited us. We booked this hotel as we had a lovely holiday at the Seaside Sandy Beach the previous year and were very impressed with the hotel chain. Seaside Palm Beach is a lovely hotel and we had a great week despite a small issue which, to the hotel's credit, was rectified straight away. However, this did make me feel a little uncomfortable: We had paid up-front for all inclusive; there's no wrist-bands, they just ask for the room number in the bar and restaurant and when we gave one of the room numbers at dinner we were told the room wasn't all-inclusive and the waitress was quite insistent that it wasn't. We asked her to check and she came back and said it was all okay, which was fine, but it left us wondering if we had been charged for any other meals or drinks. After the meal we checked with reception and we did have charges to one of the rooms which they immediately cleared. Although they put it right we did feel we had to keep checking every time we gave the room number that it was All Inclusive and I did wonder if we were going to have a problem when we checked out which made me feel a bit anxious but it was all fine. Anyway, back to the good stuff...||ARRIVAL|We arrived late. Good first impression. Check-in was efficient, everything was explained. We were offered help with our bags, which we didn't need. As we were late and had missed dinner they had laid out a lovely buffet for us in our rooms: smoked salmon, beef, salad, rolls, fresh fruit etc and the mini-bar was well stocked with wine, water, spirits, beer and soft drinks.|ROOMS|We booked standard rooms as we don't spend much time in the rooms and we all thought the rooms were great. Everything we needed and nicely decorated (I like bright colours). It was unusual to have a carpeted room but I liked it, I've seen other comments that the carpets were dirty but ours was clean. There was plenty of hanging space for clothes. a safe, mini bar/fridge; Kettle and a supply of tea/coffee/milk which was replenished daily along with water and chocolates; spare sockets which were useful for chargers - often in hotels there are not enough and you have to unplug lights to charge-up a device. The bed was comfortable and the room was really clean. I don't smoke, but it's worth noting that the balcony was no smoking - I don't know if that's the case with all the balconies - it may be worth checking if you're a smoker. The en-suite was lovely and clean - it had a shower which was powerful; hairdryer; magnifying mirror and, I don't know if this a good thing lol, scales! toiletries were replenished daily.|RESTAURANT|There is a main restaurant, Tapas and an Italian (Tapas and Italian require booking) The all-inclusive package includes 1 meal in the Tapas and 1 in the Italian during a 7 day stay. All restaurant seating is outside. In the main restaurant you sometimes had to wait to be seated but it wasn't too bad. Something we weren't expecting was that the main restaurant wasn't buffet style every night - they alternate with a set menu which was 3 courses with 3 choices on each course (2 starter courses and a main) and the puddings and cheese and biscuits were buffet style - some of us liked it, some of us were not so keen. There was nothing wrong with the food, it was all nicely cooked and well presented, it was just personal preference. I much preferred the buffet. We ate at the Tapas, and the Italian. Both good but we all preferred the Italian.||This hotel enforces the long trousers for men rule in the restaurant at dinner. So pack long trousers guys. A lot of hotels state this but don't actually stick to it - this hotel does! ||Lunch was either in a small part of the main restaurant or the African Bar. This wasn't buffet style but there was plenty of choice on the menu - same menu in both areas but the African Bar had more of a relaxed atmosphere. Again, personal preference, I would have preferred a buffet choice for lunch.||Breakfast was buffet style. Plenty of choice. I now have a new addiction to pretzel rolls - they were lovely. All their bread rolls were very good. Just one small suggestion for the hotel: the queue for the omelettes/fried eggs and bacon, which are all freshly cooked, blocks the access to the tomatoes/beans/potato cakes etc so you have to take them as you queue otherwise you'll be pushing past people, and they go cold by the time you get your omelette/fried egg and bacon, it would be better if it could be re-arranged somehow so you could get the eggs and bacon first and then get the extras. Little tip for the tea lovers - the Irish Breakfast tea (assam) is much nicer than the English Breakfast tea. The coffee was really good. One other thing, Men can't wear vest tops at breakfast. ||POOL/BAR AREAS|There was an inside bar and restaurant area which wasn't operational when we were there. The African bar is outside, overlooks the main pool and there is plenty of seating. Drinks are waiter service - sometimes there was a delay when they were busy. The gardens were lovely and really well kept. There was a table tennis table, boules, darts, giant chess and shuffleboard, which was fun. There was also a gym, treatment room, Tai-chi on the lawn and aqua aerobics in the smaller pool|Lovely main pool with plenty of sunbeds - there was never a problem getting 4 together. There was another smaller pool and a salt water pool with a quiet area by the gym. We were happy with the main pool area and spent our time there. Drinks were waiter/waitress service around the pool - we used to go up to the bar to order and our drinks would be brought to us - always with a bowl of crisps and/or nuts and always with a smile. The bar staff were lovely, ||ENTERTAINMENT|All the entertainment was very good. They had singers in the main restaurant and bands/singers in the African Bar all various styles and all good. The stand outs for me were the opera-style singers, and one afternoon there was a violinist in the African Bar and she was fabulous.||We had a late return flight and the hotel let us keep one of the rooms until 6pm and do a late check out which was very much appreciated. We were unable to keep the 2nd room as they had someone else arriving so the hotel made another room available from 12pm to 6pm which was great. ||In conclusion, A lovely hotel in a good location; communal areas are all clean and well kept; interesting artwork and decoration; staff were great; food was good but not fantastic (in my opinion!). We had a lovely relaxing week and enjoyed...

