Holiday World Riwo, Affiliated by Meliá

We stayed at the RIWO holiday world. The hotel was ok. The main hotel and rooms were very clean and the staff were amazing. Very friendly and welcoming to all guests. A special mention to Joanna at the restaurant. She was incredible with all the families. Every day we watched her smile and great all the children with a hug and a smile. A very lovely lady.

The rooms were kept clean by the maids who were all fantastic. But the rooms themselves were worn and grubby with wallpaper coming off and stains on the walls and curtains.

Be prepared to do some hill walking from the RIWO to the beach bar and beach. There is a shuttle service running but you have to wait, which some families may be ok with but we didn’t like being restricted so we hired a car. The hotel arranged this and the car arrived a couple of hours later. This was a great service. Cheaper than the external companies and the staff that dropped it off were great. Gave us a day free due to being slightly late with the drop off and spent time advising us on where to go. Quick and easy.

Our main disappointment was with the cleanliness of the pool and pool bar. There was a strong smell of urine and the floor was always dirty. Using Astro turf was a strange choice as you could never see where it was clean or had drinks spilled on it. We ended up heading next door to the Polynesian hotel to spend the day. What a difference that hotel was. Same jet2 hotel but made our hotel seem like a Temu version.

Location was beautiful the accommodation very comfortable and the staff was very polite and helpful. The food was gorgeous and we definitely had a great time! We would recommend the holiday world resorts definitely!

Holiday World RIWO

We are a family of 3, 2 adults and 1 13 1/2 teenage daughter. We previously visited the Polynesian hotel in April 2022 when Covid restrictions were beginning to ease. We had a wonderful time and decided to go back at try the RIWO hotel.

Taxi from Malaga airport is 25 minutes which is perfect as we prefer short trips after flying to oyr hotel.

Check in We arrived just after 11am and reception were fantastic. We received a detail explanation of the hotel facilities and details about where and what time food is available. Reception were on gand to tell us about local sites and when it came to check out queries and ordering a taxi Laura was very helpful and took away any worries.

Restaurant On our first visit to the restaurant we were asked about any allergies which is great as our daughter has a nut allergy. We were shown around by the chef Javier who was fantastic and explained everything and even made our daughter her own pizza. This level of care really impressed us.

The food was tasty. There were various specials throughout our stay which added to the variety. The hotel is against food waste so you will not find multiple trays of the same food, however they are replenished as required. Great selection of food and drink at the restaurant. The beach bar and main bar serve hot drinks all day long which os good alongside all the fizzy and alcholic drinks (some cost extra). Next time we will take a water bottle to fill up to save time from queuing.

Pool The hotel main pool is a good size and has variable depths which help keep the different ages comfortable in their own areas. Lifeguard always on watch, so felt safe.

Indoor spa pool is pre book only and required a swimming hat. This pool was good for length swimming and also had a jacuzzi, bubble loungers and steam and spa room. There is a gym as well, but we did not use it.

The hotel also has a waterpark with wave pool and slides which is complimentary to all hotel visitors. You can walk to it (about 12 minutes) or take the free bus. Waterpark is open until 6 and has a large selection of pools for all ages.

The beach is 5 minutes from the waterpark and we walked there everyday for mid morning swims. Sea was lovely and warm and beach was very sandy and never felt cramped or too busy.

With the beach and pool combination there is something for everyone.

Room Our room was on the top floor, 2 small double beds and a sofa bed. Kitchen was a separate room and bathroom was large with two wash basins, shower, bath with shower attachment and foot basin.

Balcony was lovely providing views of the sea and surrounding area and got the sun in the afternoon.

Room was cleaned daily and housekeeping were friendly and understanding.

Our only suggestion would be for the mattress to be replaced as they were not that comfortable, but by sleeping on top of the duvet did help.

Entertainment We saw a couple of shows which were good. Each night has a show and you can visit the other linked hotels and watch the shows there if you prefer.

Staff Throughout the hotel all restaurant, bar, reception, housekeeping staff were friendly and made us feel welcome.

They all created a lovely atmosphere which put as at ease and added to our enjoyment of the holiday. We can not stress just how fantastic our experience was and a lot of that is due to those who work tirelessly daily in the hotel.

Overall we had a lovely time, the hotel decor is lovely and each hotel has its own theming and photo points around the main reception area. We will definately come back and try the third hotel in the complex.