Barcelo Santiago

There is a lot to like about Barceló Santiago: our sea-view room was beautiful, spotlessly clean and had amazing views. The staff were consistently friendly and attentive, and the breakfast buffet was excellent, with a very wide selection.

However, the evening entertainment was a major disappointment and ultimately had a significant impact on our stay.

Every evening, there were shows and extremely loud music directly in front of the sea-facing rooms, with DJs, shouting and cheering continuing until around 11:00 p.m. As a result, there was simply no way to enjoy a quiet evening on our balcony or sleep before the entertainment finished.

We understand that a hotel wants to offer entertainment, and we have no issue with that in principle. The problem is the volume, duration and location, which made it unavoidable for guests staying on the sea-facing side of the hotel.

This was especially disappointing because we specifically chose and paid extra for a sea-view room, expecting the calm and relaxing experience described by the hotel. We have stayed at other Barceló properties that were much quieter and more relaxing.

If the level of evening entertainment and noise had been clearly communicated when booking, we would probably have chosen a different hotel.

Overall: a great location, an amaxing room, great staff and an excellent breakfast, but the nightly noise unfortunately outweighed these positives for us. We would therefore not choose this hotel again.

We spent 10 days here and had a great time. The views of Los Gigantes were awesome, the room was very comfortable and the staff were really friendly. Night time entertainment needs a bit of work, heard the same songs every night and the noise from other bars and hotels affected our sleep. Sandy beaches are a bit of a walk away but plenty of rocky beaches to explore right outside the door

After a long awaited stay at the Barcelo Santiago, we were left feeling disappointed and ready to go home. We had been looking at this hotel for years, reading the reviews that have been raving about how great the hotel is.

Positives: The hotel is generally clean. The views phenomenonal. Some staff are very nice. Special thanks to Alicia, Lena and Lonneke. Pools are nice temperature, good size and depth. There are plenty of sun beds, there is no sun bed wars at the hotel. The staff work hard however there is not enough of them. The pool, the breeze bar and the restaurant are all on one level. The beds in the room are comfortable, rooms are spacious.

Negatives: The air con in the room is rubbish, it doesn't cool the room down enough and there were times we had to sleep with the door open just to get some cool air. The balconies are not secure, someone could easily climb over. The food is very hit and miss. Often times freezing cold you have to heat it up or no food at all at some points of food service. Cross contamination across food - same serving spoons used for veggie and meat dishes. Drinks can be hit and miss, they often run out of spirits. Mini bar could be stocked, they serve bottled water, soft drinks and beer at breeze bar why can't a couple be left in the room. Service at the breeze bar is always busy, not enough staff which is a theme across the hotel. You could wait 20+ minutes to be served at all times of day. Entertainment is generally poor. It is repetitive, a singer every night. Some staff in the restaurant are rude, they tut or are visibly annoyed when you ask for extra drinks. Some return guests think they should get special treatment, many are rude. Flies!! There are community bins near enough right outside hotel. Smell in the female toilets near the restaurant was disgusting.

Location overall: there are restaurants about, hiperdino next door however everything else is a taxi or a very hilly walk out. Hard to get a taxi, sometimes a 20+ minute wait. Chips in the wristbands kept not working, so numerous trips to reception and in the end we were given a key card. Not shown where room was, no bell boy, we were just pointed down a corridor at 11pm at night. We reported a broken light, a leak, faulty balcony door nothing got fixed. Ripped awnings or umbrellas, it doesn't look good. Sun beds are rock hard, not comfy at all. Some were broken, couldn't move their position from flat to sitting up. Lack of atmosphere around the pool, no music at all, apart the odd occasion for 1 hour, you can hear everyone's conversations.

A massive negative is that they cut wristbands off at 12pm, no matter whether you were all inclusive, flying Jet2 or not. A member of our party was rushed to hospital on our final day, one reception staff member more or less chased the rest of us to cut off our wristbands off before we followed the ambulance, very insensitive.

This might not be everyone's experience, however it is ours and it should be highlighted as we went off the many positive reviews. We won't be returning to this hotel.