Universal Hotel Lido Park & Spa

On the positive side, the staff were very friendly and accommodating, the daily buffet was excellent, and the whole hotel was clean. But our experience with passport handling was poorly organized. The staff collected and kept our passports at arrival but didn't return them to our rooms automatically. Two days later, I asked for ours back, and two employees spent about ten minutes searching before they found them. We were traveling as a group, and some only realized at the airport before their return flight that their passports were still at reception. The room doors on the seventh floor also had an open gap of at least 1 cm, so hallway and neighboring-room noise came straight through with no sound insulation. Given the hotel's official star rating, I expected better quality.

I've been here twice and really like it. The hotel is right by the shore, about a five-minute walk from the town of peguara, and the views from the top floor are some of the best. Our seventh-floor family room had amazing views over almost everything. The rooms are clean, quite large, and great, and you get free cocktail tickets on arrival. The bars are nice, and the food is better than at other places I've been.

The location is very convenient, but the rooms are quite small. I booked five days with my family, with breakfast included and dinner added for one night. During that dinner, I found a cockroach in the pizza section. The food quality and hygiene were very disappointing, and after that I wouldn't recommend eating here.

The beaches nearby are lovely, with crystal blue water, and there's a shopping street with cute souvenir shops close by. The hotel suits family holidays, with lots of seniors and children around, and no clubs. There were a lot of Germans staying, and plenty of German restaurants nearby with menus in German. Some hotel staff didn't speak English, but everyone spoke German, and you can definitely get around with English. The sun loungers are frustrating because they're always booked. One costs 4 euros a day or 18 a week, so I'd recommend booking ahead. The beach charges 11.50 for a full day on a lounger directly by the water, including a safety locker. I was very happy with the hotel, and the food had plenty of variety.