Barcelo Lanzarote Active

Beautiful location with friendly staff and amazing selection of food and drinks. Very clean and tidy.

We have recently returned from 7 nights all inclusive at the Barcelo.

In summary it was a good stay but the first impressions, welcome and service was the worst I have ever received and was not a good start to the trip. Thankfully it picked up but sadly first impressions count for a lot and I am still waiting for a call back.

On arrival the check in was incredibly rushed and no information was given about the hotel, pools, restaurants etc. in isolation no issue as we can figure that out. We were also told our room wouldn’t be available to 3pm, again no issue and understandable. At 3pm we went to reception and were told ‘your room is not ready and we don’t know what is happening’. Following this we were told to come back in 10mins and when we did we were again told they didn’t know what was happening. At this point our family (2 adults and a 7 & 4yr old) had been awake for 15 hours and were keen to drop bags and get in the pool. Ok, not the hotel’s problem but we were now beyond the time the hotel state rooms are ready from.

After multiple more asks and a repeated ‘we don’t know’ I asked to speak to management as to what was happening and what the plan was as something clearly wasn’t working as planned. Again, appreciate these things can happen. Carlos on reception (who was on his own and beyond busy and doing a very good job) said no one from management would answer his calls.

In the end, and after at least 2 more ‘we don’t know what is happening’ updates from reception we were assigned an alternative room. We felt this was accommodating and all sorted. However on entering the room none of the bedding had been made up (2 singles and a double). I then went back to reception and Carlos was once again his helpful best (I would add still nothing back from management) and said house keeping would sort.

By 6pm (some 2.5hours later) the room had still not been made up and according to the information we had found out (again highlighting no information given at check in) housekeeping stopped at 4 so I went back down to reception (phone in the room was not working) and spoke with a lady called Carmen. All I can say is that she was incredibly unhelpful and rude. I explained the situation we had been through and asked if someone could make the room up. Not an unrealistic request I feel. I was then met with a response of ‘it is 6pm, you are not going to bed’ and then ‘we are busy’. This was incredibly dismissive and unhelpful. I then repeated that I had asked for a call from management and Carmen replied with words to the effect of ‘they are too busy to deal with you’. At this point (and for the first time) I lost my cool and told Carmen this was not good enough and it needed sorting now and how I want to make this a complaint. Again, she was dismissive but to her credit the room was then made up within 15mins. This therefore begs the question of why it had taken almost 3 hours for a ‘guest ready’ room to actually be made ready.

To make matters worse, the lights in the room then didn’t work so (and to quote my 7yr old) I went back to reception for the ‘3000th’ time. I am however pleased to say this issue was fixed within 45mins.

Despite asking for management to speak to me and making a formal complaint I am still waiting to speak to a manager. Admittedly they did try to call but no voicemail was left and when I tried to call the number back it was a general number and I was unable to contact anyone.

We then did have a call from a Beatrice on day 6 of our 7 day stay and unfortunately she had not been fully briefed on what had happened and I am again still in a position when I am waiting for someone to speak to me. Communication is poor and not what I would expect.

The key take away from the abode is the poor welcome and poor first impression. Whilst I fully accept ‘these things happen’ and it isn’t the first and won’t be the last time something like this happens, the way the reception staff dealt with it was poor and communication appalling. As for the management, non existent and hid which I feel is inexcusable.

As for the rest of the stay / hotel the room was regularly cleaned but communal areas could have been much cleaner (litter, spilt drinks etc).

Pools were ok to again it felt like more cleaning was needed due to a film of sun cream on the surface.

Food - only frequented the buffets but there were up there with some of the best all inclusive food I have had. Great selection, fresh and lots of healthy (and unhealthy) options.

Entertainment - below average.

Overall a very nice stay. Some of the negative reviews so far from the truth. Stayed in Block 4 on Active side but spent each day on Royal side. Junior suite room spacious and clean. Food always varied and hot. The pain au chocolat on a morning are worth a visit alone! Pool areas are good - could do with a bit better of a clean but kids splash pad was jet washed and cleaned twice within our weeks stay. Sunbed situation is abit different to anywhere ive stayed - queued from 8:30am but always got sunbeds once 9:00am hit. Shoutout to Diego from animation team, what a guy!