Arena Beach

Booked here last minute after our Turkey Holiday was cancelled and despite the initial worries of the 3 Stars i am glad to say we had an absolutely fantastic 10 night holiday. This place should be 4 Stars!! Our family of 4 were so impressed with everything on offer. We had an issue with the locks on our first day but this was rectified by the receptionist Andrea who was so thoughful and helpful not just this day but any time we needed her (Arena Beach that young lady is a credit to you, superb customer service and assistance from Her).

The entertainment team are so enthusiastic and whilst several of the evenings showpieces were a bit sub par we could not fault the energy and enthusiasm they brought. The French entertainer whose name i have forgotten really made an impression on our two boys and they loved engaging with him any opportunity they could. Poor guy must have been glad to see the back of them!! Water Polo was one of the stand out activities we looked forward to and the song You Are My World Cup lives rent free in my head.

My personal favourite was the food, most notably breakfast. I work in hospitality at a major UK hotel and even our food doesn't come close to the selection and quality on offer at Arena Beach. Hats off to those Chefs, they never fail to disappoint. Every meal time has more than you could wish for, the only evening theme meals that maybe let the side down were Asian and Mexican night but don't let that take away from what are utterly delicious offerings. I recommend you try the cake labelled only as Raspberry cake, I wish I knew where to get it because I have never tasted anything so delicious.

I've seen several complaints about the location. I thought it was perfectly located from everything. The famous Corralejo National Park was a 5 minute Taxi ride or a 20 minute walk away and equally 20 minutes to the town centre, which offered Bars, Restaurants and pretty much everything you could ask or expect. The AquqPark was another hit with the boys and the parents enjoyed ourselves there too, again easily accessible on foot or a short taxi trip away.

The whole place is spotlessly clean, the HouseKeeping staff work tirelessly to maintain high standards of cleanliness and the room are freshened 5 out of 7 days a week. The pool is brilliant with plenty of sunbeds available so even if they are reserved you can always find one.

For party animals maybe Fuerteventura isn't the place for you but for families and couples who just want to relax then this is the place to go. We would 100% go back here, we had an amazing holiday and we recommend Arena Beach Hotel to anyone looking for top Customer Service, delicious food, hardworking and friendly staff and an all round fantastic holiday.

I have mixed feelings about this hotel.

There was a good variety of food with a different theme every night. Unlike any other hotel we have stayed in, the food was actually hot rather than the usual vaguely warm food we have had elsewhere.

Soft and hot drinks, beer and wine were self-service which worked well. Sometimes there were paper cups and sometimes there were plastic cups but I don't mind either way.

The snack bar was open when the restaurant wasn't and served burgers and hotdogs. There were also croissants and buns available as well as self-serve ice cream.

There was a variety of entertainment from singers to acrobats and magicians as well as a children's disco most nights (the nights when there wasn't one was because of a lack of children).

The karaoke and quiz (which just felt like another form of karaoke) did end up as a lot of screaming and shouting.

I don't think 'Living Next Door to Alice' is appropriate to sing when there are children present though, as the singer who sang it during our first week didn't sing it the second week, this has possibly already been noted.

The loungers round the main pool were very close together with no room to move. There was also loud music playing for most of the day, made worse by one couple who insisted on playing their own speaker really loudly whilst we were there.

The small pool was quieter and less crowded so we spent most of our time there but, again, this was spoilt by another couple who had a speaker playing.

We paid for a pool-view room so I'm guessing this meant a view of the main pool as most rooms had a view of a pool. This was a mistake as it meant we couldn't get away from the noise round the main pool when we were in our room so maybe this should be made clear when booking (I booked a pool view as I thought it would be better than the car park or the bins but no room has that kind of view).

The hotel did initially feel as if it was in the middle of nowhere. There are a few non-direct routes to the sea (about 15 minutes) and the main shopping street is about 20 minutes away. There is a small shopping centre with a nice craft market twice a week just ten minutes away. There is also a supermarket there.

The room was a good size and was cleaned most days.

There are probably more good points than bad ones but I don't think I will be returning to this hotel as it was too noisy for me but each to their own and I know a lot of people really seemed to like it.