ROBINSON Club Esquinzo Playa

You will probably either love or hate this all-inclusive hotel. It suited us very well. Having previously sampled 5 of the other seafront hotels in the immediate locality we decided to take the opportunity to try Robinson Club which seems to be more readily available via TUI UK recently. We are used to this end of the island being visited predominantly by Germanics and Robinson is a German TUI company so no surprise that the total number of UK guests was only around 6 here. Even so, many were sociable enough to have a chat with us in english. On arrival we were given a very warm welcome by a young Dutch lady who gave us a drink and organised for bags to be taken to room which was at the southern end of the site close to the Spa and beach access. The hotel is over 30 years old and I was told rooms due for refurbishment in a couple of years? Nevertheless our room was very nice. Good size bathroom with walk-in shower and plenty of shelving. Room had large wardrobe with shelving including AI safe and fridge, wide shelf and cupboard along one side of room so plenty of stowage space. Nearer the sliding glass outside doors there was a step down to a comfortable fixed corner settee facing S-W for late afternoon sun and sunset. Unusually a capsule coffee machine with some samples in room but we didn't need to use. Beds very firm but comfortable. No aircon so I guess could get very warm in the hotter seasons but comfortable in winter months. The Spa area includes a gym and massage facility but more importantly for us a peaceful relaxing area for adults around a small (cold) pool and a bar and good design sunbeds that unlike some others could be laid absolutely flat and didn't sag! Adjacent was the nudist area with another small pool and two very nice large sauna with sea views, one low temperature (60 degrees) for a slow experience and the other much hotter. Infusion/Aufguss sessions were held in the hotter sauna at 5:30pm which appeared extremely popular (packed!). Ample towels supplied here and communal showers plus towelling gowns were provided in our room. Athough the area was all normally adult a few periods a week were allocated (cooler sauna) to a parent and toddler/kiddie session where apparently the kiddies were given ice-cream (not sure how that works in a sauna?). A few other sessions were allocated as female only. The hotel is very family orientated centered around 'Robbie the seal?' mascot and this time of year many young parents with kiddies but generally seemed very calm and not too screachy/yelly. Most of their activities were at the opposite (northern) end of the site. The site is very large and spread out with an almost continual slope from restaurant area to rooms and beach access then steps or winding path to beach - a good workout in itself! As with all local hotels the restaurant servery is a bit manic. Food of course had a German/Spanish bias and was generally excellent, possibly best of local hotels, large selection and the chefs all took great care in preparation, only hiccup was the odd undercooked piece of salmon and langoustine. Seating was in several rooms of ~ 8 tables with each table seating 6 or 8 guests and two of the rooms were adult only. Table wine in bottles available on each table but unfortunatley resembled a dilute blend of industrial solvents so not surprisingly not many drank it! Beer however was nicely full flavoured Cruz Campo on tap - always seemed best in the adult area for some reason. Coffee at breakfast freshly brewed extremely strong requiring diluting with hot water from the tea station. The tea station was very unusual with a huge selection of tea types in caddies where you would create your own tea bags! Cling film and bags/boxes avaliable to use for packed lunch if needed. Bottled water (glass 1 litre) still and sparkling could be collected from chillers to take away from a room located under the restaurant behind the main bar. Generally the hotel staff at reception, event centre, spa and restaurant were all very pleasant and had good english so we had no difficulty in communication. Unusually one feature missing at this hotel is an inside lounge if you wanted to relax after dinner. Most gathered in the open around the bar area for some entertainment. There was also an indoor 'amphitheatre' for shows but didn't look too comfortable so we didn't bother - too tired by then anyway after beach/sauna/dinner etc.. Unfortunately/fortunately? didn't get to do any fitness classess as the weather was particularly good and the beach too tempting. Fitness programme detail sheets were available in english in the event centre - different daily. I'm still curious as to what the fitness activity "power slashing express" is! The hotel is directly above a super stretch of golden beach popular with nudists that at low tide gives access for many uncommercialised miles to the North. Beaches much much quieter than previous years which I guess must be due to the collapse of Thomas Cook causing the closure of the large nearby Princess hotel. We would have liked to have tried the catamarans but found we wasted too much 'beach time' waiting for the 'right' conditions and the watersports staff came across as quite demotivated and not proactive. Not the same level of confidence of safety support as you would find at, for example, Neilson activity holiday clubs or Markwarner. I was surprised how well the TUI android app functioned (in english) giving details of daily programme events and more importantly detail of transfer pick-up times a couple of days before departure. Transfer detail was also on a sheet at the very back of the TUI folder in reception. Overall we were very pleased with our holiday experience here and look forward to returning.

It was supposed to be the first relaxing holidays as a family with a 5 month old. We ended up in a dark and semi-clean room fighting with bugs and ants (eg in the baby bed). The only support we got from staff was some anti-bug spraying - we did not ask any further how agreeable this was with our little one. Needless to say that this was not the solution. In general, staff was not supportive. We issued the room conditions and also some missing equipment (pre-ordered kettle, baby bed, etc.) multiple times and if something changed, it was never comprehensive. Note, apparently club staff is not responsible for any concerns or issues - you have to talk to a single, very annoyed TUI person - which is only a couple of hours available - at the registration desk. Only then you have any claiming rights. That’s not the service we expect from Robinson Club, a 100% daughter of TUI. Whilst the facilities were ok, the service was disastrous and not what we expected from a pricy Robinson Club. It was our first and last experience with Robinson Club

Very good hotel, comfortable rooms, nice beach, many activities, good food in restaurant but... you don't feel really welcomed here if you don't speak German. And it's not a problem with other guests who usually would like to talk with you in English. Most information about resort, during activities and whole show in the evenings is in German. I think that it's not a problem, during more than an hour long show, to say a few words in English in the beginning and the end, ofcourse if you care about all you guests.