Labranda Hotel Bahia de Lobos

We had a lovely holiday in the middle of the pandemic and felt very safe. Check in / check out was swift .. Rooms are exactly as the pictures, cleaners do a great job. Food is nice breakfast - cereals, fruit, pastries and cooked food - lunch n dinner salad bar, pizza n pasta, rice, chips and varied hot options and grilled meat and fish ..there was something we could eat every mealtime even being fussy eaters we were never hungry.. Snack bar was 3 till half 6 consisted of sandwiches only cheese or ham , pastries and fruit is we went out a few evenings to eat but just for a change of scenery. Entertainment was ok, restricted as a result of Covid with outdoor seating only, gym and spa were closed. Location was good a lot of surrounding shops n restaurants, boats and day-trips open but the water parks, mini golf and a few places still closed. Pools are lovey and surrounding areas clean and tidy .. if I’m being picky it could do with a increasing the amount of umbrellas and a lot of the umbrellas were broken/ ripped and needed replacing.. Inflatables are not allowed in the pools which I found very disappointing who doesn’t love a Li-lo or blow up Unicorn? .. There are two pools one is lively with a bar and music and the other is a relax pool. It would of been ideal if inflatables were allowed even if it was just the lively pool. Shout out to Daniel the barman & Sydney the entertainer they are both fantastic! polite, funny, energetic radiating happy holiday vibes exactly what makes a good a holiday a great holiday the people! Improvements - More Umbrellas and allow inflatables in the lively pool.

There are both positives and negatives to this hotel. CHECK IN We arrived at the hotel about 1.15pm and we were told our room would not be ready until 2.30pm. Despite this we were not given our key until after 3pm. This was not the end of the world but we were informed the reason was because our room was not ready. We found this quite hard to believe considering there’s probably half of the rooms unoccupied. We also found the receptionist to be quite stand-off ish. We were not informed or given any information about dining times. Again, not a big deal but it would have been nice to be told. THE ROOM The first room we were allocated had a naughty shower and a non working air con unit. We informed reception straight away and we were allocated a new room. The rooms are large, much bigger than your normal hotel rooms. There’s a small fridge which doesn’t get cold. You have to pay a €10 deposit for a beach towel and another €1 per towel each time you change it. The shower floods and there’s issues with the drainage. The beds are awful. Two singles pushed together. The beds move far too easily and they are very uncomfortable. The pillows are flat and resulted in very poor sleep. There’s no duvets, just sheets. HOUSEKEEPING Non existent. This was seriously disappointing. In our five day stay our room was “cleaned” once. Our towels were changed once. I resulted in taking towels from the housekeeping’s trolley because it’s simply unacceptable to at least not change the towels. FOOD AND DRINK This was the worst part of our stay. We booked all inclusive and the food was substandard as best and abysmal at worst. If you’re a foodie or enjoy your food on holiday then unfortunately this hotel is lot for you. Only one restaurant is open. The closed one is underground so it’s understandable given the current climate. But lunch and dinner were pretty much the same. Chips, rice, pizza. I would have to say that the food was quite frankly the worst I have experienced on holiday and it certainly does not amount to 4* quality. It’s a buffet style with absolutely no enforcement of social distancing. The majority of the guests have no concept of socially distancing or even maintaining personal space. I saw one women pick up, inspect and then return to the basket around 4 bread rolls. Whilst this is not the hotels fault, I would like to see greater enforcement and observation of the social distancing rules. Also, if you’re a meat eater; there’s hardly any. One evening there was only salmon. Fine for me but not my other half or those who share this sentiment. The salad bar was nice as was the hot chocolatier but sadly that’s as far as I can go on the positives for the food. Drinks are very limited. There’s no menus (again o appreciate these being withdrawn owing to Covid) but there’s no selection unless you want to pay an extra €10 per person per day for premium alcohol. The cava is very nice but there’s only one beer of choice, San Miguel ((5.3% - rocket fuel). You can help yourself to the beer, fizzy pop, water and hot drinks. A little worrying the about of people touching the self service machines and not once did I see it be cleaned. The bar men were always pleasant and happy to help. During our stay there was only one bad open and this was the beach bar which was more of a hut. Drinking out of plastic cups isn’t for I’m afraid. They then closed this bar and opened the entertainment bar which has outdoor seating. This was much nicer for an evening drink. You had to queue to get into the restaurant. This would take a very long time so bare this in mind. POOLS There was three pools. The main one has a children’s pool and then there’s a relaxation pool. Very big and nice and always observed by a lifeguard. It’s was disappointing to see the amount of adults spitting in the pool which was not addressed by the lifeguards or any staff. This was somewhat off putting to say the least. There’s some form of boom box speaker but the main pool which projects rather loudly not the most family orientated music at times. This was off putting for me but at least there was the relaxation pool to retreat to. SUNBEDS Plenty and no worries about no getting one regardless of what time you decided to lounge. I saw one lifeguard on one occasion clean the beds which was nice but disappointing that it was limited to a one off occasion. ENTERTAINMENT Non existent other than the children’s entertainer which was rather loud and highly repetitive just like the food. The weather was glorious and it was nice to get away but unfortunately it was not the hotel we were expecting. We will certainly come back to the island but not this hotel. I’m not sure what part is a 4*, I would say a 3* is more accurate.

4th time at this hotel , standards have definitely slipped from the rooms to the pool and around the pool including the pool bar also problems with the drains as shower drain off backing up not enough stafff only 1 restaurant and bar open and hotel full????