H10 Rubicon Palace

We've just returned from a week at the H10 Rubicón Horizons Collection, and honestly, this was our worst all-inclusive holiday to date — no exaggeration. I don't usually write reviews, but I want to warn anyone considering this hotel: read the negative reviews and believe them. We've stayed in plenty of 3- and 4-star hotels that were considerably better than this. How this place holds a 4.5-star rating is genuinely baffling.

Check-in: We were pushed straight away to buy the "privilege" package for around €700 extra (2 adults, 1 child), despite having already paid £3,800+ for the week. We declined. On the plus side, we were driven to our room by buggy with our luggage, which was a nice touch.

Room: Scruffy, dated, and overdue a refurbishment. The bathroom and shower were fine, but housekeeping was consistently poor — floors were barely swept, mopped only once all week, and our sheets were never changed. One day the room wasn't touched at all, and we had to call reception at 5:30pm to get it sorted. Another day our dirty towels were taken and no clean ones left; after two calls and a 45-minute wait, we were given just two towels between three of us, meaning my son had to dry himself with a wet pool towel. We also had cockroaches in our ground-floor room — not what you want to see when getting out of bed in the morning. Wi-Fi in the room (and across the whole hotel) was the worst we've encountered anywhere, and the TV reception was patchy at best.

Pool area: Untidy, with cups blowing around in the wind and mess left over from the day before. Broken parasols were dumped behind sunbeds rather than removed. The pools themselves were clean and refreshing, if a little cold. Maintenance work (re-tiling and re-grouting) was carried out right in front of our sunbeds during peak hours. More seriously, someone fell through a glass floor panel at the poolside snack bar, cut their arm badly, and left glass in the pool — police were called to the scene.

Daytime snacks and drinks: Only two spots for cold drinks if you weren't on the privilege package. Soft drinks were flat and barely cold all week. Wristbands were scanned intermittently at the poolside bar, causing long queues — a strange system for an all-inclusive. One genuine highlight: Mike's coffee shop, which was excellent, with a really friendly server.

Restaurant food: The main buffet was chaotic, poorly laid out, and prone to long queues. The menu barely changed day to day — no themed nights like we've had at other all-inclusives — and quality was basic at best. Breakfast omelettes were a rare bright spot when freshly made. We managed to book two of the specialty restaurants for later in the week (book on night one, or you'll miss out). The Italian, Dolce Vita, was genuinely good — the tomato soup starter stood out. The Steak House was disappointing: undercooked, fatty steak, undercooked chips, and nachos that were just daytime tortilla chips without the melted cheese.

Evening bars: The main lounge bar is table-service only, but there aren't enough tables for demand, so if you can't get a seat, you can't get a drink. One server there — an older lady working the outer section — was excellent and attentive. The Piano Bar upstairs was worse: on two separate evenings we waited 15–20 minutes just to get someone's attention, even though it wasn't busy.

Staff: Mixed. Daytime food and drink staff were largely unfriendly and unhelpful. Activity and entertainment staff, and the lounge bar server mentioned above, were the exceptions and genuinely great.

Management: We raised a complaint with reception on our first full day. The guest relations representative was on her phone and effectively brushed us off. Reception staff said it would be passed to management and we'd be contacted. Two days after returning home, we're still waiting to hear back.

Overall: Given the price paid and the "4.5-star" billing, this fell well short on nearly every front — cleanliness, food, service, and basic guest care. We wouldn't return, and wouldn't recommend it.

Mixed feelings on this hotel. Booked through Jet2 holidays who were great. Arrival was excellent. Met by friendly staff and provided drinks and snacks whilst we checked in. Taken to our room by golf buggy which was great fun.

Room -

Family double room located in block 82 very close to the main swimming pool (and toilets). Ground floor room so not much of a view. Very busy outside our patio doors so tended to keep curtains closed. Always seemed to be staff pushing trolleys or resort buggys passing by so not much chance of peace and quiet. We also had some sort of store room outside our front door which didn't help. Room did feel tired and a bit rough around the edges. Floor felt and looked dirty and in need of a good clean. Children's campbed was very soft and squeaky. One of our children ended up sleeping with us on the two double beds which was fine. Room service was poor compared to other hotels we have stayed in. Beds were made up but that was it. We had to request toilet rolls. Towels were taken and not replaced so another call needed to reception. Basic stuff which really shouldn't be a problem. Free safe was easy to use and the shower was fine. Mini fridge also provided in the room.

Restaurant/ Bars

We only ate in the main buffet restaurant throughout our stay. Good choice of the usual stuff. I did think fussy eaters would struggle though. It did feel very busy at times - especially between 8pm-9pm. Staff worked hard. Again, some seat cushions were grubby and in need of a clean. Plates and cutlery were the same.
Poolside snack bar consisted of chips, cheeseburgers, onion rings, hotdogs, nachos and a selection of fruit and cakes. Weird queuing / wristband scanning system at the bar and staff did seem unfriendly at times but probably just due to numbers within. Loads of drinks on offer but yet to get a fizzy soft drink. If I'd been paying cash I'd have taken them back. Estrella Beer was fine. The glass floor panels looked like a great feature until two men unfortunately fell through them injuiring themselves! Both removed to the on duty lifeguard for treatment before ambulance and police arrived. I think the hotel needs to review its first aid procedures in regards to this incident. No injured party should be made to stand at the first aid station in the middle of both pools in the blazing sunshine for all to see. Also, no pool lifeguard cover during this time - as he was giving first aid. Pools were very busy with children. Thankfully the glass panels were boarded up.
Mikes coffee shop is great but be patient, its not the quickest service. Piano bar is a lovely space, especially the terrace area. Great views.
Table service at night was very slow and at times woeful. We gave up one night and left. Entertainment was ok but again we skipped a couple of the shows and headed into town.

