Riu Vistamar

We booked this hotel as a last last minute holiday and after reading some of the reviews I was a little worried about going, there was no need to be, from arrival to departure we couldn’t have asked for better. Reception staff were very polite and made you very welcome they gave us plenty of info about the hotel. We had a slight issue with our room at first but went down to reception and were given a new room immediately and our luggage was brought to the new room by the hotel staff.
The rooms were nice comfy beds nice big shower and were cleaned and new towels every day. We stayed in room 374 which had a fantastic view over Amadorres beach ! The food was excellent lots of choice not at all repetitive, lots of vegetarian options and the staff were fantastic tables, floors were all kept exceptionally clean my only slight disappointment was the coffee in the morning Filter coffee was brought to your table but would have liked a option of a latte etc but that’s just my preference. The pools were great nice and clean always able to get a sun-bed and parasol and lots of activities going on throughout the day, the pool bar and restaurant was great for a lunchtime snack I saw a few reviews mentioning that there was a lot of steps to reach the pools that is true but there was a lift that went to the pool and pool bar. There was a Sports Bar on the 9th floor which was open all night you could also get large bottles of water for your room from there. We made a trip down to Amadorres beach 1 day the hotel provides a courtesy bus that makes several trips every day The entertainment team never stopped through the day plenty of activities around the pool and evenings entertainment in the bar for both adults and kids always had a smile on their face and time to talk to you, I would say it was one of the nicest hotels I have stopped in. My advice would be to ignore the negative reviews and give it a go, I would definitely visit this hotel again !!

There is a lot to like about the RIU vistamar but also some flaws. We are a couple in our 50s who have travelled for decades. We booked last minute for a quick break. Prior to arrival I had emailed ahead to request a double bed but on arrival the room was very small and we asked to move which was not an issue at reception. Apparently rooms with a double bed are smaller according to our tui rep who by the way was excellent, bubbly and informative. So next morning we moved to a room on 3rd floor which was much more like it with a sitting area and utterly spectacular views of playa amadores and the Atlantic. We had read before booking about the pools being on the top floors but didn’t imagine how many stairs there is especially to upper level. It would rule me out of ever visiting again. The hotel seemed full to capacity so at early hours the easiest to access pool up first set of stairs was full and meant an additional large set of stairs to upper pool level which had the emerald bar but meant a trip back down stairs to get to sea breezes snack bar for food. I get it’s a quirky design built into a cliff and on the upside the views are really amazing but as a 50 something it just seemed a lot of hassle but spare a thought if you had young kids as they were up an additional set of large stairs. As built into a cliff side it was lifts to access reception and aforementioned pools which really became an ongoing joke during holiday. One day we got in on floor 3 looking to go to floor nine to climb stairs to pool and went via floors 1,2, back to 3 4,5 ,7,8 and eventually 9. If the lifts were air conditioned it would make the time spent in them more pleasant. Reception staff were nice enough although on last day the system for getting a shower was amateurish at best culminating in me walking into courtesy shower 1 with key from reception to find a gentleman already in there.If you needed a taxi it was there within a minute with number on taxi given at reception which was really efficient and safe. The bus down to beach was very handy and due to pool situation we spent most of the time down there which although man made was very nice for swimming and snorkeling. Although a 15 euro charge for two beds and parasol . Before we arrived we were a tad concerned about repeated sickness and Diarrhoea in the reviews but as a RIU class member and having used RIU for decades I truthfully didn’t really believe them. Needless to say the last couple of days had a sore tummy and bouts of Diarrhoea which I personally don’t think was from restaurant as most food and drink we had was enjoyable and tasty with plenty of choice. There was a sign in room that it wasn’t drinking water in basin but we did clean our teeth there which was maybe silly of us. There was a slight smell of drains on a couple of occasions and very strong outside hotel waiting for courtesy bus . My wife was fine. Most staff were nice enough with a grumpy life guard and driver the low points. The hotel as said was very busy with lots of kids so we stayed away from entertainment at night as very noisy so can’t comment on that. The show bar at the top of hotel had absolutely amazing views but the cocktails were sugary and not enjoyable. Amstel beer on draught but my preferred mojitos were just not palatable. I don’t know why they use lemon instead of lime. My wife was happy with the cava on offer. There is self serve beer and wine stations and a coffee station which were decent. We have been in many RIU hotels and felt this one had many good points but also a few negative. To wake up in the morning with that unbelievable view was definitely the highlight along with having dinner and watching sunset on terrace outside.

Overall good, clean room daily, fresh towels, you do have to pop to the sports bar for bottles of water, which we didn’t have a problem with. Beautiful sea view from our balcony. We found the staff to be friendly, good ish entertainment, my family played the quiz most nights and bingo too. Drinks/cocktails good.
Food was good, a bit same same, but that’s normal for all inclusive hotels. Entertainment round the pools, we were very disappointed you couldn’t use the inflatables in the pool or play with a ball, it’s part of the fun for the older children, they didn’t want to go in the younger children’s pool as it’s very shallow. Kinda ruined it for our teens round the pool as they got bored quickly. We wouldn’t return to this hotel but our stay overall was good lots of positives.