Iberostar Selection Fuerteventura Palace

An excellent 5 star property ideally located on the Morro Jable beach. LAYOUT The HOTEL is one of those places that are built into the hill-side so that you enter it at reception level 7 and most of the rest of the hotel extends downwards. The shape is a somewhat rounded, elongated triangle with most of the services (reception,bar,spa,teatro,restaurant) located on the shorter north-east side. Room numbers are 4 digits, wherein the first (thousands) is of course the level. The second (hundreds) is something like the "block", that is which area of the triangle it is in. The fact that hardly any single block covers all levels (the utilities go down from 8 only to 4, whereas the sea front only has levels 1 to 3) and that many corners have only escalators /or/ only stairs makes finding your way around a little difficult at first. Our Junior suite came with the premium service level "STAR PRESTIGE" described below. Like all Star Prestige rooms it was in the in the sea-front side of the triangle (Star Prestige on levels 2 and 3). We would have preferred the 3rd floor that we asked for in advance, especially since this has balcony "walls" made of glass and not stone, but never mind. There are sea view rooms on higher levels in the block that extends from the reception, but we didn't visit. FOOD For FOOD there is only one single specialty restaurant (see below) and no privileges for Star Prestige for the food itself but one of the BEST BUFFETS ever (in a really long list). Live cooking for both lunch and dinner, steaks made to order for both. Several different show cooking "islands". Fish and Meat separate, plus custom pasta, and generally another station with the specialty of the day like a burrito station. The single specialty restaurant is Japanese/Teppanyaki. I expected this to mean I would choose the cold ingredients and have them prepared for me, but the concept is much simpler. No buffet, nor a la carte. Our table of 15 all had the same food (salmon, beef, dessert) because it is the cook's SHOW that is the focus here. We quite enjoyed that show and the food was excellent, but once during our stay (it was only included once) was fine. And I suggest reserving it somewhere in the middle of your holiday so you've already had your fill at the buffet ;-) and asking for the specialty nights at the big buffet to pick a day. DRINK Star Prestige makes a difference for DRINKS but not a crucial one. In a lot of places that places that offer a Premium/Royal/Club/Prestige level on top, their normal service seems to deteriorate from former standards to give you a bit more "motivation". But not here. I liked the fact that even the "normal" bar had a good choice of cocktails and spirits covered in all inclusive, even though that meant our "Prestige" was less important. There was a list of about 10 cocktails included (not the "signature" cocktails, though) but you could also ask for other standard cocktails like an Espresso martini after dinner and get that included too. The few non-signature cocktails that were not included had champagne/cava, which is a bit curious as the cava itself *is* included. Oh, well. I believe the wine list was also the same with our without Star Prestige but I can't be 100% sure; maybe we got a better list because we wore the blue Prestige bracelet ? Wines are focussed on Spain, not a lot of overseas choices, but we are very happy with that. Also, since it is quite a long list, it obviously runs to a lot more choices that are no longer AI. More specifically, for red wines: * 5 or 6 wines available by glass, all inclusive, e.g. An~ares Rioja, at quality level Crianza * another 3 or 4 available by bottle (which they put aside for you) and still all inclusive * together these cover about a third of the wine list, there a lot more choices if you are willing to pay extra One little appendix about drinks... We've been to other Iberostars where you could go from the 5 star to the neighbouring 4 star hotel for evening entertainment (here, this is the Iberostar Playa Gaviotas) and your all inclusive would be valid. Here, you *can* officially go to the Playa Gaviotas next door but no drinks are included (so we took some, of course ;-) STAR PRESTIGE Now for Star Prestige in more detail... SP 1.OPEN BAR(s) With the normal AI at the bars being so good, there is no pressing need for Star Prestige when it comes to drinks, but you do get open bars. Havana Club 7yo is available at the open bars, but at the tended bars as well. Still, for a simple long drink I really do prefer doing the mix myself. There are two such open bars, one at the Star Prestige lounge right next to the reception (not too big, but great location) and the other at the private pool area (see next point). Not a big complaint (as all the other bars remain open) but downright weird: alcohol is removed from those open bars at 7 pm every evening. What ?? Who needs spirits more during day-time than after 7pm ? 2.PRIVATE POOL, plus SNACKS The private pool area on the 3rd floor in the tip of the triangle was to us the most important privilege. It has a view of the Lighthouse (and the big road coming from the north, unfortunately), the evening sun, and an empty pool without animation. It is a lot less crowded and you never have to hunt for normal sun beds. And it has bali beds and other shapes although these do need a little hunting. This area has the second open bar and also a decent choice of sandwiches and cakes and salads throughout the day if you feel like skipping lunch. 3.PRIVATE SEATING for Meals The third privilege is a private seating area for meals. Irrelevant for breakfast and lunch as we would sit outside (where there is no separation) but nice to have for dinner. I personally value the food much higher than the setting and I would happily munch excellent food on the floor, but I must say I was a little taken aback by the railway station hustle and bustle of the main restaurant, especially as a 5 star experience. The Star Prestige seating area solved this nicely with a pretty setting, plants, better chairs and quiet. So the girls where happy (and consoled to the fact that there are no specialty restaurants) and the location now fit the excellent food. POOL The private pool brings me to my only real complaint: WATER TEMPERATURE in all the pools. We were there in April and the pools (all of them, Prestige also) were almost as cold as the ocean. We have [un]officially visited and evaluated no less than 4 other hotels in the area and every single one of them had warmer pools than ours. Even the simple 4 star (3?) affair up on the hill was downright cozy. Yes, I know what they will say. All for environmental reasons. You don't even get a printed plan of the hotel because they are so paperless. You have to use the app. Which doesn't have a plan either but Google maps. No kidding. Okay, second complaint, don't get me started. But it is quite simple to tell when places are environmentally minded *for* the guests: they leave them a choice. And for the pools you have none. Why don't they heat one of the pools to the level of the competition and see where the guests will bathe ?! BEACH The beautiful long beaches around the Morro Jable lighthouse were our reason for coming here (again). We had stayed a couple of miles away a few years ago and we would come to this beach several times. And this hotel must be one of the best places for this beach. Many hotels further south and closer to the lighthouse seem to be more in the middle of the beach on the map but actually have the big road an a lot of greenery in between. All in all a very beautiful place. In our Top 10 for both food and drink and on one of the best beaches on Fuerte. We will be back. Maybe pool temperature won't matter so much in autumn ;-)