Pools

Sunbed situation was fine but its school holidays so the towels are down early. Market days seem quieter.
Good variety of pools. Children's pool did look very busy but great fun for the wee ones. Closed on 2 of our 7 days. Reasons unknown but we had our suspicions.

Turning left out of the hotel grounds at the rear of the hotel - Flamingo beach is a 25 min walk and a further 15 minutes will take you into Playa Blanca. If you turn right out of the hotel towards the lighthouse there is a great little beach bar and areas which are great for snorkeling. Loads of fish on display.

The number 30 bus cost a family of 4 more than a taxi did into Playa Blanca. Taxi was 5 euro, 7-8 minute journey.

Overall observations -

Pro's - Grounds, views, area, drinks selection.

Cons - table service, room cleanliness

Great weeks holiday but not a 5* hotel. Probably won't return to this hotel but certainly will to the area.

Lovely family holiday, with some opportunities to improve

We have just returned from another lovely family holiday at the H10 Rubicón Horizons Collection. This was our second stay at Rubicón, and we have also stayed at H10 Atlantic Sunset, so we have had the opportunity to experience two of the H10 Horizons Collection properties.

Overall, we had a fantastic holiday. Rubicón is a huge, beautifully maintained resort with a fantastic seafront location, lovely gardens, great pools and plenty for a family to enjoy. The size of the resort gives it a wonderful sense of space, although it also presents some challenges when it comes to delivering a consistently high level of service.

We stayed on a Privilege basis, and the food throughout the resort was excellent. We ate in all of the restaurants during our stay and were very impressed with the quality and variety. The Privilege restaurant was a particular highlight — we really enjoyed the food, atmosphere and service, and it definitely added to the overall experience.

The only real disappointment food-wise was the steakhouse, which we found fairly average compared with the other restaurants. Also, the toilets outside the restaurant area are in serious need of an upgrade, particularly as they service three separate restaurants.

A special mention has to go to Abel at the Privilege pool, who is excellent at his job. He was friendly, attentive and consistently provided a very high level of service. Staff members like Abel make a real difference to a holiday.

The newly renovated Red Mountain Lounge is also a lovely addition. It has been done very well, and the service there was excellent. Pedro in the Piano Bar also deserves a special mention — he was fantastic and made our visits there a particularly enjoyable experience.

There are, however, a few areas where we feel the resort could improve. Having stayed at Atlantic Sunset, we did feel that the overall level of service at Rubicón was a little disappointing by comparison. We completely appreciate that Rubicón is a much larger resort, but the difference was noticeable.

On arrival, despite checking in to Privilege, we didn’t receive the welcome drink or hot towel. We had also contacted the hotel approximately a month before arrival and specifically requested a front sea-view room, one of the better rooms and somewhere quiet. Unfortunately, those notes hadn’t been picked up and we were initially allocated a room down near the children’s pool. Once we raised this, the team were helpful and moved us to a much more suitable room.

The rooms themselves are spacious and comfortable, although some are starting to look a little dated, particularly the bathrooms. This didn’t detract significantly from our stay, and I’m sure it is something the hotel has plans to work on. A refresh of the rooms and bathrooms would certainly bring them more in line with the more modern feel of some of the other H10 properties.

There was also a small incident involving the gym during our stay. It didn’t spoil our holiday and was ultimately dealt with, but perhaps it is something management can learn from in terms of how these situations are handled with guests. Greater management visibility around such a large resort would also, in our opinion, make a positive difference.

The gym itself could also do with an upgrade. For such a large resort, it feels quite small and can become busy, so an expansion and/or investment in additional equipment would be very welcome.

The Junior Kids Club was good and our children enjoyed it. One relatively easy win, particularly for slightly older children, would be to make more use of the outdoor sports facilities by organising activities such as football every day. The football was only organised every other day during our stay, and having something available each morning would be a great addition for older children who are beginning to outgrow the traditional kids’ club activities.

We would also love to see the cabaret show brought back, as this would be a great addition to the evening entertainment for families.

Despite the points above, I want to emphasise that we genuinely had a lovely holiday. These are constructive suggestions rather than things that ruined our stay. We clearly like the resort — this was our second visit — and we would happily return.

I think there is a real opportunity for Rubicón to work more closely with the other H10 Horizons Collection properties and share best practices, particularly around service and the small details that make guests feel valued. Our experience at Atlantic Sunset showed us just how good the H10 service can be.

With some greater attention to those details, more visible management, continued investment in the rooms and gym, and a few additions to the entertainment and activities, I think Rubicón could take an already very good family holiday experience to another level.

Overall, 4/5. We had a lovely family holiday and would happily return. There is plenty to like about Rubicón — particularly the food, facilities, location and staff members such as Abel and Pedro — and with some relatively straightforward improvements, I think it could become an outstanding experience.