Elba Lucia Sport & Suite Hotel

Me and my family went in a big group which is normally hard to please, however this place had everything for all ages in abundance. Firstly I will start with the room, which was very spacious and clean and was complete with what you would need, from all kitchen appliances to a comfortable bed and a spectacular view from the balcony of the airport and the sea. Next I will mention the food which for me is usually a big problem (I'm a very fussy eater) however there is a variety of foods and also half way through the day there is food served at the pool bar. Despite all of the above being really good the best part of the hotel by a mile has to be the staff, the bar staff are very polite and always smiling which helps you feel very welcome. But the best part of the hotel has to be the Animacion team made up of seth, Andrea and Rosanna. These wonderful people provide the entertainment for the whole hotel and do it exceptionally well. They play certain games and activities that are common in hotels however with their brilliant personalities and incredible sense of humour they also make it unique and a joy to be a part of. Andrea and Seth both are incredibly funny and both have very infectious laughs which automatically make you smile and be happy. Then there is Rosanna who not only helped make my holiday perfect but she also helped make the rest of my family including my beautuful 5 year old nieces holiday a very memorable one with the fun activities she did with her during kids club or the mini disco. They all have their own skills and qualities but together make up a really good team, and it was a pleasure to meet them all and I look forward to seeing them all again when I return next time, roll on next year.

Hotel Elba Lucia I’m going to start off by saying that this is a 3-star hotel. If you want 5-star food, rooms, choice of restaurants etc etc, then pay the extra and go stay in a 5-star resort. There are many negative comments on Trip Advisor which I believe are unwarranted and undeserved (and I am fairly critical myself when doing reviews!). The rate for room and all-inclusive here I believe is good value for money. Location: Very close to the airport. In an area that was clearly at one time and upcoming area but following the Spanish housing market crash (2008?) many buildings in the area are unfinished or unsold, large areas of land that were clearly going to be built on being abandoned. There are large areas of terrain all around that don’t look too far different to lunar landscapes. There are a number of bars and restaurants within a very short walking distance, and as well as a small shop within the hotel there is other supermarkets close by, but basically the area is what I would class as residential. The next town has far more / bigger of everything, and is only a good walk away, or taxi (less than 4 Euro each way). There is a bus from the hotel but the whole service / routes are over complicated for a simple task. Staff: I’ve put this first as staff can either make or break a holiday. Staff here are AWESOME! They MAKE this hotel! Everybody comments about how good the staff are, just look at trip advisor to see that! Special shout out to Abigail, Adama, Inma, Lala, Leyner and Fenanda (who unfortunately left on the 13th Oct, a massive loss for the hotel). Animation team try their best and do a sterling effort during the day. Check-in: Very quick and efficient, the staff on the desk are really friendly and will try to do as much as they can to help you. If you have any reasonable request (ie a specific room / floor) if possible, they will do their utmost to try to provide what you are after. As generally you only speak with them on checking-in/out they are the un-sung members of the team. They have always been extremely helpful and friendly when I have spoken with them. Rooms: I booked an upgrade to an apartment and when I arrived I was pleasantly surprised to find I had been given one with a pool view. The first major thing to highlight is that there is no AC!!!!! Now I didn’t think this was something that I had needed to check for, with the hot weather, but alas lesson learned. I have re-read the Tui listing for the hotel and it indeed does not say there is AC, however it also does NOT warn there is AC! This is not a fault of the hotel, but of the travel company for not making this very clear, many people who I have spoken to here were caught out being unaware also. However if you look at the hotels own website they are also very careful to avoid stating there is no AC. You can hire a small fan in the hotel shop at 10 Euro a week, but if there is a family staying then one would be totally inadequate and could start working out very expensive for quantity! Wouldn’t be so bad even if the rooms had ceiling fans, but there is no cooling at all. This brings to point the floor to request a room on. As it is hot (for me anyhow) you have to have the windows open at night for sleeping, so if you had the ground floor (great during the day for in and out to the pool) then you have no security whilst you are sleeping. Personally (unless you don’t mind the heat at night) I would recommend the 3rd floor, you have security at night and you can try and catch any breeze that is blowing. Rooms are a little dated and are very basically furnished, but more than sufficient. The bedroom has a wardrobe and a