TUI BLUE Los Gigantes

This was our third visit to this lovely hotel in Los Gigantes. We arrived on the Wednesday evening, in time for a relaxing drink at the pool bar, enjoying the last of the days sunshine. On the Thursday we spent our time by the quiet pool, broken up by an enjoyable lunch Sat outside. The staff are very attentive and pleasant. Friday was interrupted by police driving around telling everyone ,by loudspeakers, that everyone had to stay at home. This was an announcement from the government. Rather scary. That evening we ate in the a la carte restaurant, a lovely experience, waiter service, no having to keep getting up, as in the normal buffet one. Relaxing. Saturday morning's sunbathing was interrupted by a helicopter zooming down to the tiny beach, then up and around the hotel. After that Sun beds were gradually taken away, and pools cordoned off. Everyone had to stay in their rooms. The police regularly came to the hotel. We were very lucky to have a lovely room, with balcony and sea view. We spent the remainder of our holiday Sat on the balcony. The tables in the dining room were spaced out, but of course people did mingle, having to get their food. We felt so sorry for all the staff, since once all the guests had gone, the hotel would close and they would be out of a job. But they carried on very professionally, smiling and being polite, it must of been difficult for them. The rep said she was stopped by the police on her way to work, and had to show paperwork to prove who she was and where she was going. The last day and we left in the taxi for the airport. The only traffic on the roads were buses and taxis taking tourists to the airport. We had come on a Thomsons holiday but with an Easyjet flight. When we got to the front of the check in desk, the operator said that we had to go to the Easyjet desk, because our ticket was the wrong number. We queried this, not seeing anyone else having to do this. We were only told to go, then come back to the front of the queue. Having done as we were told, we were confronted by an exceptionally rude women, who told us that our seats were cancelled on the flight we were booked on, to return to Newcastle airport. She then told us we could fly to Gatwick the next day, 26 hours later! When we tried to find out why, she just said " take it or leave it" We were flabbergasted at the customer service, it was disgusting. We accepted the Gatwick flight, not knowing how we would get home. Eventually we found a Thomson rep, and told our story. She was very helpful and managed to get us onto a flight to Birmingham that evening. When we arrived in Birmingham, still feeling shell shocked by it all, and not understanding how we could of been turned off a plane where we had booked seats, we still had to work out how we'd get home. Just outside the airport, there was a taxi rank. We didn't think anyone would drive us back to Newcastle airport at 11 pm, but we were lucky. We arrived back at Newcastle airport at 3 am! We were delighted to be back to our car, even if it did cost us £330!! So much for customer service. I would not advise anyone to travel with Easyjet, their service was horrendous!

We had a pleasant stay in a nice hotel. The buffet food was superb, the waiters were quite stressful and inattentive, but helpful when they first arrived. The spa was very relaxing and positively good. No complaints whatsoever. Well, a few, slightly dark room lighting, and the sewer smell in the elevators was unpleasant. This seems to be a persistent problem and it is not good. After all, I have read about guests' illnesses for several years. Hope you can solve the problem. The hotel garden is in perfect condition, so clean and beautiful. All honour to the gardeners. Finally, we hope to have an opportunity for a reunion.

Difficult to be truly objective as our stay coincided with Covid 19. Have to say that I can't believe the hotel staff could have done anymore to look after us under very difficult circumstances. We also had a pretty good room with a double aspect which afforded views over the Harbour and also La Gomera. Food was good although we missed out on the Culinarium experience. I'm not a fan of buffets but they did a pretty good job. I did find the waiters a little humourless and very quick to clear but not the end of the world. The biggest issue for me was the decor. Not so much that it was white everywhere but that there was too much style over substance (chairs in bar a good example) and that work had been completed to a very poor standard with many short cuts taken in the renovation (e.g. lifts and bedroom cupboards). Shame about on going work to swimming pool as well. Would I go back - probably as never really got a chance to fully explore the area and need another chance to sample the cocktails at TJ's (just outside hotel).