Barcelo Fuerteventura Castillo

This hotel has the potential to be amazing, right on the beach with a lovely view of the mountains. But it is really not great.
We booked based on reviews from last year, if these were true reviews the place must have gone really down hill. The negative reviews from this summer reflect the hotel.
It’s dirty, the area around the pool needs a really good clean. I have never seen anyone cleaning it. They say they do, but it’s not possible, the stone is filthy and the the same rubbish is around the pool every day. Cups and napkins from the day before, sometimes a few days before. I’ve never seen anyone checking the water in the pools, unlike previous hotels we have stayed in. One of the pools is quite ‘grimy’. Plates in restaurant are dirty, cutlery on clean tables still have dried in food on them. It wouldn’t take much for this hotel to be really great, but unfortunately it seems it’s not a priority.

Difficult to get sunbeds later in the day and very few umbrellas available unless you come early morning.

Come if you want a 3 star and you are ok with things not being very clean. Otherwise book elsewhere. We won’t return.

Let's start with the positives.. The location of the hotel is really beautiful. It is right on the beach front (although, do note that it's not a private beach so you need to pay for sunbeds etc. and the beach bar isn't included in any packages) We stayed in a bungalow and that side of the hotel is really lovely. You are right on the sea front and it's such a relaxing atmosphere over there. In hindsight we wish we'd have gone self catering and spent most our days at our bungalow. The rooms were very spacious and clean. We had excellent nights sleep in the comfy beds!! The WiFi is excellent too, great coverage throughout the really large complex.

However, we left feeling let down by this resort. The buffet often served cold food, labels didn’t match what was actually on offer, and as a non‑meat eater the options were extremely limited - I even ended up biting into ham that was labelled as fish.

The pool area wasn’t much better. No inflatables allowed (and the rule was enforced randomly), broken sunbeds, dirty floors and parasols were impossible to get unless you were up at dawn.

The “all inclusive” offering is very misleading. Several bars aren’t included, the app is confusing, and nothing is explained properly on arrival. The nicest bars close at 8pm, the wristband key fobs barely work and you’re charged €3 a day for the safe.

Our room also had issues: a bad smell in the bathroom, weak air‑con, a broken shower handle, and a leaking shower. Some of which were fixed while we were there.