safe, the key for which is available from reception at 2 Euro a night (neither the Tui or the hotels own website quote this as an extra payment requirement). The bed I found comfortable enough and with the breeze from the open windows more than comfortable enough to sleep well. The living area has a number of stools and chairs, the cushions of which could benefit from a bit of a cleaning. There is also a small table and a breakfast bar. There is a small TV with a couple of English speaking channels on it. Picture seems ok, but other than testing it, it wasn’t used during my stay The kitchen area has a microwave as well as 2 hot plates, with sufficient plate and cutlery etc. The good thing is that there is an under the counter fridge, perfect for chilling food and drinks! There is also a small kettle. There are no tea/coffee makings provided so bring your own or (as most people did) take a few bits and pieces from the buffet restaurant. The kitchen area is not cleaned by hotel staff, but there is also no cleaning materials provided for you to do it yourself (or to clean dishes) either. Bathroom is ok. Small sink, bidet, hair dryer, toilet and a small bath (with a shower over). Water pressure is very good and there was always plenty of (very) hot water, no matter the time of day. Nice large patio / balcony area outside with facilities for drying clothes etc. plus a small table and two chairs. Just the lack of AC is my one and only gripe about the room Pool: There are two pools. One is very shallow and a good size for young children, well placed so can be monitored by parents relaxing and enjoying the sun. The second pool is also a good size and varies in depth down to around 1.8m. Pools are fresh water and COLD! Cannot fault either pool. Both pools are in the centre of the complex, surrounded by hotel rooms, making the whole area a huge suntrap so be sure to bring suitable sun cream with you! One thing I do not understand though is why the swimming pools could not be used until 10:00 each morning? People were there from long before this and it seems strange to have to wait this long! Pool opening hours are 10:00-18:00. There is space around both pools for sun loungers, which are locked up until, I believe, 09:30. One of the few actual negative comments I do have about this hotel is the condition of these sun loungers in that they are absolutely disgustingly filthy, so bad I refused to use them. The white plastic is covered in dirt and grime, the material covering them stained thick with dirt, sun tan lotion and sweat. There are also a number of chairs and tables positioned around the pool bar. There are a number of fixed “parasols” spread around to provide shade but nowhere near enough in my opinion, but it seem to work due to the number of people liking to lay in the sun. Music. I note many people complaining on trip advisor about the level of music. A lot of the time the music level is ok, although it is cranked up during entertainment sessions and is then frequently forgotten about and just left. At THESE times I agree the music is way too loud (and music frequently definitely not to my taste, although that is a personal opinion). Cleaning: Cleaners in general did a reasonable enough job keeping everywhere relatively clean and tidy, rooms clean, pools clean, although occasionally the snack bar tables were clearly not wiped down from the previous day and food leftovers etc. could still be seen. Was disappointing I did have to speak to reception one time about some blood, where somebody had injured themselves, that had been spread around all the way up two flights of stairs that, other than the main pool on the floor, wasn’t cleaned up after 2 days. On a plus note, special thanks to the life guard (see snack bar) Bars: There are 3 bars; the pool “snack” bar, the bar “salon” on the first floor and “disco” bar in the basement. The one in the basement was closed the entire time of my visit so I cannot comment on, apparently due to it being the “quiet part” of the season. No mention of any removal of this facility due to time of season was mentioned on either of the Tui/Elbe websites. The pool bar was only open from 10:30-18:00, shame this could not be open to 23:00, would much rather sit outside than in the inside first floor salon bar (minimal outside seating). Orange juice from the snack bar is only Fanta orange, fresh orange for your vodka and orange is only from the inside salon bar, they did however do a superb vodka orange slush! The Sangria at this bar was also very refreshing! What I did like, which happened once, was one group of individuals who “over indulged” on their first full day of holiday, and were excessively drunk, were denied service on the grounds of safety. Good safety culture which was good to see, very well done to the life guard for calling it. At times the pool bar got busy and due to only one person working the bar you could have to wait quite a while for to get your drinks. As frequently people were only wanting water, waiting times could have been cut if there was a water collection point elsewhere. Unfortunately some people make a mess around the pool(s) and don’t want to clean up after themselves, not the hotels fault but as there was no cleaner through the day tidying around the tables/sun loungers (one of the lifeguard collected used plastic cups/plates/rubbish when he was working) sometimes a mess made