Excellent in every respect . The hotel is spacious so not overcrowded and located overlooking an unspoiled beach . The rooms are kept immaculately clean and are plenty big enough with all necessary facilities . The restaurant is buffet style and can get busy at peak periods but the food & quality selection is first class . There are plenty of sun beds around the swimming pools so no need to reserve one . The theatre with regular entertainment is a great asset . Already booked to return next January .

We booked this for our honeymoon after reading all the wounderful reviews. We wanted somewhere we could relax after our wedding and still close to UK as we were leaving our young children at home for the week. When we booked through Love holidays this came up as an adult only holiday which is exactly what we wanted! This is no longer an adult only resort. We went all out with Star prestige and the room upgrade. As other reviews have said the hotel is nice and staff are faultless. The food is very good the drinks are premium. After a few days a family with a young Todler arrived in the room next door which meant we were kept up constantly with a screaming young child through the night! The parents just seemed to ignore! (The tv didn’t work so I couldn’t turn that on to drown out the noise.) When I mentioned to reception about the child/parents and the tv not working they offered for us to change room. We had paid a premium for the best room so didn’t want to be moved. I understand now the hotel is open to families but maybe going forward they should have a family room block and an adult only room block!? The hotel is large enough to accommodate that. I don’t think it’s widely known that this hotel is no longer adults only and many people like us will book for a quiet, relaxing holiday. The local town is worth a visit we hired the scooters and used the beach cycle path to visit it. The star prestige pool Area was fabulous and we enjoyed that. It is a quiet resort which is what we wanted, mainly Germans staying here who speak fabulous English and we enjoyed talking with them until we all drunk too many aperol spritz and translating became a problem 😀