Ria Park Garden Hotel

The staff were good throughout, and the hotel was very clean. Room service staff were especially helpful, and the spa treatments were wonderful. There are nice views, the pool area is pleasant though cramped, and the beach is a nice walk away with a free shuttle available. Still, I wouldn't choose it for a holiday again. It has the feel of a business hotel, with sparse rooms and rock-hard beds. The spa itself is basic in design, and the pool is unheated, so it was ice cold in August. You have to order food and drinks at the bar before they'll bring them to the pool, and it takes ages. Hotel sun beds cost extra, which I found odd. There's no food or drink service at the beach, so you have to walk quite far to buy water or bring it with you. For a short visit or business trip it might be fine, but I was underwhelmed.

We liked the big rooms, pretty garden and pool area, and the breakfast had enough choice. The beach shuttle and welcoming reception staff made the price feel worthwhile. The gym wasn't what I hoped for, especially if you're looking to lift weights. What put us off returning was the cleaning staff making a lot of noise in the corridor early in the morning. They woke us more than once, and it felt like they didn't consider that guests were there to rest.

The staff were lovely, and there's a free shuttle to the beach, which is about a 15-minute walk away. The rooms are spacious and the place is clean, with everything working, but the hotel feels dated and could really use a remodel. Breakfast was somewhere in the middle, neither great nor bad.

The pool is large and pleasant for relaxing, but that was one of the few things that worked for us. The rooms are small and have no sea view, while the gym and sauna are tiny. The food shown in the pictures wasn't what we found, and the photos generally don't reflect the actual experience. Service was miserable. We felt treated like a source of payment rather than guests, and none of the staff spoke English, which made even ordering lunch difficult. The Kids Club was closed because its supervisor was sick, and management made no effort to find a replacement. We came mainly for our son to use it, so its closure made the stay pointless, and management didn't seem to care. Breakfast was at most three-star quality, with the same ordinary supermarket food each day, nothing special, like an Ibis Hotel. For a five-star hotel, we expected an extraordinary, flawless stay. The facilities deserve perhaps three or four stars, the food three, and the service maybe two. I can't recommend it.