early would stay there all day. I don’t blame the hotel for this but the nature of the people who made the mess. Glasses in the snack bar are all plastic, but of the thin and flimsy type. No matter how many times you asked they would never use the same glass twice. The amount of rubbish generated by this is HUGE! Would have thought it would have been better both financially and environmentally to use hard plastic glasses, the only reason I can think of against it is that there would be a requirement at some stage for these hard plastic glasses to be cleaned where it is just easier to throw them away. They also use plastic plates for the food, instead of paper ones, again another waste. A MASSIVE amount of waste comes from the snack bar every day which could be dramatically reduced. Ice used in the drinks served at the pool bar comes in commercial bags The first floor salon bar was only open from 18:00-23:00. This bar held the evening entertainment, starting between 21:15-21:30. Entertainment was occasionally live music, the standard of which varied from AWESOME (on my first night) to “whoever told them they could sing should be shot!”. If there was no live music the entertainment was by animation staff doing a movie theme quiz or similar or even monster darts – same as what they do during the day, or the slowest game of bingo ever! If they ever did a karaoke or disco (post sunset) as advertised by both Tui/Elbe sites, then I missed them, never saw once during the 3 weeks I was there! Overall I have to rate the evening entertainment as “generally very poor”. The layout of the first floor salon bar is in my opinion poor, with the bar in the centre and the chairs and tables around it. If there was any live music, a large portion of the area cannot see the person(s) performing. It would be better if the bar was at one side of the room so all could see (or as said previously done outside by the pool bar). It is also a little poor that from around 22:15 any new drinks are given in the thin plastic glasses, and from around 22:30 they will ask people to pour their drinks from glasses into the plastic ones. By 22:45 they are already putting stools up. Ice used in the drinks served at the salon bar comes from an ice maker. I am not sure on the source of the water to the ice maker and so used ice here very sparingly. Security usually turns up at 23:00 on the dot as the salon bar closes and throw you unceremoniously out. It isn’t the fact that they do it that irritated a lot of people, it was HOW one particular woman used to do it that infuriated a lot of guests, with her arrogance and laughing as she told people “you, get out now”. I complained on both occasions to the desk staff regarding the attitude of this one specific woman, to which I was advised security was an external hired company and that she would not be back. Where the hotel staff are all so brilliant, to have somebody talk to guests in this manner, was completely unacceptable and reflected poorly on the hotel through no fault of theirs. Other security guards were more than polite and ushered people out where necessary in a “more friendly/respectful” acceptable manner. Drinks and/or water are not available outside of these 10:30-23:00 opening hours. It is disappointing that on holiday there is nothing in the hotel to do after 23:00 (See Suggestion 3 at the end of this review) Food: Food is available at various points as follows through the day. Snack bar opens at 10:30 and at varying times puts out fruit, chips (crisps) in a dish, bread rolls (ham/cheese or cheese/tomato) and savoury treats. They also put out fries, hot dogs and cheese burgers from 15:00. The chips (crisps) in a dish on the bar counter I avoided due to many people taking by hand instead of using the tongs provided!!!! I tried the burgers and hot dogs once….. not to my taste at all! Buffet Restaurant is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. First thing to say is that I was impressed with how meals in the buffet restaurant are marked as to what it is plus any warnings / advice, ie gluten free Breakfast is 90% identical each day, changing between fried eggs one day and potato slices the next. Fried eggs are very poorly presented and would benefit from a re-think, maybe doing less in one go and putting fresh out more frequently. Quite why they couldn’t do a tray of scrambled eggs each alternative day to the fried eggs is beyond me, instead of the potato slices which I took one bite of the first day and never again! There is also bacon, sausages, hash browns (sometimes). There is also a continental option, a range of different bread types, a toaster, fruit juices and tea/coffee. If you can get freshly-out eggs the breakfast I found to be relatively enjoyable and filling. Ideally there would have been an egg station and fresh eggs / omelettes could be requested, but to be honest without major work there wasn’t really any room to put a station. See 5-star resort comment! Lunch and dinner didn’t vary hugely, although each evening there would be a “theme” night. Some dishes were good and some I have to say were awful (to my taste at least), but there was always enough options so that there was something that everyone could eat MOST of the time. Many of the dishes, again for my taste, were very bland tasting and generally monotonous and repetitive. Most disappointing was the “Italian” night as I love Italian