Barcelo Fuerteventura Castillo

When you go to the BARCELO CASTILLO, make sure you're not reading about the ROYAL CASTILLO OR THE MAR . THE adverts, TripAdvisor reviews and traveller photos are all mixed . There is NO INDOOR POOL AS advertised. There is ONE EATING CAFE STYLE BUFFET EATERIE , WHICH THE ROYALS HAVE USE. ONE BAR , you can't get drinks at meals water only. Outside , limitations on seats , especially with entertainment and the queues !!!! ENTERTAINMENT WAS VERY GOOD AS WAS THE ANIMATION TEAM , SHAME YOU COULDN'T SIT AND WATCH IT , early bird gets the chairs and the sun loungers. And NO BOTTLED WATER AVAILABLE ANYWHERE, the restaurant tip it into a glass. Two bottles on arrival. Big tip , TIP THE CLEANERS AND YOU'LL GET REGULAR BOTTLES OF WATER .TIP , BY THE RECEPTION IS A CART WITH COKE AND BOTTLED WATER FREE , before the tour REPS SNAFFLE IT , are they allowed ???? Two small pools and a kiddies one . Very few sun loungers , deep furniture, deck chairs no one uses as there's no shade at all . All the other adverts are about the MAR , which you can use , and the ROYAL , which you can't . It's very restricted and PREFERENTIAL but they pay an awful lot . Don't like the division within a hotel , leads to disappointment when u realise you can't uses their facilities. Bad things , no baggage collection of taking to your room , especially if disabled , it's a bit of a trek to groups 1000 and 3000 Rooms dated , single beds , even though I asked for a double. Filthy sun loungers and sofa bed should be dumped. Sea view and patio area a bonus . Self catering , nowhere near enough utensils , you'd be up the supermarket pronto to get kitchen rolls , cleaning materials and forms of cooking utensils as there are very few . AND I HAD COCKROACHES , THE RECEPTIONISTS ANSWER , THEY DON'T HURT , A BLONDE LADY , the cleaner sprayed something , they were back the following day , they lived in the sofa bed and under the skirting , they are used to them , in England they don't exist and to us they are vile filthy vermin Supermarket on site , small , very expensive a bonus if you forget anything , €2.20 for Heineken , hippo supermarket €1.25 , Hotel MAR FREE AND ON DRAUGHT. Brilliant supermarket in the ATLANTICO CENTRE , next to THE SHERATON €3 ew TAXI SPAR SUPERMARKET , get everything in one bash . Food , breakfast like a rushed transport greasy Joe's , stodge up for the day , tip don't put the fried eggs where the omelettes are being made as people queuing won't let you in to get the eggs they think you're queue jumping, toast and jam was nice, bacon burnt and very greasy fatty , mushrooms cold , hash brown lumpy, as I said a quick nosh in a greasy spoon , no better . Wonderful breakfast up the road for €5 !!!!! Lunch , I had to buy cheese sliced and used their french bread , ice cream good , the rest is uneatable over cooked , then left to get cold . Evening didn't think it could get worse than lunch , but it was absolutely amazingly worse , inedible pile of , well if it didn't have labels I wouldn't have guessed . Very little fish on an island, perused , never ate , left and never returned to either sessions . Staff work very hard and the animation team , the Italian gentleman and lovely Eleanor. Marina, four bars / restaurants , two , all inclusive , the BARCELO own them all , get 20% on the end two , had a lovely salmon meal but rushed us at 21.00 very disappointing as it was my birthday. Brilliant theatre by the allotment inclusive , big TV SCREES AND ALL SERVED TO YOU , very big theatre not used now. And two very sad seals trapped in an enclosure , don't like that . Tip don't walk on the rickety walkway , circle the hotel by the road , same destination and far safer , huge holes on the walkway The MAR 100% better than the Castillo , free draught and bottles of Heineken , lovely coffee in the lunch snack bars , you don't get at the Castillo. Lovely cocktails . Food is so much better it's unbelievable Tip , maximise the use of the MAR !!! Brazilian night . Blood in the meat , then overcooked , no atmosphere , not worth the bother , main restaurant good , mexican night well worth it , bad , toilets are a five minutes walk away , if you can find them under the main stairs , signage seems to be an issue , seems they like watching lost souls Lots of bars and restaurants around the MAR HOTEL , NONE AROUND THE CASTILLO except for the four at the marina , which they own so technically there's none , it's an uphill 600 metres walk to the first and hippos the supermarket another 30) metres. Tip if you use the MAR walk up the promenade by the beach and use the automatic gates it's much much quicker and you use their eating facilities without going upstairs is a brilliant bar and large entertainment area , there are lifts , somewhere, but the steps are a daunting feature with mobility issues and claustrophobia!!!! Not many of us . But you've got all the joys of a far superior hotel but don't stay there. They do tour serve waiting service to residents and ignore the Castillo wristbands . In the Castillo I never quite worked it out , something the bar they waited and other times no busier they ignored you. Cleanliness is an issue at the pool , there were cups and other rubuon view for long periods of times . Yet the rest of the complex was spotless. And yes it's us that throw the rubbish down wit loads of bins , inexplicable disrespectful and disregard for us that use bins To sum up :- When I got my bearings , a towel on my dirty sun lounger , realised exactly what was what , all the limited had , and found the MAR EVENING FOOD VERY ACCEPTABLE . The pools and the sea were warm . Where the allotment inc free Heinekens and cocktails , coffee at lunch . Brilliant kiddos location and holiday , beach fanto . But the sun loungers on the beach Are full !!!! Brilliant beach bar with toilets. Marina bars a real bonus. Shame they have good entrin such a limited, not enough seating area . We'd come back , especially now we know the itinerary , we met some lovely people and the staff to me , all were very happy. It's shame you don't move the ROYAL RECEPTION away from the normal one , it sets off a them and us policy straight away with coffee machines and us old tubs with water and very stale fruit, and different staff . Safes are € euros a day non refundable , beach towel €10 non refundable , change daily costs you non refundable. BIG TIP , DONT LEAVE ANYTHING OUT THATS WORTH ANYTHING , THERE WERE REPORTS OF THINGS GOING MISSING!! USE THE SAFE FOR ALL VALUABLES. I never experienced it , but I had a couple of residents say , believe it or not , or an insurance jobby , who's to know. I found they where all trustworthy and I left my phone and tablet out for all to see . Bad , a cover up , a couple staying in rooms 1000 , had an invasion of ants , they were upgraded to the ROYAL , ON THE CONDITION THEY BOTH SIGNED A DISCLAIMER NOT TO REVEAL ANYTHING , SELL I HAVE , and I think the cover up is disgraceful as others could be infected with the same situation and live with it , remedial , the ants and disclosure is necessary,

