Hotel Riu Palace Palmeras

Me and my wife spent our summer vacation here and I might say that we are impressed with everything we've experienced at this establishment. Our first impressions when we arrived were very positive. First of all we arrived late around 12 o'clock PM, and we were pleasantly surprised that the lobby bar worked 24/7 and after the long flight we were able to get a drink and a snack, before going to bed. The Room- The room was very clean and neat, decent space, equipped with everything you need for a week or two, also the minibar was included in our offer and it was regularly refilled by the staff, which we also found very pleasant. Also the Wi-Fi speed was very good for a hotel network and was accessible from every part of the hotel. The Staff- The staff were very friendly and responsive, always looking to help you out, even crack a few jokes. Their English was at a good level unlike in other parts of Spain, so the communication between us was easy. The Restaurants and Bars- They were very clean, the food at the restaurant was perfect, except from the deserts which weren't very tasty. Otherwise the menu changed between every meal, and there were many local dishes, seafood as well as international cuisine. The alcohol at the bars was good and didn't give us hangovers. There was a show program every night with different performers at one of the bars, which was good in terms of entertainment. The Pools- They were clean, there were enough sunbeds and also the COVID-19 personal distance was achieved. The Location- The hotel is just one short walk away from the beach. Also if you're into longer walks the Maspalomas Dunes are nearby. COVID-19 Measures- The staff always tried to maintain a high level of hygene. All the common places were regularly cleaned and desinfected, the staff were always wearing a mask and there were gel dispensers practically everywhere- rooms, elevators at the reception, at the restaurants and bars. Also there was a thermal camera at the reception and the temperature of every guest was measured. The temperature was also measured upon entering the restaurant and it was mandatory for every guest to put disinfectant gel on their hands. Overall we were very pleased with our vacation 10/10 would recommend and definitely would visit again in the future.

We arrived at the hotel just after the opening after the Covid19 closing. The first days it was still quite quiet, but during the weekend there were significantly more guests (and it was a bit more difficult to keep the distances). Our compliments for the very friendly staff! Everyone is there for you with a smile and is very helpful. The funny bellboy / concierge deserves special mention! We asked for a taxi to Meloneras and he made sure that one was ready for us within a few minutes (about 6 euros one way). LOCATION - this hotel is not right on the beach but about 300 meters walk. There is a promenade where you can walk, especially in the evening this is fun. If you want to reach the beach, you have to do a lot of stairs. There are some supermarkets / shops nearby, one just around the corner from the hotel. ROOM - spacious and comfortable, good bed. Minibar was regularly filled with Coca Cola (no light or zero), Fanta, Sprite, beer and large bottles of water and sparkling water. No coffee or tea making facilities due to the corona measures. Spacious bathroom with nice walk-in shower. Bring your own conditioner and body lotion, as there is only a dispenser with shower gel / shampoo available, as well as a piece of hand soap and hand gel. Because it is an older (renovated) hotel, the rooms are quite noisy. If you are a light sleeper it is best to bring earplugs ;-) FOOD AND DRINK - we always ate in the buffet restaurant and were certainly satisfied. You have to understand that the hotel has to take into account a lot of measures at the moment, but they tried to solve this as best as possible. Varied range of tasty dishes, many dishes were freshly prepared via show cooking. The drinks are of good quality, we found the caipirinha a must! In the restaurant you get 'real' cola, Fanta, ... but in the bar there's a tap for soft drinks. The a la carte restaurant Krystal was apparently only open 1 day, on Saturday. Unfortunately we realized this too late and missed it. However, the choice menu looked very tasty. SWIMMING POOLS - there are two swimming pools with basically sufficient lounge chairs. However, due to the Covid19 measures, many beds were not allowed to be used (to keep the distance). Even though it says that reservations are not allowed, people still do it, although not from 6-7 am as in some hotels (around 9 am they started). The staff don't take those towels away ... The towel service closes at 3pm, so change on time. COVID 19 - the hotel does its best to ensure a safe but fun holiday for everyone. At the entrance you have to pass a camera that measures your temperature and disinfect your hands every time you have been outside. Your luggage will be disinfected on arrival and brought to the room. In the lift a maximum of two people from your own family. In the room there is hand gel available and a shower gel / shampoo dispenser, no small bottles. No coffee or tea facilities in the room. When entering the restaurant, your temperature was measured every morning and every night and you were asked to disinfect your hands every time. Every time you go to the buffet / bar, you are also expected to disinfect your hands (a lot of people just walk past that hand gel, hence a few times a manager was there to point this out to guests). A fixed walking direction is indicated at the buffet and there are dots that indicate the distance. Again: there are people who follow this well and there are guests who think that those rules do not apply to them. A few times we also saw someone from the staff correct people here. A number of items on the buffet are offered pre-packaged: bread, jam, butter, ice cream, salt and pepper, oil and vinegar, yogurt, cereals, ... In all public places both guests and staff wear masks. Guests are allowed to take this off as soon as they are seated at the table. We certainly did not bother with the measures and were grateful that we could safely enjoy a week of sunshine!

Hotel is renovated and clean. Face masks are mandatory everywhere in the hotel, apart from sitting at the table or at the pool area. Temperature check every time you enter the restaurant. Towels for the pool free available. Every other couple of sun beds were blocked to keep distance from other people. It is all inclusive, with free minibar in the room (refilled every other day). Speciality restaurant was closed (was not mentioned) probably to cut costs. The buffet restaurant was open normally but reduced options. The vegetarian buffet in the evening was only there once during our week. Restaurant times were a bit extended to spread customers. Staff in restaurant are friendly. The management doesn’t wear a badge (why?) so it is weird when they tell you off in the buffet area to follow the walking direction and you think it’s another guest. Management is concerned about te COVID rules (good) but lost all sense for hospitality. Reception staff needs a customer service training. They don’t make you feel welcome. We arrived late in the evening and left late so we wanted a late checkout. You can get it till 2pm, afterwards they charge you 15 euro per person per hour to keep your room longer. So for 3 people till 5pm it is 135 euro. Even though you already paid for the meals/drinks. Answer from management why this is per person and not per room: each person showers and uses a towel. You don’t get clean towels on day of departure, so that’s a strange argument. Also, they can’t use the room for 24 hours after cleaning due to COVID. But the Riu rules are that the hotel can only be occupied for max 60% so that is also a strange argument. There are plenty clean unused rooms. I am willing to pay 50 euro to keep 1 room of our 2 rooms till 5pm but management kept hiding behind the rules and didn’t solve the problem. This gave us an unhappy end to our holiday.