ClubHotel Riu Vistamar - All Inclusive

Been visiting this hotel for ten years now and once again, it did not disappoint. A big thank you to Evelio for a warm, friendly and speedy check in. This was the first time visiting since the renovations and they have done wonders for the hotel. Spacious and modern, it helps a busy hotel never feel over crowded. Traveled in a party of 6 and we never struggled to find a sun lounger, we were particularly fond of the new extension that sits on top of the Canarian restaurant, great views overlooking onto the sea. The addition of a sports bar and new pool bar on the upper level were a great idea. Definitely recommend sitting on the outside patio of the sports bar. Although it did not affect our party, the kids area has been moved to the top level where there is no lift and only stairs. Food choice as always never fails, always plenty of choice in the main restaurant and never had to wait long for food to be replenished in the dishes. I would recommend a visit to the Asian restaurant by booking at reception, food was delicious and plenty of selection. During our stay, it was a party members 18th birthday and the staff were very helpful and friendly in helping us celebrate this, they could not have been more accommodating. Unfortunately during our stay there was only 2/3 evening shows held by the in hotel entertainment team, as they were rehearsing day and night for a new show, but I know from past experiences they are not something to miss for a bit of lighthearted shows featuring singing and dancing and the level of effort they put in throughout the day and night is crazy good. If the brought in show of a saxophonist called Alex is on, it's definitely worth getting a seat to watch his show! Throughout the day the entertainment team were very friendly, wandering round the pool areas encouraging people to join in various adult games or kids club through the day, but were never pushy and respected that not everybody wanted to join in; special mention to Maarten, Saki, Hesli and Riccardo, where their enthusiasm and happy demeanour meant there was never a dull day. There was some people hit by a sickness bug, luckily our party was not affected but I don't believe the hotel can be held fully accountable for this and not some peoples hygiene, for example, washing hands as hand sanitisers are provided at the entrance to all restaurants. The rooms have been renovated to a high standard, and I am especially thankful for the addition of a walk in shower as opposed to the old shower curtains and a good hotel provided hair dryer! The general cleanliness of the hotel is to a high standard, and the hotel is full of friendly, hard working staff. It's a great hotel and it definitely won't be my last visit. I would recommend this hotel to anyone looking for a chilled holiday in Gran Canaria.

Just returned from a 12 night stay and have to thank Oscar the Director and all the staff at this wonderful hotel. We have stayed in Riu hotels previously, so we knew what to expect regarding service and accomodation. I cannot believe the negative comments regarding this wonderful hotel. Having stayed in this hotel a number of years ago, we were very much looking forward to the refurbishment - and it was money well spent. Thank you to the wonderful reception staff - Daniel, Elevio, Michael, Katie, Maik, Christian, Luis, Dominique (too many to thank)! NOTHING WAS TOO MUCH TROUBLE - Oscar you have a wonderful team and we thank you for providing such fantastic friendly, helpful staff. Restaurant staff also - Malik the maitre de absolutely fantastic. The food was superb - we never "struggled" to find anything to eat on the whole 12 nights of our stay - 5 star food quality, as good, even better than the Riu Palace hotels. The hotel is spotless and there are cleaners constantly cleaning every floor. We did experience a number of guests who had unfortunately fell victim to the vomiting bug - I must stress this was NOT the hotel's fault! I saw people not using the hand sanitisers, people not washing their hands coming out of the toilet, even a guest picking up a plate then deciding to place it back on the pile again! The hotel really cannot manage every single guest hygiene common sense!! The views to the hotel are stunning. So much more space now - never had trouble finding a sunbed and stayed during the Easter "peak" time. Animation team were great but not in your face if you did not want to participate in the daily activities. They put on excellent shows, considering they begin at 10 in the morning until 11 at night you have to give credit. The Michael Jackson Tribute Show was excellent. The rooms are modern and very quiet - no problem with mosquitoes either! We have no hesitation in returning to this wonderful hotel - it won't be a further 10 years that's for sure! Thank you Riu Vistamar.

