La Isla Y el mar Hotel Boutique

Honest review to those who think this hotel will be the luxurious 5 star hotel you hope you will be staying & spend months dreaming of arrival only for us we were very disappointed! First impressions of reception & welcome are good, arrived early received complimentary welcome drinks. Room wasn’t ready as we expected with early arrival so had drinks at pool bar & everything seemed lovely until we got to our room! Booked a delux suite with a jacuzzi & again first impressions seemed ok until I started to notice that the room had a lot of wear and tear. Scuffs all over paint work, horrendously worn sofa, faded chair, dirty patio areas ( only cleaned once in 11 nights) & the worst terrace furniture we have ever encountered, very worn & shabby. Huge chunk chipped off the jacuzzi & again very dirty especially the grouting on the walls. Shower door sealant black, desk has chunks missing and scuffed. Ants all over mini bar & cups & glasses. Air con was not good at all, maintenance man came but found no issue. Sink blocked but fixed quickly. Went straight to reception & waited for assistance to be shown another room only to find it had more wear & tear! Told to wait 3 days & maybe another room may be available. In the meantime we noticed a pool bar chair has paw prints ( few cute cats around) took photo! Next day still there, not been cleaned ( serving food & drinks in that area) Pigeons & cats regularly drinking from pool. Pool area not clean enough. Pool water dirty. Not enough maintenance or cleaning or high enough cleaning standards I personally found. No better rooms offered only offered a more recently decorated room but without jacuzzi which I paid extra for & wanted. Was given a complimentary meal for a kind gesture & lovely flowers which we really enjoyed & appreciated but still encountered a large bill for drinks. I was happy to pay for the wine we ordered but the drinks that came with the tasting menu we were charged for which I thought was offered of courtesy too but I must of misheard. Was also given complimentary late check out as a final goodwill gesture. We cannot fault the food & all ( but 1 waitresses) members of staff were excellent. We did enjoy the cocktail bar but the outside area was often covered in bird muck & again not cleaned the next night we went. Personally I think the hotel needs a total refurbishment in some areas and a deep clean. Sorry this is so negative but I’m being totally honest & I did appreciate the professional help from the manager but it just didn’t meet our expectations in many ways. We would not stay here again we much prefer Royal marina suites in Puerto Calero, it’s absolutely immaculate. This hotel lacking atmosphere & had no vibe whatsoever for us. We still enjoyed our holiday I was just very disappointed with our room.

We stayed at La Isla y el Mar for a couples’ holiday in Lanzarote and, overall, had a very pleasant and relaxing stay. The hotel has plenty going for it, particularly if you’re looking for somewhere peaceful with spacious accommodation and friendly service.

Our room was a great size and very comfortable, with particularly nice pillows. It was also impressively quiet at night. We didn’t hear any noise from guests in the neighbouring rooms, which made for a very peaceful stay.

The staff were lovely throughout, and the reception team were always friendly and helpful whenever we needed anything.

The pool area was generally calm and relaxing. The sunbeds were very comfortable and there were plenty available, although some are positioned quite a distance from the actual pool. The pool itself is on the smaller side and isn’t particularly deep, so it’s more suited to cooling off and having a gentle swim than attempting any Olympic training.

Breakfast offered a good range of options and we enjoyed it. Our advice would be to head down before around 9:30am if you can. Later in the morning, the restaurant became noticeably busier and we found that some of the breakfast options could be a little more limited.

We also had lunch at the pool bar, where the portion sizes were good. A special mention has to go to Leo, who makes an excellent Frappuccino.

There were, however, a few areas where we felt the experience could be improved. As our stay progressed and the hotel became busier, the dreaded sunbed towel reservation began creeping in, particularly on the beds closest to the pool. It would be good to see the hotel manage this a little more proactively so everyone gets a fair chance to use the prime spots.

Our balcony was spacious, but unfortunately the design meant the view was disappointing when sitting or lying on the sunbed. A waist-high solid wall effectively blocked the view, so to appreciate the scenery you needed to stand up – not quite the relaxing experience.

A small practical improvement would be to provide a “please clean/make up room” sign for the door. There is a “do not disturb” sign, but no obvious way of letting housekeeping know that the room is free for cleaning.

Evening entertainment was fairly limited and seemed to be centred around the Kentia Bar. We tried some of the signature cocktails there, but personally found them more gimmicky than impressive and rather expensive for what they were. The pool bar prices in general also felt quite high.

Overall, though, La Isla y el Mar provided us with a comfortable and peaceful couples’ holiday.