Avlida Hotel

We are currently at the hotel having arrived last night and have numerous issues with this hotel as it is nowhere near a 4 star.

We booked and paid for all inclusive and whilst I understand there is a difference between ‘European’ AI and ‘Caribbean’ AI the gap here is huge. We received one bottle of water in the room on arrival and have been told if we want more we have to pay for it, otherwise it’s available by the glass in the restaurant or bar. The soft drinks are so sweet they are basically syrup which is undrinkable and it’s €3.50 a can for something branded. You are also not allowed to drink anything you’ve bought from elsewhere (despite having already paid for all inclusive). Given that the temperature is consistently in the 30s with a feels like factor in the 40s this is a huge risk for dehydration. The food is also mediocre at best with only a handful of dishes served each meal and we have had 3 different types of chicken drumsticks so far in 3 meals. There are 3 basic ice cream flavours to self scoop or you can pay €4 per ice cream for a branded ice cream. There are no sauces or sprinkles or any other toppings.

The entertainment last night was bingo (€5 a card) and a show which was good but didn’t start until 10pm which was pretty late. Today there was no entertainment except a Zumba class which you could again pay extra for. The pool is nice but is all one depth (1.4m) which is quite deep for spending much time in and there’s only one small jacuzzi area which was full all day by the same group of men. The floors outside are VERY slippery and I nearly fell multiple times despite being very careful when I was walking around.

The aircon in the rooms is ok after about 4 hours but turns off when you’re out of the room so it’s basically hot until the middle of the night. The curtains don’t fully cover the windows so our room was bright at sunrise and they started cutting the trees down around the pool outside our window with petrol chainsaws at 7am this morning. On the plus side the beds are soft and there are a selection of tv channels in English.

We are here until Saturday so I really hope it gets better…

Great hotel clean and tidy staff are all lovely and very helpful, the entertainment team are great also all staff out in 100% into making everyone happy

We have just returned from a great stay at the Avlida Hotel. Bar staff, restaurant staff, entertainment team, cleaners, management and reception staff are all EXCEPTIONAL, and definitely have a customer first mindset and go above and beyond to ensure you have a great stay. We were all-inclusive, there was good selection of food and drink, even with 3 teenage children who can be fussy eaters, drinks included a good selection cocktails too, bar service was always prompt and friendly. We had a room at the back of the hotel but we could still see the sea, which we were very happy with, although others may prefer a pool view. Rooms are a little dated but absolutely fine. Great location for shops and restaurants. Venus beach is 5 minutes walk and was very nice. We took a short bus ride to the Harbour, which was pretty and then took a leisurely walk back via the walkway along the sea front which we enjoyed. Plenty of sunbeds, good quality entertainment during the day and also in the evening. We certainly hope to return, the staff made this a really lovely holiday.