In general, I feel that this is a good hotel. We arrived mid-afternoon, after a long journey, and were checked in very quickly. Our large, comfortable room was on the the third floor and overlooked Amadores beach which afforded us panoramic views and phenomenal sunsets. The food was varied and catered for guests on a gluten-free diet...they even have a separate toaster marked ‘sin gluten’! The wine and beer were all self-service. The wine was pleasantly drinkable but I doubt it would win any awards. The hotel is at the top of a hill with the Europa Centre a short walk away and the beach about a 15 minute walk down the hill. The hotel runs a regular bus service to Amadores Beach from where you can take a beautifully scenic walk to Puerto Rico. I highly recommend walking to P Rico and then taking the ferry to Puerto de Mogan. The evening entertainment was mixed. There were some excellent shows but there were others that needed some further work!! The beer was good but most cocktails came ready mixed in bottles. Whilst this may not be the preferred method for everyone, it meant that there was only a short waiting time at the bar. As other reviewers have said, there isn’t really a bar area apart from the Sports Bar so many guests chose to have their late drinks in the huge foyer area. The sting in the tail was the fact that we both caught a sickness bug. When we reported it to reception we got a fairly nebulous response so we then reported it to Kate, the TUI rep. Within 30 mins of telling her, the hotel had sent a small team to deep clean our room. We thought that it was just us that had this particular misfortune but, the more people we told about our plight, the more we realised that it was a major problem in the hotel. We were told that it was airborne which is highly unlikely unless you had the misfortune to be in coughing distance of someone with the bug. The hotel has a sanitiser outside the main restaurant but I believe they would benefit from random ones by the lifts on each floor and one at the main door so that guests coming in from walks/trips could clean their hands prior to using the lifts. In addition, because of the prevalence of the bug I feel that it would have been pertinent for Kate to warn guests about it during the welcome meeting which in turn would encourage guests to sanitise their hands more rigorously. The day after we had the dreaded bug, the hotel manager contacted us to enquire about our welfare. Despite our sickness bug, we enjoyed our stay at the Riu Vistamar. There were guests from a variety of cultural backgrounds which made the stay very interesting. The staff are very hardworking and are committed to ensuring that guests have an enjoyable stay. My favourite member of staff was the lady who prepared the fresh juices each morning, her disposition was as sunny as the weather.

As always, this my review and how I particularly felt this hotel suited my needs. Please read carefully and decide how you feel about the points mentioned. What I liked: - it is a stunning designer hotel which looks great and feels great - the views are absolutely unbeatable. When every room faces the see, what else can you ask for? - the updated rooms look fabulous and the bathroom is very spacious and accessible - it is huge so the volume of people is significant yet it never feels too overcrowded - the food is delicious and even a fussy veggie like me was super happy every day - the staff must be trained on a regular basis - they are beyond cheerful and polite. Everyone from the restaurant staff to chambermaids was so sweet and so polite to us. I really would like to say big thank you to them all, they made our holiday. - the views from the restaurant are to die for- wherever you sit, you can see the sea - baby pool, kids' pool, 2 beautiful grown-up pools - sun lounges always available- no matter how many guests around - regular bus taking you to the beach - lots of high chairs and kids' activities - my kiddo loved every single day - lots of activities for grown-ups - from yoga to dancing (not my cup of tea but lots of people might appreciate it) What I did not like: - not a single baby changing facility - no kettle in the room (hence we were not able to make fresh baby milk) - the toiletries in the bathroom (4 stars - really?) so we had to buy our own. Maybe there is a different approach to the star rating on the islands. - not enough lifts for this amount of customers, we had to wait a lot with our pram - baby pool located at the top of the hotel so clearly not practical - you have to climb 100s steps to get there (with a pram!) or climb a steep mountain approach (no one told us about this access, we figured it out ourselves) - tacky beach - not hotel's fault - if you have a pram or are a wheel-chair user you can use only 70% of the hotel freely. So think carefully if it is the one for you. - I had a food poisoning. I reckon I ate some tuna that was off, they claim it was a bug. In any case, it was not fun at all. But the manager called me and showed that the hotel is there to help me so thumbs up for the prompt response. Tips: - pack your own shampoos and conditioners - tell the hotel which side of the hotel you want to be located in (e.g. Do you want to see the sunrise or sunset? We saw the sunset every night and it was glorious) - Think about accessibility and if it is the hotel for you - I mainly saw families and a lot of elderly people. - Top floors are closer to the restaurant/facilities/bars, lower ones are quieter

