Playacapricho Hotel

The reception team and the cleaning staff were kind, professional, and respectful, and I especially appreciated the reception team upgrading us from a basic double to a lovely ground-floor room with a sea view and a large jacuzzi-style bath. They offered it without pressure. Evangelina also stepped in when we had trouble finding a place to sit at breakfast, apologized, and let us use the only available table, which had a disabled sign. We asked her to tell her colleagues she had given permission so there wouldn't be another confrontation. That helped, but being loudly scolded in front of everyone by Laura and her colleagues had already left us humiliated. I'm African, born and raised in Italy, and had never thought racism could ruin a holiday. On our first evening, while we were queuing for drinks and hoping to watch the entertainment, bar staff kept serving people who had come in behind us. When we pointed it out, one woman smirked, said, “Oh, it’s nothing personal,” and walked away. We felt shocked, embarrassed, and deeply uncomfortable. It felt unmistakably like racial discrimination. We made a formal complaint at reception after breakfast the next morning. After that, the atmosphere changed noticeably. I can't say if it was because of the complaint or gossip about us being the only Black family at the hotel, but from day three the bar staff who had ignored us started paying attention, even explaining which wines were included in our all-inclusive package, something no one had mentioned before. Some people suggested the earlier problems might have been language barriers, but that doesn't excuse how we were treated. The cleaning staff, many of whom didn't speak English, still showed warmth and care. I worked for years as a waitress in a hotel chain myself, so I recognize the way guests are handled and trained for. This wasn't something we want to experience again, especially with a young child. A few people, including Evangelina and the reception and cleaning teams, stood out for the right reasons, but the overall stay was deeply disappointing and at times distressing. We won't return to this hotel or any other in the chain, and wouldn't recommend it to travellers of colour.

The food is what would stop me coming back. There was a lot of it, but it was three-star quality at best. The room technology was dated too, with only two euro plugs, and they turned off the air conditioning on the morning we left, which didn't help. On the plus side, the pools were great, with a huge one for older kids and adults and a good one for toddlers and smaller children. The bars were good, the all-inclusive drinks were nice, and our room was cleaned every day.

The pool was large and nice, though it was too windy for us to use it. There was also mini golf and some evening entertainment. The hotel is close to the beach, but there wasn't much else to do nearby, so I wouldn't choose it as a holiday destination, especially if flying in from another country. Our arrival was already frustrating. After a four-hour drive, we found no on-site parking. We'd called two days earlier to ask whether we needed to reserve a space and were told there was nothing to do. The room was cramped and very dated, the beds uncomfortable, and there was only one toilet roll for three people. The buffet was atrocious, some of the worst hotel food I've had. The pizza we tried on arrival was inedible and tasted as if it had been made a week earlier. The dining room was packed, with people behaving as though they hadn't eaten in ages. I was lucky not to drop food from my plate. Even with the fairly good facilities, the food was terrible and the rooms nowhere near four-star quality. The whole place felt like three stars at best, so I wouldn't recommend it.

The location is great, with a back door straight to the beach and plenty of restaurants nearby. The buffet was good, the rooms were nice, and the staff were amazing and kind. Both rooms had ants around the fridges, though, and the water came out hot. We visited in early April, so the outdoor pool and slides being closed was expected. The indoor pool, though, closed at 6pm on weekdays and 7pm on weekends, with no explanation. Most of the time there was no staff there, and when someone was, they didn't pay much attention to the kids. The pool bar was closed during the week, too. It was our last day before we found out pool towels could be checked out at reception, since there were no signs or information about them. The playground was very limited, basically two swings and no slide or play fort. Getting to the pool was confusing. One route meant going up a floor and then back down half a floor through an emergency exit staircase. Another involved a hidden door by the lobby stairs, then walking outside behind staff buildings and all the way around the hotel to reach the indoor pool entrance. Or you could cut through the lobby bar. There were no signs from the lobby, and no maps at check-in or in the app advertised on the key card. Mini golf was awkward too, since the whole resort only had one or two balls to check out, so just one group could play at a time. We had to ask several times to get access. A whole basket of balls would have been easy to provide.