Insotel Punta Prima Resort & Spa

This was the fifth time me and my family have holidayed here and have already booked next year! Brilliant location, wonderful friendly staff and excellent clean comfortable rooms. Fabulous food choices everyday too. The staff really make it a totally wonderful holiday for adults and children cannot recommend it enough.

We arrived at this complex 19th October expecting reasonably high standards due to its 5 Star rating and being one of TUI's Platinum rated Hotels, however, this is what we encountered. After paying the top rate of Eco tax, due to the Hotel claiming to be 5 Star, we went in search of our room. What we found beggared belief, after walking across muddy grass we entered through the patio door, the only way in, as there was no front entrance. Once inside it was dark and dingy with tatty old dark brown wooden fixtures & fittings and a smell of damp. There was very little clothes storage/hanging space as there was just a single wardrobe with four hangers for each of us. There was no windows, (apart from the patio door entrance) even in the bathroom, which was tatty with signs of water leakage and green mould around the shower area. As the room was classed as a studio the sofa had been made up into two sofa beds (usually used for children) and all the cushions from the sofa were hidden behind the patio curtain and in the wardrobe The sofa beds were about a foot high with rock hard mattresses about four inches thick. The air con did not work, so to get some air into the room we had to open the patio door, which resulted in fly's & wasps getting in. A lose lose situation. We found the restaurant by following the noise! When we arrived there were loads of baby buggies outside and after joining the queue we were finally shown to a table after a five minute wait. The noise was incredible, babies crying, toddlers screaming, and children running around. There were actually more children than adults. Then we found out the hard way about the fly infestation the hotel suffers from. There were fly's everywhere, all over the tables and more importantly all over the food. We ate nothing apart from a bit of cheese (which was covered) and a banana. The restaurant was more like a school canteen, queues to get in for all meals at anytime we tried. The food was very poor, luke warm or cold and always covered in fly's. Young children being allowed to serve themselves and therefore handling food and putting it back etc and a mess everywhere. There was food on the floor, which was just left. There was also no dress code whatsoever, male guests would come in with sleeveless vests, shorts, flipflops etc, even for dinner. The most worrying thing that I saw however, was the grill chef who was cooking chicken fillets. Whilst taking raw chicken off a tray with a pair of tongs, he would use the same tongs to serve guests the cooked chicken on the other side of the grill, now contaminating it. I told him he shouldn't be doing that but he just shrugged his shoulders, totally unacceptable. The II Faro Italian 'a la carte' restaurant was no better. Used in the day to provide snacks the place was filthy, tables left uncleared, food and rubbish on the floor, (which the pigeons enjoyed picking through!) fly's everywhere. In the evening it provided the 'a la carte' dining experience (which had to be booked). We did book this but when we saw the tables starting to be laid at 5pm for the evening we cancelled as the fly's were already covering the glasses, cutlery etc. In the evening there is only one place to get a drink, which was the main bar where all the entertainment takes place (mainly for kids) but a big mistake to go there. It was packed solid, full of kids, the noise was unbearable. We queued for 15 minutes to get a drink then went outside to drink them. Fly's everywhere again. As this was the only bar available we ended up taking a drink to the room and watching the TV. We actually found out from other guests the reason for the high number of children was the the hotel was offering 'Free Children' under the age of 11 and some of the apartments could accommodate 2 adults and up to 5 children. Therefore children outnumbered adults 2 to 1. We also found out that there was 'Hand, Foot & Mouth' at the complex and actually saw some young children with it, so we decided not to use the pools, even though the weather was very hot & sunny. We checked out the 'Prestige Spa' however, we were told there was a 28 euro charge for both of us to use the Spa, which we refused, but we were told we could use the indoor pool, which we went to look at, there was no one in there as it was after 2pm and children can only use it up until 2pm. Again the whole place is tired & tatty with worn, loose and damaged decking. The tiles around the pool were dirty with areas of green mould. The changing facilities consisted of a disabled toilet to be used by both males and females. The Jacuzzi was not on, so we could see the condition of the water, which was like dirty bath water, not clear as would be expected, with a film of oil on the surface. Needless to say we used neither the pool or Jacuzzi. The mould on the sunbeds also suggested that the total area had not been cleaned for a considerable length of time. We went to see the TUI Rep and asked to be moved to another Hotel, as this one clearly did not fit the criteria of a Platinum 4 Star Plus establishment and certainly not 5 Star. But she said there would be a charge of around ??800 to do this, which we refused to pay so was stuck there. We even looked at trying to get flights home it was that bad! None of the above represents TUI's description of the luxury features of a Platinum Resort, which I quote, supposed to be: 'Top of the range Spa's, Gourmet restaurants and smart interior design are regular features across these premier-standard hotels'. In summary: 1 ??? We bought this holiday on the basis it was a TUI Platinum rated hotel, however, it fell well short of this and not one aspect of the hotel met the criteria. 2 ??? A Family Hotel? Yes we knew this, we have previously stayed at a TUI Family Life Hotel and it was fine. However, we did not expect the hotel to be overrun with children, especially in late October when most schools where in term time (we did check this prior to booking). This place is NOT a Family Hotel, it is an Infant & children's club and should be sold as such. 3 ??? The fly infestation and the outbreak of Hand, Foot & Mouth should have been bought to our attention prior to travelling and giving us the option to change hotel. 4 ??? Due to all the issues stated, i.e. the room, food, lack of cleanliness, unable to use the facilities (pools etc) meant we had a thoroughly miserable time. So not only was the holiday a complete waste of money we also had the additional expense of meals & drinks. elsewhere.

After seeing some of the negative reviews recently I feel compelled to give Team Smiths account of our Holiday in late October 2018 to the Insotel Punta Prima Hotel and Resort. We travel in a group of 7 including a 5and 9 year old grandma, nana and grandad. it???s our 3rd time of returning as we find the staff, facilities, food and activities ideal for all. Yes the rooms are a little tired but it???s the last week of the season. There are wasp and flies but give them a waft problem solved. This is a great resort with quite if you want it, kids clubs if you need it, activities if you require it and happy smiling faces from all staff without exception. And a special mention to the entertainment staff who were fantastic especially with the kids! All in all another great relaxin holiday and we will be returning agin very soon!!