Towards the end of July we were suffering with another heatwave (50C on the beach) so we decided to spend a few days in a nice hotel somewhere with a/c, swimming pool and endless drinks so we got the all-inclusive offer from Riu Club Vistamar.
Check-in time is 15:00 and they are quite strict about it. We turned up at 13:00 but rather than check on a computer or with housekeeping to see if our room was ready, we were told to go and have lunch and wait until 15:00.
Having previously stayed in the Riu Palace hotels I was really, really looking forward to the buffet but the Club hotels seem to be an economy, kid-friendly version of the Riu Palaces. We were both disappointed with the quality and selection of food in the main buffer restaurant for lunch. Most of the restaurant was empty with perhaps a third in use so not too much choice but we ate OK. I was just expecting.... more.
At 15:00 we got our keys and went to our rooms. I guess as we had a special rate we were on a lower floor so had a good view of the cliff as well as the ocean. The higher up you are the more ocean you see though even on the lower floors where we were, the ocean view was quite stunning.
The room was nice, the beds were very comfy, there's a balcony with table and two chairs (even though there were three of us), bath, shower, a/c. We couldn't hear the neighbours through the walls which is always good.
We left our bags, changed and went down to the main pool. Of course there were no sunbeds to be had. I wonder why they don't build these hotels with a larger sundeck as this is the case most places. We asked the pool attendant to remove two towels but he wasn't sure which ones weren't being used. In fact half the sunbeds weren't being used. They'd just been saved with a towel. We stood and waited for someone to go as it was 16:00 already then got our sunbeds that way. There's no bar by the pool. You have to walk to the other side of the hotel to the outside restaurant (also serves a light lunch).
For the evening we were back in the buffet restaurant again for dinner and this time we were happy. It's not quite on a par with the "Riu Palace" hotels but dinner was good, everything was open and there was a huge choice. The three of us ate well.
There's evening entertainment provided and though we never stopped, we did see it was nice and busy and BIG, plenty of space.
Next morning we slept in a little so went down for breakfast at 10:30 to find it had shut at 10:00. Furious. It's an all-inclusive hotel but at 10:30am you can't get anything to eat. we checked upstairs by the pool restaurant but nothing there either.
The one nice thing is that on your last day, if you have an evening flight then for 20 euros extra you can stay in the complex until 17:00 eating and drinking (when everything opens up again aroiund noon).
If you're looking for a basic package holiday in the sun where the kids are entertained and you can relax by the pool all day then this is for you. If you're looking for a bit of luxury, a "wow" factor or even a bargain (our deal was 190 a night for three people) then this is not your hotel.
Sorry Riu Club Vistamar but we werent impressed. No reason to comjplain really you just never impressed us so we'll give you a 6 out of 10.
There's more info at this link here but take note the infinity pool doesn't exist. There's an opaque glass barrier along the edge.