Returned at end of March from a 1 week stay at this hotel. We were upgraded to a suite on Floor 1 on our arrival which was a bonus. We were treated to spectacular sunsets every evening from our spacious balcony looking directly over to Tenerife and snow capped Mount Tiede. Very good room location of 187. Staff were very friendly and helpful. All inclusive was a different theme every day and never tired of the extensive selection of food on offer. At dinner I did not personally enjoy the wine which you had to dispense from machine as well as the beer and synthetic tasting fruit juices also dispensed from machine. Numerous freshly prepared fruit juices were available at breakfast. It is a pity they were not available at dinner. Tried all 3 types of wine and none of them took 'my fancy'. I stuck with the cocktails, branded spirts available if you ask, otherwise local spirit will be served. Well worth booking in advance for one of the A La Carte Restaurants. We booked for the Canarian themed restaurant and it did not disappoint although it was still buffet style and had expected waiter service with a special A La Carte menu. I cannot comment about Asian restaurant as did not try it out. You have to ask at reception on arrival for a kettle if you wish to enjoy a cuppa in your bedroom without having to carry it down from the 8th or 9th floor where coffee and tea making facilities are located. Instant coffee available in restaurant if you want to fill up container and tea bags, UHT milk and sugar available at vending machines to take to your room. The hotel is 'upside down' as reception is on 8th floor and pool and leisure facilities are located on split 9th floor level with bedroom areas located on lower floor levels. A lot of stairs to climb or use the lifts. Courtesy bus runs throughout the day to take you down to the beach front of Amadores. No seating areas available on beach front facing the sea, only deck chairs and umbrellas which incur a daily rate. It is a quick 20 minute walk down to beach front but a steep steady 30 minute climb back up to hotel which is situated on top of cliff directly above beach area. I think the hotel lacks a nice pleasant lounge area to relax. The only area apart from the entertainment theatre to relax is the reception foyer which has bench seating and about 12 tables lined up against inside wall of front of hotel. Not a relaxing atmosphere at all. Delighted with our room and room service. I did not feel the need to have the sheets changed during our 1 week stay but am sure they would have been changed if requested. I went unprepared not have usual small bottles of toiletries provided. A soap dispenser was located in spacious shower which had shower wash in it and I just had to use this for my hair too, with no ill effect! I will pack small toiletry bottles in future - of which I have numerous from my other holidays - so that I am better prepared. Towels were changed as required. I have no hesitation in recommending this hotel but would hope that the few negative observations I have detailed could perhaps be rectified. It seems strange that having undergone such extensive renovation last year that the lack of appropriate lounge area was not addressed.

