The best hotel is the Rio Park,great staff,good food,having been in a few hotels over the years,this is my number 1. Rosietulip

I would not stay at the Rio Park again even if it was for free. Last time we stayed there the Dining Room was infested with cockroaches. They were crawling all over the plates in the hot plate dispensers. You had to wait an eternity for the lifts. The Bed Linen was not changed all week, and depending on what part of the hotel your room is located in, you might be overlooking the service yard which is very noisy all day and all night.
Single rooms are very tiny with no balcony and a bath that even a kiddie would find difficult fitting into. And I was not impressed with the attitude of the staff. Very rude and unhelpful.

Now that it has been refurbished it looks dreadful. A dark imposing black entrance and plastic chairs in the reception. It feels more like a Hospital than a Hotel. (We took a tour after the recent refurbishment to see if MedPlaya had made any improvements, but in my himble opinion its worse now than what it was before.)

No, I would certainly not recommend the Rio Park. I have not stayed in the other Hotels mentioned so I cannot comment, but my advice would be to forget the Rio Park....avoid it like the plague. (Same as the Pueblo)

The Rio Park is also the main 'Drop Off' point for those people that book transport to Resort only, so it does get very busy at the bottom of the footpath.

And I would not recommend Regente.
No or little entertainment, meals repetitive, dull and tasteless, we ate out most of the two weeks we went.
Pool area is good except the hotel manager must have a deal going with surrounding apts as habitants used our pool, as well as the maids children.
There is an entrance from the main road into the pool area so strangers come in and use it. Several people had stuff stolen by the pool!!! No life guard.
Walls are paper thin so don't expect to get much sleep.
This hotel is also the furthest away from main drag or bars, clubs etc.
Stick with the Ambassador if you know whats good for you.

Cazz.

And i'd agree with Cazz.
Gailxxx

Hi all! - Thanks very much for replies. I have made my mind up it's going to be the ambassador. It's slap bang in the middle of everything, the food, and entertainment was great. Just thought I might save myself a £100, (Being the tight yorkshire lass I am !!), but from your reply cazz (About the regente), and your reply BenidormhereIcome (Rio park), I think it's well worth the extra £100 for piece of mind. The reason I asked about these 3 hotels was, they were the only 3 offering a free childs place (Won't be as lucky next year when he turns 13), so making sure I get one last free childs place squeezed in . God, I sound like a right tight eh? Thanks gail, and Rosie too,for your replies, will book ambassador tommorow, much appreciated. All the best. BBB.

Glad to be of help, only wish someone had told me before we went.
I know whta you mean about free child places. We always book a year in advance for that reason. We are going to the Flamingo Oasis fully inclusive as it was £200 cheaper than half board at the Pelicanos.
Enjoy your holiday. 8 weeks tuesday till ours

To those recommending or criticising particular hotels, it would perhaps help if you could give an indication of when you actually stayed there. The current standards at those hotels may bear no resemblance to standards a few years ago. Opinions from undated trips may contradict more recent reviews from our members, and could cause confusion for anyone considering these hotels.

For example, BHIC's comments about the Rio Park contradict most of the reports on our reviews page, and so quoting the date of your trip might be more beneficial than suggesting that it should be avoided "like the plague". Did you submit a review of the Rio Park, BHIC ? Or does your stay at the hotel pre-date our hotel reviews site ?

David

Hi Dave
I stayed at Regente first two weeks of June 2005.
I have a review submitted under Hotel Reviews if anyone wants to read it.
Hope that helps.
Cazz.

Hiya David

I`ll gladly give you a report on the Regente, might even manage a video.

Should be there in 36 hours

Besos xxx
sanji

Hi cazz , we booked to go away at end of july (about 14 months ago,- that way it gives us plenty of time to save - just payed the hol off this weekend - now have to start saving the spends!), but thats the reason we booked early too, for free childs place, and the best part is that the same holiday has gone up over £500!!

