El Trebol

Just returned home after a weeks stay here! Prior to arriving I had read the reviews and was looking forward to staying here. We had room 333 which had a nice view over the children’s pool. The room itself was nice and we had plenty of room for the 2 of us… and the many ants that we came across over the week and a few cockroaches.. There were basic things in the kitchen like cups and glasses… our main issue was that the towels were not changed until day 5… I understand that saving the environment and water is a big thing but 5 days with the same towels is unacceptable in a hotel… why only change them when you have 2 days left? We were on an All inc basis and I’ve got to say that this was the worst all inc we have stayed in.. and we are fortunate to be well travelled and stayed in many hotels on all board basis over the years. The food was repeated day in day out, although there was a different theme every night that offered the basics of whatever theme it was on that night… but everything else was the same! Food labelling was a major problem there as only half the items were labelled, not good if you have a food allergy and there was a lot of cross contamination with the food.. The snack bar looked like it needed a good clean and the drinks were very low quality cheap drinks! The entertainment was mainly based on children in the evenings with the odd singer for adults. Daytime entertainment was mainly around the pool area and it did look fun.. although as we didn’t want to join in the young lad from the Entertainment team was quite rude to us when we refused his offer. There were lots of signs around the pool area saying no inflatables, no smoking/vaping but there were people smoking and lots of adults and children with inflatables so obviously those rules were not inforced… There were plenty of sun beds around the pool area but still people were out at midnight putting their towels on beds for the morning, which we thought was quite sad as those people were not turning up until lunch time to use the beds.. On one night there were people shouting, screaming and swearing.. threatening violence and it was quite scary hearing the children crying as you could see that they were scared.. we were expecting security to come and help the lady involved and the children but no one turned up… is there security here at the hotel? In reflection this hotel/apartment was ok but there could be a few changes to it to make it so much better, improving the food, entertainment and drinks, enforce the rules and security.. it’s in a good location on a quite part of the island!

We booked our holiday at Apartamentos El Trebol with a little apprehension after reading some very mixed reviews. However, I can safely say our expectations were far exceeded, and we had a fantastic stay!

ROOMS & FACILITIES

The apartments themselves are fairly basic, but they do exactly what you need them to do! The beds were comfortable enough, the rooms were perfectly adequate, and we had no real complaints. We would have liked the room to be cleaned a bit more thoroughly but we are clean freaks!

The air conditioning isn't the most powerful, so we decided to hire a fan from reception for €10 for the week, which made a difference in circulating the air.

Something worth mentioning is that your welcome brochure contains information about additional equipment you can hire from an external company, including portable air conditioning units. So, if you're particularly sensitive to the heat, there are other options available. We personally found that opening both patio doors and the front door helped create a lovely breeze through the apartment.

We stayed on the top floor, which was a bit of a trek at times! However, we were actually asked upon arrival which floor we would prefer, so that was entirely our own doing! It's worth keeping this in mind if stairs are an issue for you.

FOOD & RESTAURANT

Now, the food... I genuinely cannot understand how this hotel receives negative reviews about its food because we thought it was absolutely delicious!

Everything was fresh, regularly replenished, and there was always plenty of choice. The evening meals followed a different theme each day, which was a lovely touch and kept things interesting throughout the week.

For anyone interested, the themed evenings during our stay were:

Monday – Mexican Night Tuesday – Indian Night Wednesday – Spanish Night Thursday – Cinema Night Friday – Gala Dinner (White Night) Saturday – Asian Night Sunday – Traditional Sunday Roast Subject to change

We thought having a different theme every evening was a brilliant idea, especially for those staying all-inclusive for a week or longer. It meant there was always something different to look forward to rather than the same food every evening.

The only slight criticism I have is regarding the restaurant opening times, which are quite structured:

Breakfast: 7am–10am Lunch: 1pm–3pm Dinner: 6pm–9pm

We're the type of people who like to make the absolute most of the sunshine, so we occasionally felt a little rushed getting ready for dinner. We also noticed that staff would begin closing down the restaurant approximately 15 minutes before the advertised finishing time, which could make you feel a little hurried if you arrived towards the end of service.

We actually chose to eat out on a few evenings, but I want to stress that this was absolutely nothing to do with the quality of the food! We simply fancied eating a little later in the evening and enjoying some of the local restaurants. Had the restaurant been open a little later, we would have happily eaten at the hotel every night.

That being said, the quality and variety of food far outweighed this minor inconvenience!

DRINKS

For anyone wondering about the drinks available, there's a good selection throughout the resort.

You'll find full-sugar Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Zero, Fanta Lemon Zero and Fanta Orange Zero on tap in the restaurant, pool bar and piano bar.

For alcoholic drinks, Amstel beer, white wine, red wine and sangria are also available on tap. Spirits are available upon request from the staff at both the pool bar and piano bar.

There are also self-service fruit juice machines and coffee machines in the restaurant, pool bar and piano bar, which is particularly handy throughout the day.

Overall, we found the drinks selection more than adequate, with plenty of options readily available.

LOCATION & GETTING AROUND

The location of El Trebol is fantastic! You're only a short walk from the beach and the main square in Costa Teguise, which has a brilliant atmosphere and is particularly lively in the evenings.

There are plenty of places to eat, drink and explore nearby, so you're certainly not stuck at the hotel if you fancy venturing out.

If you're able to, I'd definitely recommend hiring a car to explore more of Lanzarote, as there's so much more to the island than just the resort areas.

However, if hiring a car isn't for you, taxis are incredibly convenient and reasonably priced. We never paid more than €4 for a taxi from El Trebol to the main square, and we found them very easy to get.

Whether you prefer walking, jumping in a taxi or exploring the island by car, El Trebol is in a great location.

LATE CHECK-OUT

One tip I'd definitely recommend for anyone travelling with TUI, particularly if you have a late flight home, is to book a late check-out through the TUI app.

We arranged this for our departure day and were able to keep our apartment for the entire day, which was absolutely worth it!

It meant we could make the most of our final day around the pool without worrying about checking out early or having nowhere to freshen up afterwards.

Knowing we could head back upstairs, shower, get changed and organise ourselves properly before leaving for the airport made the whole departure day so much more relaxed.

If you've got an evening flight, I'd definitely recommend looking into this option. It made a huge difference to our last day!

OVERALL

We arrived unsure of what to expect and left having had an absolutely fantastic holiday!

My biggest piece of advice would be not to let the negative reviews put you off. Everyone has different expectations, and whilst this isn't a luxury five-star resort, it certainly exceeded ours in so many ways.

The apartments are perfectly adequate, the food is fantastic, the location is brilliant, and we genuinely couldn't have asked for much more.

I do think it's important to remember what you're paying for when booking a holiday. For us, El Trebol offered excellent value for money and delivered far more than we expected.

Would we recommend it? Absolutely! Would we return? Without a doubt! In fact, we'll definitely be booking another holiday here.

Thank you, El Trebol, for a wonderful week in Lanzarote. We'll see you again! ☀️