food but was unfortunately notably poor. There's a kids' menu but is poor from what I witnessed, occasionally having chicken nuggets, pizza or strange offerings such as potato balls or onion rings (one of each per theme night). I overheard a few times kids saying to their parents that there was nothing that they wanted to eat and it seemed many lived on a diet of chips (available at every lunch/dinner). Whilst I was there it was school term and there were few kids so maybe during the periods of the year when kids are holidaying too the offerings may be better, but I would have to rate the kids menu as very poor from what I have seen, A selection of ice cream was available from both the snack bar and the buffet restaurant at all times when open A number of child chairs are available within the restaurant if required. Packed lunches are available if you want to spend the day on the beach. My advice, don’t bother. A packed lunch is sandwich made up of a slice of white bread (no butter), a slice of cheese, a slice of ham and another slice of white bread (again no butter), not even cut in half. You get 2 oranges and a bottle of water to wash it down. This could be so much better with a little effort! Offer choice of bread type? Butter? Salad? Cut in half? Cling film? Couple of boiled eggs? Crisps? Biscuits? Other: Other items worthy of comment are as follows: Late check out is available, subject to availability, in either a 3 or 6 hour block, ie check out at 15:00 (15 Euro) or 18:00 (30 Euro) I failed miserably to get the free wifi, available only in public areas, to connect to the internet on both my laptop and mobile. I did take the room paid wi-fi for a week at 18 Euro a week (for 3 devices) which I found to be more than adequate for my requirements. Smoking in the pool area is uncontrolled and fully allowed. Unfortunately there are no ash-trays so you get people flicking their ash on the floor, or using a cup half filled with water as an ash-tray….. YUK, not very nice to see cups left around with soggy butt ends in it. There are a few small cockroaches about, particularly around the outside seating of the salon bar, although not an excessive amount. People have been complaining on Trip Advisor about cats and birds in the area. There were a number of cats but from what I saw during my 3 weeks they were NO issues with any of them at any time, they all appeared to be well cared for and very well behaved, I never saw them begging for food at any time. Only thing I ever really saw was people going to the cats, never the other way around. There are some birds (grey doves and sparrows) that are around the pool area at all times picking up crumbs that have been dropped which do sometimes fly very close to people. They DO frequently land on chairs and tables which could be a potential hygiene issue, but again I personally didn’t consider them an issue. There are no mosquitoes although some flies appeared after the first week and were a bit of a pest. Other information: Good to know 1: Pool towels are not available. Either bring your own or buy one when here Good to know 2: There is no ATM at the hotel although there is one just up the road. The hotel will change money as well as breaking larger notes into smaller denominations. The hotel will accept credit card for any payments due. Good to know 3: The walk to the local town offers the opportunity to see, and feed should you wish, the large amount of chip monks that reside amongst the rocks on the shoreline. The closer to town you get, the more there are. Good to know 4: There is a laundrette within a 5 minute walk from the hotel, as well as numerous bars and restaurants Suggestion 1: There is no drinking water in the rooms and is not available after the bar closes at 23:00. May I suggest that when a room is cleaned for new guests 2 bottles of water are placed in the room to cover the first day until they understand the routine, particularly for those arriving late. Suggestion 2: Why not when have live music as the evening entertainment use the area around the pool bar? Much larger area and easier for people to see. I am guessing the answer will be due to noise and young children in rooms by that area sleeping, but it only goes on until around 22:30 so it’s not that late. Suggestion 3: Why not make the disco bar open after 23:00 (I don’t believe this would disturb any guests) and make it a pay bar for alcohol. For most people on holiday 23:00 is too early to end the day. Suggestion 4: Jet wash a number of sun loungers each time when cleaning Suggestion 5: Put out less fried eggs at a time, and fresh ones more frequently, alternate daily with trays of scrambled eggs. Suggestion 6: Create a water collection point away from the pool bar, or have the bottle positioned where they could just be taken from the bar, to cut waiting times. POST SCRIPT ADDITION to above comments: I was advised whilst there that the Thomas Cook collapse had had a big impact on the Elba chain and that they were concentrating all their efforts on the larger / better hotels. This explained why staff numbers were very limited, many staff doing multiple jobs. It also explained why there was no karaoke or disco, and the real reason for the disco bar being closed, in that all the equipment down there has been ripped out and taken to another hotel. It also explained the poor entertainment which was due to a lack of funding.