Spring Hotel Bitacora

Loved every minute of this hotel 10* ! We had the best time The kids entertained all day and night . Lovely food, great clean hotel . No complaints and have highly recommended to lots of people . The foam party was so fun!

Just returned from a weeks holiday at Bitacora. We were a couple (in their 20’s) staying with no children.

Upon checking in, we were advised our room was not ready and if we could possibly stay at the Vulcano for 1 night and come back the next day! The hotel were very apologetic of this and upgraded us to all inclusive for the inconvenience. We were very appreciative of this!

Once checked in, we were worried at the amount of children (this was totally understandable as it’s a family friendly hotel) just not for us. This was middle of June so wasn’t overrun. We decided to upgrade to UP for the duration of our stay for a relaxing area to chill out and sunbathe.

UP: We upgraded to this as we were eligible for the all inclusive upgrade price so only cost us around €117 approx each so thought we’d treat ourselves. We would never have paid the price when we were half board as this was working out over €350 each for the week.

Their is an adults only area within the main pool area, however this was not really policed and often seen kids running through it and hovering around.

The up area is fantastic! So chill! Everyone has a sunbed up there and you could easily go up at 12/1/2 and still get a sunbed very easily! Their is also a large portion of seating if you want to grab something to eat or have a drink in the shade. It had an infinity pool with also 2 hot tubs! These were never busy and had enough room to roam in the pool!

The bar was very good! All spirits available with top shelf spirits available to have as part of the up package, additionally with around 20 cocktails to choose from! We were never stuck for choice!

My only 2 negatives I would say about the up is; the staff are in need of a bit of extra training! Every staff member made my cocktails differently and sometimes didn’t taste the nicest! Only special mention was to Diana! We hoped every day she would be upstairs in the UP bar as she was so kind, funny, and always had a smile and made the cocktails very very well!!

My other negative is value for money! For the daytime this was very well worth it! But in reality you are only getting more top shelf spirits, and a reserved sunbed and a bit of peace! They could make so much more use of the space in the UP section! Considering UP closes at 6pm. This would have been an ideal place to go up on an evening to enjoy a few drinks before going out on the night time!

The UP area is very quiet with sometimes only around 5-10 people up there! I personally feel they could offer non UP guests a chance to visit upstairs on an evening to experience it! With potential of having a live singer or band on during an evening!

Food:

Breakfast was excellent! So much to offer! Fresh omelettes and eggs being made by the chefs, both types of bacon, sausages (even though they were the cheap kind), extensive amount of bread, fresh fruit, yogurts and pastries! Never struggled on a morning for what to choose from!

Lunch time we often went to the Papayas Bar (Pool Bar), this was a ordering on a screen style system! Offered all sorts like burgers, chicken nuggets, hot dogs, chips and among other type stuff. A tip in this bar, if you ask the staff for a menu, you can have more of a substantial meal and a lot more adult choices on there served in full size options! This part wasnt really explained to us and only realised this on the last day! We wish we knew about this sooner! Their is also the buffet restaurant to visit during lunch hours.

Evening meal was within the buffet restaurant (same as breakfast), this was the only real downside to the food! Their was enough options, but however did not change up regularly! Often having the same meals every night! Only 1 night their was a Mexican night were we their was plenty options to choose from! We did opt to eat out on some nights as their are plenty restaurants out of the hotel within Las Americas. The only feedback I would pass on was to the chefs, their was a fresh grill option were they were cooking chicken, pork, beef and fish. This was beautiful however their was no safety around food hygiene, often times they were just putting anything on peoples plates without checking if this was fully cooked and also using the same utensils for raw and cooked meat.

Entertainment and bar area:

Their is an entertainment bar near to reception which often had children’s entertainment on, from around 5/6pm. We only visited there on 2 occasions to grab a drink before we went out into the bars in Las Americas. The staff were very very slow! Their was 5-6 staff sometimes on the bar making themselves look busy but not actually doing anything! The bar constantly had a queue next to it and often waited 10-15 minutes for a drink! This become annoying and left us to just leave the bar and get a drink in the town. Their was no sort of adult entertainment I seen advertised so the bar has no pull factor for adults/couples staying at this hotel! Mainly for children and families.

Hotel room: The hotel room was very good! Clean and fresh room! Windows stretched across the room so gave this a very fresh and bright room! The room was cleaned daily as long as you put the sign on the door!

Has all the amenities like shower gel, shampoo and soap! The only thing this didn’t have was tea and coffee as this was an extra cost to be supplied!

I’d reccomend using the online app which you can register to before your stay or when you get there! You can go on the app and request new bedding, fresh towels, mini bar stock up, and also find out all the bars and restaurants and look at their menus.

Staff: Majority of the staff were friendly! The check in staff were always happy to help! The up and papagayo staff were always helpful and attentive! My only negative was as mentioned the staff in the entertainment bar who were very slow at service! The other negative was from check in, the staff didn’t really explain all amenities included, they didn’t mention the spa and gym which we only realised on the last day, and any other things within the hotel.

My overall thoughts: This was a very good hotel! Plenty of food options, a clean and modern hotel! I would definitely return however not at an all inclusive board basis, with the price of all inclusive sometimes reaching £1300pp for a week in June, their is other parts of europe that can offer all inclusive cheaper with many more bars and private restaurants, better food options and more of a luxury feel! The location was perfect! Around a 5 minute walk from the golden mile strip and around a 15 minute walk to the Veronica’s strip. I’d likely return on a B&B basis only due to the amount of restaurants and bars out there!