Gloria Palace Amadores Thalasso and Hotel

Of the good things, which unfortunately were rather few, I would definitely mention the cleanliness of the room. The room itself was nice, and we also had a great view of the sea. Another plus is the lift, which, despite the hotel being located on a cliff, allows you to get down to the promenade. Unfortunately, there were quite a few more downsides. First of all, the information about what exactly is included in the all-inclusive package is very poorly presented. There are supposedly some cards and brochures, but to actually figure everything out, you have to look through them or simply keep asking the staff. There is an all-inclusive wristband, but in practice it doesn't really do much, because whenever you order anything, you still have to use your room card. At the restaurant, we sometimes felt a bit like intruders. We had barely sat down at the table when the manager would come over and ask which room we were staying in, and then verify our names. I understand that the hotel wants to make sure that outside guests aren't using the restaurant, but surely this could be handled in a less awkward way. The restaurant staff themselves definitely deserve praise, though. You can see that they work really hard. I used to work in the hotel industry myself, so I know what it's like from the other side, and I really have no complaints about their work. However, on several occasions we felt that things were being rushed. For example, there was a situation where the tables were being changed from lunch setup to dinner setup. We sat at a four-person table because there wasn't a two-person table available at the time, and while we were still eating, they started changing the table next to ours. It made us feel a bit like we were getting in the way. Unfortunately, we had a similar experience with the staff at the upper bar, who were at times quite rude and simply unfriendly. Because of that, we ended up spending much more time at the bar by the lower pool, where the atmosphere was much more pleasant. As for the food, I would give it around 5/10. It was edible, but nothing special. I left quite a lot of food on my plate with a heavy heart (which I absolutely hate doing). Overall, the food was rather repetitive, and I expected much more Spanish cuisine. Being in Spain, I was hoping for more local dishes and a bit more variety. I can't comment on the entertainment, as we didn't use it. There was also a technical issue with the shower, which leaked so badly that after taking a shower, practically half of the bathroom was flooded. Unfortunately, I wouldn't really recommend this hotel.

Gloria Palace Amadores was recommended to me by a friend who stayed there with her family 7 times. Other friends recommended it too when I told them that we were staying there. All positive reviews. However, since I arrived home, I have checked Trip Advisor and I see that my experience is not an isolated incident. Perhaps things have deteriorated in the past few months??? I'm annoyed that I didn't check Trip Advisor first before booking. I won't be making that mistake again…

We went on a family holiday with a toddler & a 9m old for my husband’s milestone birthday. We were really looking forward to it but it fell way below expectations. Overall, a disappointing trip.

Room: The room was a good size with a nice shower. There wasn’t just a combination shower gel/ shampoo so definitely bring your own plus conditioner. No lotion either.

With a toddler I was delighted to be given a room on the ground floor with an outdoor balcony.

The aircon in the room was poor and was an issue throughout the hotel. There wasn’t a single room in the hotel that was cool. Any relief in our room came from sitting directly under the ceiling fan.

There was a serious issue with cockroaches there. Initially, I saw cockroaches in the shower and in the toilet. Over the course of the week I saw them by the fridge and on the counter above it. I spotted a cockroach crawling over our shoes by the door.

I wish I had said something on day 1 but there always seemed to be big queues at reception. I let so much slide thinking all rooms probably have them as they run through the drains, pipes and the walls so moving room doesn't necessarily solve the issue and you’ve the hassle of packing up and hanging around to move rooms. My husband being from a warmer climate is more tolerant of them and said what did I expect . However, any tolerance my side ended when I saw cockroaches on my clothes. Too close for comfort!

In the space of a few days I found cockroaches in my suitcase which I had opened to get out some clothes. I had hung up some clothes in the wardrobe and unpacked into the drawers provided. I found a cockroach on my leggings that were on a hanger hanging up in the wardrobe. When packing my clothes I found a cockroach (now dead) under my daughter's clothes in the drawer. At that stage we decided to spend as little time as possible in the hotel and hired a car for the last couple of days.

There was no evidence of pest management - no sticky paper etc. To see at least 5 cockroaches daily, in both the shower/ toilet and bedroom area during the day indicates a serious infestation. I think it's unacceptable for them to be present in the bedrooms of a 4* hotel, something which has been reinforced from talking to others upon my return.

My room was probably cleaned 2 - 3 times during my stay so it wasn't that the room didn't appear clean. It needs a DEEP clean. For example, the fold out bed was made up for our arrival but as we didn’t use it we folded it up. We noticed that there was underwear and other dirt from previous guests.

Food: The hot dishes in the buffet were bland and beige! However, as there was a wide selection we didn't go hungry. The fresh fruit was lovely and the freshly prepared food counters - omelettes, pizza etc were great which is where we mostly ate from.

We had breakfast outside on the balcony on our first morning there. Great view but never ate outside there after our first morning. There were pigeons everywhere. They went for the food on our table so we obviously didn't eat that food. There was no effort by staff to shoo them away. I observed pigeons on tables and staff setting tables for the next guests without cleaning after the pigeons first. There was no signs of pest management to control the pigeons.

Kids Club: We have a toddler and a baby. This was a deciding factor in choosing the hotel as it has a reputation as family friendly. But it could be more family friendly. The hours of the Kids Club were extremely limited - 3 sessions, morning, afternoon & evening, 30 minutes each. Events advertised weren't organised. For example, one day ‘Splash Pool’ was advertised but other than a member of staff being present, there was no activity taking place.

‘Tina's Club’, was where the kids club was based. The room was too hot. It was actually cooler outside! Any hotel that I've previously stayed in have always had air-conditioned rooms with play equipment. Tina's Club room consisted of lots of tables... and a tv. And activities were primarily colouring in.

The Splash Pool had little shade. Whilst I understand that there may an argument for the adult pool not having any, I think you could have some shade in the Splash Pool which is for <6 years. Although I didn’t think the pool was suitable for my baby due to a lack of shade, my son loved it there, especially the slides. His enjoyment was the only thing that took the sting out of the hotel.

When checking out I wasn't asked about my stay and at that point I was deflated and thought what's the point as I'm going home now.