The hotel is predominantly German as is the resort apart from a few restaurants. The children entertainment was nearly all in German. There was a real tendency to put towels on the best sunbeds then go in for breakfast.

Swimming pool and gardens very nice, but a bit far from the beach, and the surroundings are not that nice either. There was a very busy road, just next to the hotel, which wasn’t good.

We stayed at the Gran Vista Thomson platinum hotel in July 2007.

The rooms are good, but don't have a bath instead it has a really good walk in shower. Glass door on the bathroom, 20" TV with BBC1, BBC2 and ITV. The beds were hard and found out on the last day the staff can put a swedish thing on the matteress that makes it softer. We had 3 beds in our room and had enough space. There is plenty of storage space and a nice touch is the spotlight above the light above your bed which is there for reading. We were on the 4th Floor and had lovely views of the garden/ pool area, sea and resort.

The food was of good quality and I would say above average. They have different themed nights and the only night I didn't like was the majorcan night. Nothing wrong with the food just didn't like any of the dishes but had some suckling pig that night. For deserts there is a wonderful selection of cakes, cream dishes, ice cream, fruit and cheese and biscuits. There was always a roast meat and a grilled meat along with 2 or 3 other meat dished. 3 different fish dishes with loads of different vegs. Breakfast had a good choice and tea lovers will be impressed with a choice 8 to 10 different teas from around the world at beakfast. Eggs and bacon, pancakes, beans, cereals, cheese and cold meats, fruits, cakes and buns ect. Coffee placed on the table on arrival. Dinner and breakfast can be eaten on the outside terrace but for dinner on the terrace they get on the tables well before the restaurant opens at 6.30pm.

Pool area has 2 main pools one near the hotel and the other in the centre of the garden. The pool in garden is on 2 or 3 different levels with waterfalls and the pool can be entered via steps or the gently slopping walk in area's. This pool is suitable for toddlers to adults with a couple of seperate paddling pools. The pool near the hotel is suitable for ages from around 4 or 5 to adult. The only concern I have with this pool is there is a line which seperates the shallow part from the deep part which is 6ft deep. I got caught out walking along to find my self going from 4 ft of water to 6 ft of water. A child who is not a good swimmer could end up in trouble because there was just a drop past the blue line on the pool bottom. There should be a danger warning on the side of the pool. We often didn't get down to the pools until between midday and 1pm. There were stacks of sunbeds available and we never had any trouble getting one. I saw about 4 towels on the sunbeds around 9am, the hotels runs a strict policy of no saving sunbeds. The gardens have a number of tree's which provide shade which means there is no needs to hunt out a unbrealla.

All the kids at the hotel were well behaved and at night there was peace and quiet. The hallways are carpeted which means you don't hear high hell shoes clattering along at 2am. The hotel public rooms and furnishings are all in good condition and don't look tired. The public rooms, gardens and guest rooms are kept very clean.

The hotel gives guests a card which can be shown in the restaurant, snack bar or any of the bars to credit your purchases to your room account. I found this good because if I was running short of money I didn't have to rush out to get cash out of the hole in the wall. They were quite happy to take cash if anybody wanted to pay that way.

Free mini golf and fitness spa. I never used the spa even though I wanted to use the gym, just didn't get time to fit it in. Children can be taken into the sauna until 11am after which there is a adult nude saunas only or wear a towel. The entertainment was nothing to write home about and this is an area the hotel can approve on. The kids club is run by tui and has german speaking staff. Thomson/tui should look at having a kids club for english speaking kids.

The hotel is, I would say 300 meters from the beach aross a main road. The main road is not a problem because where the side road on which the hotel is located leads straight to a traffic light crossing. The beach and resort centre is in a straight line from the hotel.

I have tried to give a honest report on my stay at the hotel. I would recommend this hotel to anybody and feel its at the higher end of the 4* ratings used for hotels.

This hotel is definitely geared towards the germans. However this was my second year staying there and we totally enjoyed it again. We were self catering in the apartment blocks. The apartments are very spacious, are well equipped have full air conditioning and are spotless clean. The only thing is the channels on the tv with the exception of cnn were in german. We found the bar and restaurant staff friendly, in fact they knew and recognised us from last year. The kids wouldn't go to the kids club because again it was geared towards the germans but they were quite willing to stay at the fantastic poolside. The entertainment wasn't bad but it finished at 11pm and the place emptied within a few minutes. There were fourteen of us there so we were able to entertain ourselves and have a laugh.I wouldn't like to go as just a couple on our own where very few are Irish or English.

We booked a last minute deal, so we did not know what resort or hotel we were staying at. Being with a 15 year old I was anxious that the hotel would more than cater for her needs. Unfortunately the hotel was geared more towards German clientel.

The hotel was clean and well presented, as would be expected for a 4*. If traveling as a couple without children would recommend it, but not v good for families due to lack of entertainment (we went to the entertainment the first night, although my daughter studied German, even she couldn't keep up!

We asked the advice of the rep and were pointed to the Haiti - which was great for entertainment. We spent the rest of the holiday using the Gran Vista as a base, but spent our time at the Haiti and the local bars...

95% of the guests were german.I think the bar staff and reception staff did not realise that the other 5% of guests spoke english.Food was again german orientated with very poor selections.We ended up eating out most nights.A family we met could not let their kids into the kids club as again it was geared towards the germans.Why First Choice have this hotel in their brochure beats me.Even the signs on the doors out to the pool area are in german.We presumed they meant close the doors after you, but then not being fluent in german we could not be sure !!