We arrived on tbe 26th March 2018 for a 10 night stay. The views from the hotel were stunning. We stayed on the 2nd floor. Requested a sea view with afternoon sun on the balcony which they obliged. The kettle for the room which we requested prior to arrival was in our rooms. Good job as l was led to believe the hotel had just 15 kettles for a 1000 guests. Rooms clean and spacious. Plenty of wardrobe and draw space. Requested more hangers which were promptly delivered. Showers were excellent. Hair dryer in bathroom.  Clean towels daily if required. Bed sheets changed when you require them to be changed but need to put the card they supply on the bed or sheets won't be changed. Tv in room but only 2 English channels. Fridge in room.Complimentary water each day provided. Food was ok. Lunch and dinner plenty to choose from...Pasta dishes, fish, red meat..vegetarian, salads etc. Breakfast either hot or continental. Plenty choice of cereals. Coffee brought to table but needed to fetch and make your own tea. Cakes, pastries and ice cream in abundance. Plenty of hot drinks machines available. Unlimited soft drinks. Alcoholic drinks poor. 1 choice of weak lager, cheap red & white wine and rosé. Pre mixed cocktails contained lack of alcohol.78 The sitting area outside for meals very nice with lovely views was a pleasant experience.The inside restaurant was like a glorified canteen.The staff were very attentive and pleasant.The entertainment staff worked very hard entertaining the children and adults alike. Outside area by theatre was lovely..but smokers used this area so was unable to use it with a baby . The theatre was lacking in atmosphere although the performers did their best. There is no quite area to relax. Those that like to wind down have to sit in the reception area which looks like an airport lounge. Free Wifi all areas 2 devices per room. 3 pools on 3 levels. Big design error as the childrens pool and kiddies club is on top level. Lift only goes to second level pool so you have to endure stairs with pushchair etc. Plenty of sun beds and shade. However cleaning of the floor area needs to be improved around the pools and upper sun deck area. There are grey collection trays where you are expected to dispose of your cups/glasses etc. Now for the important bit. It saddens me now to report what l can only say is a serious case of neglect and a breach of health issues by the owners, the management and Tui. What l and my family witnessed was extreme and totally unacceptable. Having travelled all over the world l have never seen anything quite like this. Children and adults alike were vomiting in ALL areas of the hotel...this was EVERYDAY we stayed. People were being sick in  the lifts, entrance to the theatre, Inside the theatre, in toilets, in the lobby area, over the seating area in reception, you could hear people being ill in their rooms. The pool area where one little girl vomited right in front of us pool edge. Despite informing one member of staff it was left far to long so people were walking through it. I saw it seep into the pool. The cleaner came and just swept and mopped it up leaving chunks of sick which he kicked to the side  I told him he needed to clean it up properly  and i went immediately to speak to the reception personal and explained what l had seen. I notice to late that someone had previously been ill on the sofa. I sat on what had been attempted to be cleaned only for the stench to remain and my dress soaking up the aftermath. This made me angry as my 13mth old grandson had been crawling all over the sofa. My daughter went to the toilet in the main reception only to find sick all up the wall. We witnessed parents running out of the resturant carrying their distresed children out before they could be sick. It came to a peak when one poor man was being sick in one of the pool side bins as like all the others it came on so quick you did not have time to make it to the toilet. Once again l had to inform a member of staff of the situation. The sick was in an open bin so now it was airborne. When someone finally came he put a new bin liner in and carried the sick one through the sun loungers. My son in law had lengthy meetings twice with the hotel mangers. Despite my son in laws concerns   they was not concerned about how many hotel guests were becoming ill. Again several meetings with the Tui rep. This is the response we got and i quote: 1-The whole island is suffering from this sickness bug. 2- The Norwegians have brought it over 3- Its the oldies drinking  to much sherry 4- Its the ice cream 5- Its to much sun 6- People doing to much in the sun. Now please dont take us for fools. The hotel and tui  have a duty of care to their customers. The tui rep said she was unaware of a problem. We found  this very hard to believe as everyone we spoke to young and old alike seemed to be ill with this sickness bug. They had been ill for 12 hrs or even days. I witnessed doctors coming on several occasions. This holiday ended up a nightmare from hell. It was a lottery who got ill and who didn't. I did get ill and reported it straight away. Now my concerns are this hotel is doing nothing to contain this sickness. The cleaners wore no gloves in the clean up. I saw them use a bucket and mop to clean the mess up then use the same mop to mop over the bar area. The same cleaner then touched tables and clean cups by the drinks machine. Without doubt they are spreading the contamination. My daughter took some pictures which angered one of the managers who then came over to her in front of all to see and thrust a bottle of cleaning fluid in her face. He  came across as angry and agressive which upset my daugter immensley and left her shaking and in shock. Again we reported the incident to the rep. We asked why they was not informing their guests of what was happening? Why was new arrivals not being told of the epidemic which was occurring? We was told they was not allowed to. They did not want to panic people. They did not believe there was a problem  I believe unless this hotel can prove a clean bill of health then tui should not send their customers here. It is unfair and something needs to be done immediately. Just before we left we did notice Tui had put a statement in their file warning of a gastroenteritis and advice on what to do. To little to late. We was also told the cleaners were spending longer than usual cleaning contaminated rooms. Do not be foiled with the aroma of essential perfume oils wafting through the hotels system. This only masks the aroma of vomit. One last observation. The toilets in the reception have no hand washing facilities for children. The hand dryers are situated to high for them yo reach. Putting in a paper towel dispenser would be advisable. Would l come back to this hotel no. Would l recommend this hotel no.    

My wife and I recently stayed at the Riu Vistamar, between 19th and 26th of March, which we booked through Thomson/Tui. Initial impressions were good. The check-in staff were pleasant and the recently refurbished room was very nice. The facilities and food seemed to be of a good standard. However, overnight on our second night (Tuesday 20th/ Wednesday 21st), my wife was very ill, suffering diarrhoea and severe vomiting. By about 9 a.m. on Wednesday these symptoms had largely cleared up, but she still felt weak and unwell. As the Tui rep was not at the hotel that day, I reported the matter direct to the hotel reception. I also rang Tui in the U.K. to tell them, and asked them to get their resort rep to contact us as soon as possible. We stayed within the hotel grounds on Wednesday, as my wife was feeling generally unwell and very cold, even needing a shawl whilst lying on a shaded sunbed, although the temperature was pleasantly warm. By Thursday my wife was feeling a bit better and we caught up with the Tui rep in the hotel on that afternoon. She had not been advised of my wife's illness by Tui U.K. and said that they would not have contacted her urgently, unless a guest had been hospitalised. She also said that Tui U.K. may have left a message at her office, which she would not have picked up until Friday of that week. It was at this point that the rep advised us that there had been many cases of this type of illness throughout all of the Canary Islands, for some time. When I asked why neither Tui nor the hotel had forewarned guests of this, she replied that they "are not allowed to", which is ludicrous and unacceptable, where health issues are concerned. We are already very careful where hygiene is concerned, but would have had a heightened awareness and taken extra precautions, had we been forewarned. During conversations with other Riu Vistamar guests in the following days, we found that many had also suffered this type of illness whilst there. Despite there being a hand sanitizer dispenser at the dining room entrance, far too many guests failed to use this. This poor hygiene inevitably increases the risk of spreading germs and causing illness. In the latter half of the week, staff were observing whether or not guests were using the hand sanitizer, but no active attempt was made to encourage guests to do so. On about Friday, the assistant manager rang us in our room to ask after my wife and told us to let the hotel know if we needed anything, After my wife's illness, she did not feel completely well for the rest of the holiday and was only able to eat mainly plain food, thus missing out on a wide range of the food available. In summary, we were failed by Tui and, to some extent, the hotel and we hope that this warning will help prevent others going to this hotel from suffering the same illness that spoiled our holiday.