We had an exceptional holiday with Barceló! The staff went above and beyond every day. The resort features multiple incredible pools—each complete with its own unique bar—and the themed children's pool areas were a huge hit with the kids. Dining across the properties was varied and consistently delicious. In addition, the watersport offerings and offsite excursion options were fantastic. We are already planning our return trip and cannot recommend this property enough!

The location of the Castillo bungalows is great. Very easy to get to beach, shops, restaurants and bars.

Reception staff were very welcoming and explained where everything is and what was and wasn't included in our package. Very nice gesture of bottle of fizz in our room for my husband's birthday with a card. House keeping were extremely prompt and nothing was too much for them, spotlessly clean.

My only gripe was the food. We had half board and only ate in the evenings 3 times, eventually eating out as we were so disappointed with the meals. I would definitely say that the food wasn't what I'd expect for a 4 star hotel of this nature. There was no variety in food, the hotplates had dried some of the pasta dishes up, so there wasn't any sauce left, it was chips, potatoes, pizza, a selection of different vegetable dishes, stews, the usual salads and cold meats and a "theatre" chef cooking some meat to order, but the same thing every night.

There was a queue to get in at bang on 7 pm every night too because they insisted on taking you to your seat and there was only 1 man doing this, yet at breakfast you could seat yourself.

I would stay again, but self catering next time, as we bought locally, cheeses, meats, fresh orange juice and pastries and sat outside our bungalow for breakfast with a lovely view of the sea.

I would like to say it was good value,but as we ate out in the evening as we did with breakfasts too, I think the half board basis we had was over priced as the restaurants let it down.