Sandos Griego Hotel

Our family stayed at this hotel last week and, unfortunately, we experienced what we consider to be a very serious safeguarding issue.

One of the waiters, who appeared to be around 40 years old, knew that our daughter was only 14 years old. He commented that she was too young to drink alcohol, gave her lollipops during our stay, and then secretly handed her a folded coaster containing his personal phone number.

We immediately reported this to the hotel management because we felt it was wholly inappropriate for an adult member of staff to attempt to establish private contact with a child. Sadly, we were extremely disappointed with the way our concerns were handled. Rather than treating it as a safeguarding issue, we felt our complaint was brushed aside. I have since spoken with a hotel manager again but the staff member is still employed by the hotel.

Beyond this very serious concern, there were several other aspects of our stay that were disappointing.

The hotel caters predominantly for Spanish guests, which in itself is absolutely fine, but almost all of the entertainment was conducted entirely in Spanish, including the daytime pool activities. As English-speaking guests, we felt excluded from much of what was on offer.

Our room was basic but clean. However, the balcony was extremely small and only had two chairs despite the room being booked for three people.

We took part in the aqua bingo one afternoon, but it was run entirely in Spanish. We eventually managed to obtain a bingo card, although some guests had been given four or five cards while others received none. It appeared these guests were known to the entertainment staff, and nothing was done to make the activity fair for everyone. Afterwards, the guests known to the entertainment staff sat on the edge of the pool smoking and flicking ash into the water, which was disappointing to see.

The pool itself was pleasant, but the sunbed situation was one of the worst we have ever experienced. Rather than staff setting them out each morning, guests had to remove their own sunbeds from large stacks. As the stacks were positioned in the most desirable areas, it became almost impossible to access them once people had settled around them. We witnessed numerous arguments between guests over sunbeds during our stay, creating a very unpleasant atmosphere.

There was also a particularly distressing incident by the pool involving a Spanish family and an English family. An older Spanish woman slapped a young English mother across the face while she was holding her child. The confrontation continued afterwards, and the police were eventually called. It was extremely upsetting for both children and adults to witness.

The restaurant felt more like a crowded school canteen than a relaxing dining area. Tables were packed so closely together that it was difficult to move around, and place settings often appeared to have been hastily thrown onto the tables.

The food was very basic and lacked quality. At breakfast, we expected a selection of fresh fruit, but there was no melon, apples were bruised, peaches were mouldy, and much of the fruit consisted of tinned fruit cocktail and tinned pears. The wine on tap was by far the worst we have tasted. The soup appeared to be made from powdered mix, and many of the main meals consisted of lower-quality cuts of meat, pizza, chips and chopped chicken.

Overall, our biggest concern remains the safeguarding incident involving our 14-year-old daughter. Regardless of anyone’s intentions, an adult member of staff knowingly giving his personal phone number to a child is inappropriate and should have been treated as a serious safeguarding matter.

I hope the hotel reviews its safeguarding procedures, investigates incidents of this nature properly, and ensures that all guests—particularly children—are protected in the future.

Location is great..food is ok, had a lot worse, always plenty of choice, so unless you are mega fussy, you won’t starve, the major problems were the spainish guests, think it totally acceptable to push, in, and push in front of, of you.The atmosphere in the hotel, is a bit on edge if I am being honest, I feel this hotel is mainly catering for spainish guests, all the pool games, are in spainish, I suppose at least 80% of guests are Spanish so it makes sense!! There was a nasty incident, at the pool, which left me uncomfortable, with a gang of Spanish people, trying to fight with an English family, police were called, it was so upsetting to watch, especially the young mum, getting hit by an older Spanish lady, not what u want to see on holiday!!! The rooms, we stayed on floor 1…1121, very noisy, nightclub is below, so I will say no more, room was cleaned every day, towels, sheets changed, couldn’t fault the cleaners!! The pool… what can I say, massive hotel, small pool, no space, no sunbeds, unless you get up early, and run at 9 am, to fight for a bed, I actually watched an old lady struggling trying to lift a bed down, then a Spanish woman went to help her, how nice I thought, until they got the bed out, and across the pool, and the Spanish woman took it off her… couldn’t believe my eyes, the Spanish family thought it was hilarious!!! In all my years of holidaying abroad, I have never ever thought “ it’s true, the Spanish actually do hate us”