Hotel Best Jacaranda

We’ve just returned from a family holiday at this hotel. From the outside, the hotel is beautiful, and the swimming pools are fantastic. The entertainment team are exceptional and work incredibly hard to ensure everyone has a great time.

We used the buffet restaurant for breakfast and lunch, and it was excellent, with a wide variety of food to cater for all tastes and dietary needs.

Unfortunately, the sun lounger situation was a nightmare. Unless you were up before 8:00 a.m., it was almost impossible to get one. Even then, many loungers had been “reserved” with towels despite no one actually using them.

The biggest disappointment, however, was that the football facilities were closed for the entire duration of our holiday. This was a major factor in our decision to book this hotel, and at no point before we travelled were we informed that they would be unavailable.

The rooms are very dated and would benefit from a refurbishment, although they were spacious and kept very clean throughout our stay.

I also found Celia on reception to be quite rude. In contrast, all of the other staff were friendly, helpful and welcoming, particularly the restaurant managers, who were excellent.

Overall, it’s a lovely hotel with fantastic pools, great food and an outstanding entertainment team. However, the closure of the football facilities and the issue with sun loungers did detract from what could otherwise have been an excellent family holiday.

Just arrived back from 8 nights here and we absolutely loved every minute of our holiday!

We were very apprehensive about the hotel due to the reviews and came very close to changing the hotel but we are so glad we didn’t.

Food - so much choice and so fresh at every meal. The different themed nights made it interesting and even my super fussy 9 year old ate really well. The salad bar and bread selection was particularly impressive.

Staff - all so friendly and helpful, ensuring honestly couldn’t do enough to help and always made a fuss of the children particularly when entering the restaurant. The hotel cleaners worked tirelessly throughout the morning and our room was always spotless and we always had fresh towels and bedding.

Location - perfect! Five minutes to Fanabe beach and literally on top of loads of shops bars and restaurants.

Buses - next door for all excursions and over the road for the free Siam park bus and local buses to other resorts.

Entertainment - my boys loved the magic show, Michael Jackson and the circus show. Personally the other entertainment could be better but we went out if it didn’t suit our taste.

Drinks - great selection, really enjoyed the lager on draught. Cava is included which was nice and only €4.50 for a big bottle of Friexenet which is my favourite! Plenty of branded soft drinks, fresh juices and slushes. (Cortado coffee over ice from the pool bar, then ask for a Baileys and a vodka and mix them! Delicious!! Also lemon slush with vodka or strawberry slush and peach schnapps is particularly good)

Pools - enjoyed the 5th floor the most but people are extremely selfish and they reserve sunbeds whether or not they actually plan to Come to the pool. We always managed to get a couple of sunbeds but if it gets to 1pm and nobody is there, I think it’s fair enough to move the towels. Inflatables were allowed in all pools unless need was entertainment in the downstairs pool then understandably not in this one. Kids loved the little pool by the pool bar and could help themselves to ice creams and soft drinks. The floor does get very hot so flip flops/water shoes are ideal.

Luggage - we had a late flight so checked out at 12pm and stored the luggage until we were collected at 6pm. There is also a shower and changing room to use which was ideal for changing out of swimwear for the flight.

Siam park - we had tickets included with jet2 and went twice. We loved it but it is extremely busy. Best base for us was the lost city/siam beach area which the kids loved. We got on all of the slides both times without fast passes and just judged the queues throughout the day. The free bus is so handy and regularly runs both there and back.

Overall we had an amazing time and we would 100% return to this hotel. We are gutted to be back home!