Sanji - Have a brilliant time, - did you fancy a change of hotel?, as I'm sure you always went to the dalmatas (Spelling?), can remember reading your posts about this hotel, and have passed it on the way past the triangle, and it did look lovely, but I guess a change is as good as a rest! Enjoy. Regards, BBB

For example, BHIC's comments about the Rio Park contradict most of the reports on our reviews page, and so quoting the date of your trip might be more beneficial than suggesting that it should be avoided "like the plague". Did you submit a review of the Rio Park, BHIC ? Or does your stay at the hotel pre-date our hotel reviews site ?

I stayed in the Rio Park in October 2002. I have submitted reviews of this Hotel, and I'm almost sure I posted a review on HT but I cannot find it now. It may have been on another similar site. I appreciate your comments David, and the last thing I would want to do is to dissuade someone from booking this Hotel if that is their choice. I have read the reviews about the Rio Park on the Hotel Reviews pages, but I am afraid based on my own personal experience, I could never stay there again. All I can say is that I thought the general idea of HT was to tell the truth as one sees it, and I could not recommend the Rio Park as a place to stay. It was in October 2005 when I had a look around following the refurbishment, and I was not very impressed.

Maybe things have changed at the Rio in the past few years, but based on what I observed last October, I doubt that very much. But what I would consider rubbish, someone else might consider gold....we are all different and we all have different standards and expectations. The cockroach infestation at the Rio Park when I stayed there was enough tp put me off from returning to the Rio ever again. Especially when I have stayed at far superior Hotels (The Venus and The Castillia) since then.

Just my humble opinion and I appreicate its not everyones, but the original poster asked if fellow HT members could recommend one of three Hotels....I could not comment on the other two as I have not stayed at these Hotels....I posted my comments on the Rio Park in good faith based upon my memories of a very unpleasant stay there. And I would never book to stay there again, no matter how cheap it was or what Special Offers/Deals were available. I'd sooner pay a little more for a better Hotel.

Another thing I remember about the Rio Park (which I agree may now be different, although there was no sign of this when we had a look around last October) was the smoking. There were no designated No Smoking areas in any of the Public areas of the Hotel. The whole building stank of stale nicotine. To get to the covered 'aviary' area outside you had to walk through the bar and the smell of stale smoke in there was overwhelming, it hit you in your eyes, and you had to hold your hand over your mouth and make a dash for it. Plus, I also remember in the large lounge, kids and youths were just left to run riot, climbing all over the seating with their trainers on, and generally making a noise. In fact the seating at that time was in tatters. Now the lounge looks like an Airport Departure Lounge with plastic seating and bright garish lights.

The Lifts were another major problem when I stayed there, and although I understand a further lift has been installed now, I honestly don't see how that one extra lift is going to make that much difference when you take into consideration the sheer size of the Hotel and the large number of rooms.

Maybe my comments about avoiding it like the plague were perhaps a little strong, but when I wrote them I was thinking of the cockroaches crawling all over the Dining Room and on the dinner plates, which is something I can never forget. Maybe standards have improved since then, but I would still never stay there again.

(Edited:- following David's reminder that I actually stayed at the Rio Park in 2000, and NOT 2002, as I have stated above. Many apologies)

I haven't actually stayed at the Rio Park but a few years ago, Sept 2000, we stayed at the Flamingo Playa and the Kids club amalgamated one day with the kids from the Rio Park and had a sports day. I had a look around this hotel, as you do and I wasn't impressed with it, at the time our hotel looked much nicer.
In recent years the reviews on the Flamingo Playa have been terrible and I for one would not book to stay there regardless of the price.
On my return trip from Beni on the 24th March I was sat next to a lady on the plane who had stayed full board at the Rio Park for a month and had nothing but praise for the place.
The point that I am making is how things can alter over the years and I personally think that all Hotel reviews on whatever site should have an "expiry date". otherwise it does not reflect an accurate account of the hotel in question.
I would be interested to hear what other members think about this controversial subject.