Just got back from a 10 day break from this beautiful hotel, when they say all inclusive this is what you get with this hotel, didn’t have to pay for anything, free safe free WiFi and free towels for the pool and beach, even a free bus to the beach, very clean hotel and the staff so very helpful and friendly, views from every floor were excellent, the only gripe is they need more entertainment from outside of an evening, although the entertainment staff work very hard and they try very hard. We will be returning to this hotel for sure, loved it

Having dropped off pssengers at several Rig hotels in Tenerife and thinking they looked very nice we decided to try this hotel for our first visit to Gran Canaria. After an efficient check we went off in search of our room - cases were to be brought to us. Cases arrived quite quickly. The hotel has apparently undergone a 23 million pound refurbishment and only reopened last November so based on this we were expecting things to be still quite new and shiny. Our room was large and while technically it did have a sea view it was a side sea view and we got no sun at all on the balcony at any time of day. We had a big bed but the linen was not changed once during our week long stay. The biggest best wardrobes ever plus loads of sensible drawer space and plenty of hangers. However the door were badly scratched and badly painted over. Speaking of doors there was no door to the bathroom which we found highly bizarre and inconvenient. There were absolutely no extras in the room unlike a 4 star hotel we visit frequently in Tenerife e.g. no slippers, complimentary toiletries. The small fridge had horrible stains in it (I did take take pictures but so far have not been able to upload them) and no shelves. There were not enough electric sockets for us but the wi fi in the room and around the grounds was good. TV only had 2 English channels. Bathroom had great shelf under the sink which we used but the maid left clean towels piled up on the floor because there was nowhere else to put them. Bath towels were very small and in the end we used our pooktowels and changed them daily which is free to do. We were very disappointed that the tennis court which was advertised on the website at the time of booking no longer exists but we find get a refund for this because we were expecting to play every day. The gym was very poorly equipped e.g. no free weights, no mats, no Swiss balls. The hotel is vast was although there are some lifts some places can only be reached by claiming flights of stairs. Everywhere you do walk there are just vast amounts of high white concrete walls there are no flowers or shrubs around anywhere even in the sunbathing/pool areas. We did not use the pools and although there are thousands of sun beds row upon row so close to each other we did find a more spacious corner on one of the very top terraces (After climbing many steps). The lounge is vast and most nights was empty, there are just about 6 tables with chairs round them and the rest is like some huge waiting room with long rows of seats which would take about 14 people each sitting in a straight row. Totally lacking in any atmosphere. The theatre is again a vast room with just row after row of chairs packed together each facing the stage. The entertainment was poor so we didn't bother after the first two nights. There is a place called a sports bar which is horribly noisy with loads of tv screens etc - I guess the clue is in the name and somebody must want it. We always travel AI but hotels we visit either offer a card to prove it or if they are all AI nothing is needed but here, even though everyone is AI you have to have a stupid plastic wrist band. Everywhere, including the restaurant drinks are DIY from stations of taps. The wine is disgusting, the beer flat and other things like cokacola watered down. The restaurant is again vast with cafe with uncomfortable wooden chairs. There are a few miserable looking staff who wander round picking up used plates etc if you are lucky. The food is bland for example I don't eat meat but each meal the only fish option was 'grilled'fish with no name, no sauce etc. Just one night there was a sort of fish casserole but that too was bland. Every meal there were vast plates of cold boiled eggs, cut in half and sometimes with a dribble of mayo on them? There is absolutely dress code in the restaurant and so men and women wander around morning, noon and evening in shorts, t-shirts etc. Although there is man in a suit sometimes in the restaurant (presumably staff) he never engages eye contact and is usually on the mobile or sitting eating. All in all we were hugely disappointed with Riu as a hotel and will never stay at another one and we found the island itself just full of vast grey hotel or apartment blocks.