It’s good, but not good enough for a 5 star hotel. ||The staff are great. The food is great. The facilities generally great. |Do not come during +/- a week of school holiday times: mealtimes are hectic & can be loud. ||3 main issues |1. Not enough sunbeds for the number of guests. Therefore bed bagging is a done deal by 7:45am. The beds are close together in most areas, so you are bound to have some discussion with your neighbour about blocking the sun. ||2. There’s a pest problem: Pigeons. They are around the restaurant, cafe and pool. Apart from signs saying do not feed them, nothing is done to keep them away: they are on breakfast tables, they regularly bathe and leave deposits at the edge of the main pool. The hotel needs to get a falconer or something.||3. However, the main issue is evening dinner timing: 1st night we waited over an hour for a dinner table. There are staff who manage the table waiting problem (that’s a job!) people give tips for putting them in a queue to get a table. That’s weird. I asked the manager about this. She said we should have come for dinner at 18:30 or 20:30 to avoid the rush (and kids running about at the buffet), but it being our first night - how would we have known that? To be fair, there is a notice at the restaurant entrance saying this, but you only see this once you have arrived dressed & ready for dinner. So you 'could' sit in the bar for an hour waiting patiently, or buy drinks you didn’t particularly want while you wait. Apparently they used to have 2 dinner sittings per night, but now it’s ‘flexible’ (but in practice, no different). It generates business for the bar, though. The bar isn't cheap.|When the hotel is at max capacity I can kind of put up with that (but not a ‘5 star’ hotel), however… later in our stay it was noticeably quieter: Fewer guests. Less bed bagging in all but the quiet zone. Great. |However, come evening dinner time though, same problem waiting for a table. Why? They’d throttled the number of tables (and waiting staff)! Cost saving over guest experience. |I tried to catch a (different) manager’s attention one dinner time, but he was busy glad-handing a clique of guests. A common occurrence, which isn't to everyone's taste - mine included: This kind of management style may have been acceptable in the past, but in these days of equality & inclusivity?|We came here before COVID and this wasn’t much of a problem then. Maybe they’ve had to space the tables out more than they used to. ||It’s a shame: The day-to-day staff are fantastic. But they are let down by the...

