Elba Sara Hotel

[rab_c.]

hope to try and add a few comments on the elba sara and a couple of the barcelo hotels in costa caleta over the next few weeks plus a little insight to the new sheraton next door more or less to the elba sara which is almost complete
what i will say for now is that the elba group and barcelo seem to be in serious competition in the costa caleta area at the moment.
this is an area well worth a visit and with the golf course and all the new buildings being constructed around it. will be a force to contend with in the near future plus only a short distance from the airport,
i also have a few pics which i will link to covering a few hotels bars and shops in the area.
rab_c.

[Stephen]

agree with the competition the Barcelo on the front was there when i first went there 12 yrs ago and the Elba wa the big one by the lighthouse , they also had a Elba in Nuevo Horitzonte which is now called Costa Antigua


The Golf course staged the spanish open 2 years ago when it was literally still brand new and i can see that all the hotels being built especially Sheratons and Barcelos and elbas means they are expecting a lot of other major competitions , as last time the players were scattered over the island and even in lanzarote due to lack of beds of the quality they required on the island

did you visit the Red Lion in the Montecastillo , it is near Chaplins

[rab_c.]

the elba sara as promised

this hotel sits right on the outskirts of costa caleta more or less to the south. it is a direct approach for planes coming in to land but that never affected us.
hotel is large and airy large reception with a piano bar to the side of reception downstairs is the restaraunt, gym, cabaret hall

bedrooms are bright well decorated and have all the usual mod cons expected of a 4* minus tea and coffee making facilities all rooms have a sea view.

front of the hotel is the golf course which held the spanish open a few years ago what a lovely course this is out the back is a man made cave tennis courts, putting green , jaccuzi even massage beds in the pool and wow they are fantastic and direct access to the beach. on the north side of the hotel is the atlantico shopping complex with bars and restaurants and multi complex cinema also a mcdonalds and burger king sits beside the hotel on the south side of the hotel is tranquility and a lovely sea walk to the next town.

it is a fair walk in to the main resort from here but a courtesy bus runs every hour and stops at most of the elba and barcelo hotels enroute
this hotel can be booked through owen at http://www.islascanariastours.com/1110/ab1110.html

i have a few pics of hotel here http://cheryl9125.fotopic.net/c822309.html

rab_c.

[TrippleNipple]

Hi all,

As a former holiday rep in Costa Caleta I thought I'd add my tuppence worth (I'm in between assignments, hence the trawling of random holiday sites to stave off the boredom!).

I haven't worked at the Elba Sara but I have visited it on many occasions and it does look 'classy'. It's situated next door to the Atlantico Shopping Centre which is about a 15-20 minute walk from the heart of the resort and yes, there is a courtesy bus than runs hourly, but it does have a lot of stops on the way. I've been in a couple of rooms and they were both lovely and fairly spacious, although do try and get one with a sea-view as it is stunning. This hotel has no rep stationed there but I understand it rarely receives complaints from guests.

There are 2 Barcelo hotels in the main resort, the Barcelo Fuerteventura and the Barcelo Club El Castillo. The Barcelo Fuerte is a lovely 4* star hotel that I HAVE worked in and most guests are happy with it, on the whole. The most common gripes are that the heated pool is not heated (it is heated 2c above outside temperature so on a cold day it will not feel heated), and the entertainment can be patchy. The food here is superb and probably the best I have experienced in any hotel, and in 3 months I received only one complaint about the food (which was at the end of a long list of unjustified complaints by a particularly stroppy guest). The other minor problem is that cats congregate outside the restaurant at meal-times. This may not be a problem for some (it certainly isn't for me), but they do this because guests feed them, so don't blame the cats or management, it's the fault of your fellow guests!

The Barcelo Club EL Castillo is more apartment/bungalow based and I experienced a LOT of problems with this particular complexl. The worst problem is that if it rains heavily (which it can do between October-January), then most of the rooms will flood. One week, 70% of the hotels rooms were completely flooded out and guests had to stay in their rooms as we had nowhere else to put them. There were also issues with brown water and no hot water some days (the brown water thing sounds disgusting but happens a lot in the Canaries and a surprising amount of people just get on with their holiday).

If you're looking at the 4* end of the market then 2 of the options in Costa Caleta are the Elba Sara and the Barcelo Fuerte. If I was pushed to make a choice, I'd go for the Barcelo Fuerte as the food there is fantastic and the reception staff are amazingly friendly and efficient (most of them speak 3 languages at the very least!). It also has the benefit of being at the heart of the resort and it's entertainment is by far the best in Costa Caleta when they have a decent ents manager.

As for the bars and restaurants in Costa Caleta, the reps mainly frequented the same places so I can't really offer a broad assessment. The best restaurant I found for traditional English food was the Country Kitchen (run by a lovely couple called Bob and Jean) and you can find that next to the police station. There is one small strip of restaurants that include Greek, Portugese, Steak, Italian and Spanish opposite the main resort and I never heard bad things about any of them. Lively bars are few and far between. The best bar I found was Piero's (sp?) behind the Barcelo Fuerte. FirstChoice held a party night for their guests there every Thursday and I would invite my guests along (I don't work for FC lol!). The Flower of Scotland bar was also a nice enough bar but like so many others in Fuerte, very 'quiz and karaoke' based.

I'm sure some may disagree with my opinion, but then one thing I've learnt in my job is that you most definitely cannot please all the people all the time!! It's 3.45am and I'm really bored so I'm sorry if my little contribution is unnecessary or unwelcome.

Regards

W

[jennyphil]

In 2004 we paid to upgrade to the Elba Sara from the DISGUSTING King Jorge (which we had booked as a 4A - Airtours) & were delighted with the hotel

Initially given a 'basement room' - yes really - and moved the following day to a beachfront. Lovely views.

Good atmosphere; unlike the 'Morgue' of its Sister Hotel the ElbaPalace Golf...

Excellent facilities & well run....until the last day - own fault really! Left an almost new £85 shirt hanging in the wardrobe, forgot to put it on for the journey home. Phoned the Elba Sara on arriving home. They retrieved the shirt & kindly sent it to me- unfortunately it 'changed' into a worthless grey boys shirt!

We're returning to Fuerteventura in May, 1st week at the Sunrise Beach Apartments in Costa Calma & 2nd week at El Caleton Cotillo.

[rab_c.]

lovely comments triplenipple tend to agree with you and if we were to go back although the elba is lovely the barcelo fuerte is perfectly located for all the bars rests etc. you truly are a holiday rep.
good luck
rab_c.

[yflood]

hi there
this has nothing to do with the hotels there but anyone who has been to caleta recently could they let me know is it still a very windy resort,i went a couple of years ago and very rarely got to sunbathe on the beach because of sand blowing all around even around the apartment pools towels were blowing away.would love to revisit it with the 3 young kids but dont know if they would be comfortable and from my last experience there you can get more sunburn as you dont feel the intense heat with the wind.

[jennyphil]

hi there
this has nothing to do with the hotels there but anyone who has been to caleta recently could they let me know is it still a very windy resort,i went a couple of years ago and very rarely got to sunbathe on the beach because of sand blowing all around even around the apartment pools towels were blowing away.would love to revisit it with the 3 young kids but dont know if they would be comfortable and from my last experience there you can get more sunburn as you dont feel the intense heat with the wind.

Fuerteventura IS more windy than Gran Canaria...keeps the children off the beach.

Exposure to sun requires protection, windy or not!