Elba Palace Golf and Vital Hotel

My husband & I spent a week at this hotel. Check in was very smooth & a glass of cava was a lovely treat after travelling. The room was spacious & clean and we made use of the fan to complement the AC, to keep the room cool. As a vegetarian, I found the menu extremely limited. However, after speaking to Pilar the deputy manager, she was extremely accommodating & arranged for some dishes to be prepared which I was very grateful for - thank you Pilar😊. The hotel has lovely grounds & a relaxing atmosphere & my husband thoroughly enjoyed playing golf. All the restaurant staff were very polite & helpful. Definitely would recommend this hotel to anyone who wants to relax & get away from it all.

The hotel has an old-world charm about it with a stunning entrance complete with chandelier and an inner courtyard where you can relax with a drink from the bar before dinner. The rating is given as 5 star but I wouldn’t say it lived up to the rating compared with other 5 star venues. For 5 star I would expect concierge service, being greeted at the door on arrival and luggage transported to our room, instead we had to struggle ourselves with 4 cases pushing through a manual rotating door and no help offered with our cases to our room. We booked a Prestige suite (as advertised by Jet 2). The suite itself was clean and spacious but when we went out on to the balcony, we were overlooking the car park at the front of the hotel and the roof of a car port and a skip from the other window – not the most enticing for sitting out with a drink to admire the view. The air con wasn’t working with only a loud rattling fan to cool the air. We asked for a room change and were moved to a suite overlooking the pool the following day. This was a much better experience, including quiet working air conditioning. How they could class both as Premier suites I don’t know as there was no comparison. The hotel itself has a very quiet atmosphere, no loud music by the pool, only the sound of the golfers teeing off and there is plenty space between sun loungers, so you’re not all crammed in like sardines. It’s not the biggest pool but good enough for a pleasant swim to cool down. Food was average with the standard servings at breakfast. One black mark though for hygiene as fruits and cold meat were left uncovered on the counter and often covered in flies. The evening meal is served in St Andrew’s restaurant which has a lovely elegant atmosphere with part self-service, part waiter service. Service both at breakfast and in the evening was excellent as was housekeeping. A note to bear in mind, if you book a Prestige Suite with Jet 2 this does not include the Prestige service offered by the hotel. The hotel classes it as a standard suite so the Jet 2 description is somewhat misleading and having to buy drinks can be quite expensive. In all if you are looking for a quiet relaxing break I would recommend, just not room 134.

We stayed at Elba Palace Golf Resort in Fuerteventura for 7 nights as a couple, and it was exactly the kind of holiday we were looking for.

From the moment we arrived, the hotel felt lovely, clean, elegant and relaxed without being too busy. Check-in was especially nice. Even though we arrived late, we were welcomed with a glass of bubbly, sat down and talked through everything properly rather than just being rushed through reception. It was a really nice first impression.

Our room was spacious and very clean, with a massive comfortable bed, a lovely balcony and no noise at all. The room had a ceiling-style cooling system rather than what we would normally think of as standard air conditioning, but it still kept the room nice and cool. The maid came every day and the room was always kept spotless.

Breakfast was excellent. There was a buffet with fruit, pastries and all the usual cooked breakfast options such as sausages, beans, tomatoes and hash browns. You could also order freshly cooked eggs or omelettes from the menu, which staff came over to take your order for. There was freshly squeezed orange juice, other juices, water, coffee and even bubbly if you fancied starting the day that way!

We stayed half board, so breakfast drinks were included. Dinner was also really good. Starters were buffet-style with plenty of choice including salads, pasta, fruit, cheeses and meats. For the main course you ordered from a menu, with lots of options including steak, lamb, fish and daily specials. Most dishes were included, with only a small number of options carrying an extra charge. There was also a dessert buffet and ice cream. Drinks at dinner are paid for separately, which is worth knowing.

The pool area was probably one of our favourite things about the hotel. It was peaceful, clean and there were plenty of sunbeds. You occasionally saw a couple of people reserving beds, but it was never a problem and during our whole stay we never struggled to find one. There was no loud music around the pool, no rush and no fighting for sunbeds – just a really calm, relaxing atmosphere.

Breakfast was served from 8:30am to 10:30am and dinner from 6:30pm to 9:30pm, which worked well for us.

There is a spa and a gym at the hotel. We didn’t use the spa. The gym was quite small and had enough equipment for a lighter workout, with weights going up to around 20kg, but there wasn’t much equipment and we found it too warm as there didn’t seem to be air conditioning, so we decided to give it a miss.

The staff throughout the hotel were excellent – very friendly, polite and helpful. We never came across anyone rude or unhelpful. Pool towels are available and can be changed at reception whenever you need, and staff always seemed keen to make sure you had everything you needed.

The hotel is situated on a golf course, so if you’re into golf there is plenty on offer. We didn’t play ourselves, as we chose this hotel purely for a relaxing break, and that is exactly what we got.

The beach and town are around a 15–20 minute walk away. We found the walk fine in the evening when it was cooler, but taxis were also very easy and only cost us around £4. There was some live entertainment at the hotel on certain evenings, although we tended to head into town. There is a live music café there with shows most nights if you want a bit more atmosphere in the evening.

One tip we would give is not to bother booking a coach transfer from the airport. The hotel is only around 15–20 minutes from the airport, so a taxi is much easier. There are usually taxis waiting at the airport, and when leaving, reception can order one for you and ours arrived within around 5–10 minutes.

We are 37 and 38, and if you’re looking for a party hotel then this probably isn’t the place for you. But if you want somewhere peaceful, comfortable and genuinely relaxing, with good food, friendly staff, a lovely pool and no stress over sunbeds, this is ideal.

We came here wanting to completely switch off and relax, and that’s exactly what we did. We honestly had no complaints and would definitely recommend it.

For us, it fully deserves its 5-star rating. ★★★★★