Sue

Hi Bellyballyboo.
Just priced our holiday (if we'd booked it now) and no free child places left and its gone up £516. It pays to book early I say

Too right!!!

Just been into my local thompson travel agent, and asked if they would price match/beat the price I had been quoted on line with thompsons, and they agreed! , so booked there and then. I have never booked with thompson's before - (always found them expensive), and have always booked with direct hols/airtours, but the same holidayand flights in airtours was £240 more (Even with free childs place), and nearly £400 more with direct holidays (No free childs place!.)

So for 2 adults, 1 child, at the ambassador playa hotel, half board, 3-10 October. £713.00p. Well chuffed with that price, and couldn't have done a d.i.y holiday cheaper. Regards, BBB.

The point that I am making is how things can alter over the years and I personally think that all Hotel reviews on whatever site should have an "expiry date". otherwise it does not reflect an accurate account of the hotel in question.
I would be interested to hear what other members think about this controversial subject.

That sounds like a good idea to me. But not sure how it would work in practice, but its a very valid point and a good idea. I mean I have read some very adverse reports about the Hotel Venus on various sites, but I do not agree with them, as I am sure some people do not agree with my comments about the Hotel rio Park.

We all have different expectations, and a lot of people just use their Hotel as a 'base' and don't really care about the services on offer, or the cleanliness, or the food quality etc. But I personally do. As a single traveller, I am forced to pay single room supplements, and this is another reason why I would never stay at the Rio Park again, because the single rooms are extremely small with no balcony and a tiny window with a bath that I could not sit in properly.

But it should also be born in mind that the Rio Park is only a 2* Hotel....or at least it was when I was there, not sure if its been re classified a higher rating following the refurbishment which in my humble opinion has done nothing to improve the Hotel. But this is just my own personal view.

I'd be more than happy to submit a full Hotel Review on the Rio Park, but it would be based on my recollections of my stay there a few years back and thus would not be up to date....and therefore probably of very little use now....but if David wants me to I am more than willing to.

We have a cut off point for our reviews which at present is set at 2004.

We also check the country of the poster and will not allow reviews to be posted from the country where the accommodation is situated. We do this to protect the holidaymakers from receiving what could be a biased postings either by the hotel itself or one of its rivals.

Although your reviews only go back as far as 2004 (which I didn't realise) it would also be a good idea to scrap any that are written prior to major refurbishments as they do not give members a true reflection of the current standards.
Holidays uncovered goes back to at least 2003 as I put a review on about the Benimar Apartments in Beni in March of that year and it is still there, I think that 12 to 18 months would be about right. Although in my experience, standards can alter from week to week especially regarding food, if the Head Chef is on Holiday then anything can happen (But thats another story)

Sue

BHIC ... of course you are entitled to express your personal opinions about this hotel, just as everyone else is. The important thing in this case is that an indication of the date was given, as anyone reading your opinions could mistakenly believe that you were speaking from very recent experiences. The fact that the trip in question was several years ago, could influence their decision about choosing Hotel Rio Park, especially when considered against more recent reviews which we have. I have since found your review of the Rio Park on our old site, (including mention of the cockroach issue), with a travel date of 2000.

With regard to the smoking issue, I believe public areas in this hotel are now completely non-smoking.

The long running problem with queues for lifts has now been eased with the installation of two additional lifts during the recent refurbishments.

Although all bedrooms have been refurbished, including installation of air conditioning, obviously this would do nothing for the fact that some rooms are relatively small, compared with some more recent constructions.

As far as I know, Hotel Rio Park is still 2*, working towards 3* status.

David

with a travel date of 2000.

Wow, it was further back than I thought it was Doesn't time fly when you are ahaving fun

David, I agree entirely with your comments. I apologise if my previous posts in reference to the Rio Park on this tread have misled anyone in anyway. Obvioulsy that was not my intention. Six years is a long time, so maybe things have changed now at the Rio Park, but following my brief 'inspection tour' after the recent refurbishment, I am still not impressed. Sorry.