This is my third stay at this hotel in a year.

I stayed with a friend for one week at end of March, then returned alone mid May, and have just returned in December. Needless to say I really like this hotel and it is ideal for single travellers being not too big and inpersonal.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions you would like me to answer.

SERVICE

Positives - Firstly, I found the people on reception very polite and friendly, and I was delighted that they honoured my request to have another room on the fifth floor, overlooking both pool and sea.
The bar staff and restaurant staff were efficient and polite and one of the barmen was particularly amusing (Nelson)

ROOM

Positivess - The room itself was large, clean and comfortable. It had a fridge and television (had to pay a refundable deposit if you wanted a remote for it, but probably not worth it as people were saying they only got one english news channel anyway!).
The bathroom was large, with a powerful shower and hairdryer.

Negatives - My main gripe about the room was that there was no bin or full length mirror in the bedroom area, nor were there any bedside drawers or other drawers to put things in. In the wardrobe there were shelving but personally I prefer closed drawers. There was a safe in the room which you had to pay for.

FOOD/DRINK

Positves - I love salad and fruit and found there to be plenty of choice of fresh fruit and different salads. There were also several hot dishes and I feel they catered for everyone from meat eaters to fish eaters to vegetarians. They also had a good selection of cheeses, crackers, bread and desserts. The drinks in the dining room were self service red/white/rose wine and beer as well as water and fizzy drinks. You could upgrade from half board to all inclusive on drinks at the dinner table for 5 euros if you so wished. Good selection of alcohic drinks included in the All Inclusive price, including bottled carlsberg beer.

Negatives - The fruit juice machines in the dining room I previously mentioned were not nice, but these seem to have improved on this time. If you drink fruit juices I would recommend the ones from the bar as they are much better.

ENTERTAINMENT

Positves - The animation team were very friendly, happy people who always tried their best to keep people amused and to encourage people to join in the games in the day such as boules, archery, table tennis, aerobics. This was nice as they were not in your face, but it was all there if you wanted to participate. The evening entertainment was a mixture of outside acts and the animation team doing things. Some good, some bad.

Negatives - After the entertainment finished at 10pm everyone either went to bed, or went upstairs to the Piano/Balcony bar. You could catch a taxi into commercial centre for 3-4 euros if needed.

FACILITIES

There was a spa area in the hotel, which I have previously used. Very nice, but please be aware if is a nudist area, like the sunbathing area on top of hotel.
The hotel had a round swimming pool which also had jacuzzi jets in and built in seats/loungers which was a nice touch, although the jets didn't seem to be on this time..
There is internet access and WiFi in the hotel and a two places which have a variety of books to read.
There is a small gym area and games room

AREA/LOCATION

Positives - The views from the hotel looking over the sea are beautiful, and there are good walks along a promenade that runs to Central Playa Blanca. The marina has a market on a Wednesday and Saturday, which is nice to visit, as well as a Marina with restaurants and designer shops to visit (takes around 10-15 minutes to reach depending on speed of walking). The main central hub of Playa Blanca where the shops, bars and more restaurants are takes about 25-30 minutes by foot to get too. There is FREE shuttle bus that runs three times a day from the hotel and back which drops you just outside the Princesa Yaiza Hotel.

Negatives - If you are looking for nightlife or bars there isn't much and certainly not in walking distance. It costs around 3-4 euros for a taxi into the Papagao Commercial Centre, where you will find bars, karaoke bars, and a disco bar.

As a large group, me and my family stayed at the hotel for 2 weeks over Christmas/New Year. As the days went on some things at the hotel got worse.

There were many highlights about this hotel;
- Most of the food was to an excellent standard, but it lacked variety and some food was lacking in taste.
- The hotel was always clean and tidy, with the bedrooms being cleaned regularly and left neat and tidy.

- The rooms themselves were spacious, bright and quite comfortable, but beds a little hard.
- The staff were very polite and friendly and very willing to help.

Unfortunately the New Years gala evening was a massive let down. Yes for all those who actually got into the theatre hall it may have been a lovely evening, but the theatre hall was not big enough to hold everyone at the hotel, and there was an awful smell down there. When queried with a manager, we were told that they were sorry and that they hadn’t expected everyone within the hotel to stay up for the whole evening, but everyone that goes on a fully inclusive holiday wants to Join in and celebrate New Years Eve, don’t they? And the smell was because other guests were lighting indoor fireworks down there, with no proper ventilation for this. The hotel closed the other bar at 11.30, refusing to keep the it open until midnight, or even put the TV on so we could watch the New Years countdown and fireworks. Because of this me and my party, along with other people staying here, were forced to go into the town to celebrate. Overall a seriously poorly planned evening and a huge let down.

The other major disappointment of the holiday was the entertainment, well the staff lip singing to musical soundtrack's.

The entertainment that came from outside the hotel was very good, but I'm afraid the All Star team were mostly un-entertaining and spoke so fast you couldn’t understand what they were saying.


Other parts about the holiday that were quite annoying:
The fact that there was no-where to go to sit down and have a drink unless the bars or restaurants were open. It would have been better if there had been tea/coffee making facilities in the room. For early risers or for a late night cuppa after midnight there was only room service – for a charge.
The pool was freezing cold and the lovely waterfall was only on first thing in the morning, during cleaning.
Unfortunately some areas of the hotel were quite cold, because of its position the sun didn’t stay all around the pool for the afternoon, and it was very windy in the corridors.
Dinner on Christmas eve was not so different to any other day. Unless you like fish! Having been to several Iberostars I was quite disappointed with this. I also felt that not much effort and planning had gone into the night as I had experienced at other Iberostars.
And lastly that, by the end of the holiday, the hotel started to run out of stock products, which was quite annoying.

We arrived on Christmas Eve, Reception was busy and hardly ever seemed to be otherwise throughout our stay. The staff do their very best, I am sure, but there is something missing here. Wonderful location, nice design, but hollow feeling. Next time we will try self catering, if we go to this island again. People here seemed to have lost the ability to smile, and in the buffet restaurant it was push and shove and the worst of European bad manners. Selfish people putting their towels down around the pool at 7:30 in the morning made me feel I had to ask their permission later when I wanted to have a dip in the water. The gym is a joke, and don't bother with the 'wellness centre'. The Gala Dinner on Christmas Day was not worth 100 euros. If all you want to do is sit in the sun and get smashed on an all-inclusive package then this might be right for you, I suppose.

Travelled with a group of seven,Two nana's one grandad,a Daddy,mammy+2 (6yrs and 10)
Arrived on 27th dec.left 11th jan.Overall a very good hotel.The food was great (we were on 1/2 board)plenty of variety for breakfast and dinner.Many thanks to all the staff for their kindness and courtesy.We have holidayed on a number of new years eve and this we agreed was the best of all.The banquet,and show were great(and free drinks too)
Suggest the management would look at the following 1 revamp the lobby lounge area(move that big shop down the back,and mabye put some Tropical plants in.2 Move library down to lobby or dining area,3 reduce your wfi charges 7euro p/day is too steep,also get it in the rooms This is 2012,And for gods sake get you'r tv's and channells updated.
To finish on a positive note,A particular thanks to Roberto,Lennie,Nelson,Kathy for all their hard work with their wonderful shows and the way Lennie looked after the children,The kids are still singing the songs they taught them.(Singing in Spanish now)