Останавливались в этом отеле в июле 2016 года. До этого не раз отдыхали в Испании, в том числе на Канарских островах, так что с особенностями испанского сервиса мы знакомы, и с каждым годом убеждаемся, что он не совершенствуется.||Заезд прошел без происшествий: нам все подробно объяснили на английском, продемонстрировав хороший уровень владения языком. К сожалению, впоследствии так случалось не всегда.||Отель не новый, на фасаде 5 звезд.||Номер средний по размеру. Звукоизоляция отвратительна, как и везде в Испании. При бронировании просили вид на море - его получили, однако из-за особенностей расположения отеля, на многое рассчитывать не приходится. Заказывали номер с двумя отдельными кроватями - получили раздвинутую двуспальную, разделенную тумбочку, так что мягкое изголовье было в наличии только у одной из получившихся двух: у второй в образовавшуюся щель проваливалась подушка, степень упругости которой оставляла желать лучшего.||Помимо двух кроватей и тумбочек в комнате есть стол с настольной лампой, журнальный столик с двумя креслами и торшером и длинная столешница, где с одной стороны телевизор, а внутри находится мини-бар и три шкафчика, с двумя полками каждый. В коридоре - шкаф для одежды, сейф. Вешалок достаточно. Номер освещается весьма посредственно: фонарь на балконе (часть центрального освещения, которое невозможно выключить по желанию) светит гораздо ярче.||Есть претензии к ванной комнате: дверь открывается вовнутрь не на всю ширину из-за жестко зафиксированной стенки душа, фен стационарный, поэтому в комнату его не принести. Следовательно, сушить голову можно только стоя, поскольку дизайн мебели не позволяет пронести стул в ванную. Полотенца: два больших, два для лица, два 20*20 см, непонятно какого назначения, одно полотенце для ног. Из-за особенностей уборки номера такого набора хватало не всегда.||Об уборке номера отдельно: ее качество едва соответствует уровню бюджетной трешки: бумажка от шоколадки, упавшая на пол у двери, пролежала 10 дней, пока мы ее не выкинули. Заезжают в номер с пылесосом, но грязь при этом остается на своих местах. При уборке упорно перекладывают вещи: в частности, шоколад клали на решетку кулера холодильника - самое горячее место на столе. Для чего - непонятно, наверное, маленькая месть.||Доступ в интернет действительно бесплатный на всей территории, но качество соединения и скорость - не слишком высокие.||Территория у отеля средняя по размеру, достаточно зеленая. В наличии несколько бассейнов, в том числе джакузи с соленой водой. Есть фитнес и спа-центр, а также другие развлечения: большой и малый теннис, шахматы и т.д. Возле бассейна есть раздевалки и автоматические сушилки для купальников, выдают полотенца. Достаточно большое количество лежаков, но если хотите лежать с комфортом, занимать необходимо с раннего утра, и то не факт, что его не займут до вас сотрудники для того, кто ему "позолотил ладошку". Если вы заинтересовали служащего, то у вас может быть три зонта на двух человек, три тумбочки и занятый лежак, даже если вы решили остаться в номере.||К слову, про персонал: здоровается едва ли каждый третий сотрудник, извиняются, если едва не наехали с тяжелыми тележками (в ресторане) или чуть не сбили подносом - единицы. И еще, ваш номер будут убирать раньше, если вы оставите деньги уборщице, в противном случае, ждите гостей ближе к вечеру. Неоднократно просили убирать номер к часу дня: через пару дней все благополучно "забывается". Иной логики в очередности уборки не ждите. Соответственно, вдобавок к цене за номер, готовьтесь потратить пару десятков евро на принудительные чаевые авансом, если хотите подобие адекватного сервиса.||Про питание: у нас были только завтраки, так что пишем про них. Количество еды большое, однако горячее (сосиски, бекон, яичница, омлет) готовят только по запросу - достаточно медленно, так что очередь есть всегда. В последний день просили приготовить омлет с грибами - отравилась (то ли яйцо не свежее, то ли грибы). Несмотря на многочисленность блюд, себе найти что-то, к чему лежала душа, не смогли. Кроме свежевыжатого апельсинового сока. Посуда: чашки, крышки от чайников, тарелки и стаканы - со сколами, поцарапанные. Отдельно хочется написать про зону курения в ресторане (которой по-хорошему не должно быть, учитывая нацеленность ЕС на здоровый образ жизни) - она практически везде. Столики для некурящих - незначительное меньшинство, их можно пересчитать по пальцам, и они окружены пепельницами со всех сторон, так что все зависит от направления ветра. Находятся непосредственно вблизи плит для приготовления блюд.||Кстати, лежаки для некурящих - возле зоны детского бассейна, так что отдохнуть тихо и без сигаретного дыма не получится в любом случае. Курят здесь много, почти все и абсолютно везде. Регулярно в первой половине дня косят траву газонокосилкой (после которой почему-то сохраняются поганки), либо проводят ремонтные работы.||В заключение хотим сказать, что отель никак не дотягивает до 5 звезд даже по меркам Испании и своих денег откровенно не стоит. Недоумеваем, откуда столько хвалебных отзывов, хотя основные отдыхающие в отеле - испанцы и немцы, возможно им много не надо: пива и сигарет, а этого здесь в избытке. Да и персонал отлично говорит на этих двух язык, английский - тут картина другая.||Что касается инфраструктуры вокруг - один раз прогуляться по набережной и больше заняться нечем. Там же находятся ресторанчики с разным уровням сервиса и разными ценами - везде разрешено курение. В шаговой доступности находится автобусная станция, откуда можно добраться до столицы и аэропорта, которыми мы и воспользовались.||Пока это самые негативные впечатления, которые у нас оставались от...