We have just returned from 2 weeks stay All Inclusive at the Holiday Village Viva. In summary we thoroughly enjoyed our time there and would recommend to anyone, particularly families.

This was our first family holiday away (we took our son aged 18 months) and were concerned about the facilities in the hotel. Our son absolutely loved his time there, the staff were friendly, the food was excellent and the complex spotless.

The first thing you will notice is that the hotel grounds and gardens are constantly being maintained. They are spotless and the gardens look beautiful. They are alike what we have experienced when travelling to the Caribbean. They do an excellent job of ensuring the areas are always clean.

I notice that most people have mentioned the sunbeds. For us this was never an issue. The bottom pool which incorporates the more shallow pools always seemed to have the sunbeds taken first. However we always made our way to the top pool at about 9am and could always get two sunbeds together with a brolley in between ensuring we had shade. I can honestly say that for the whole 2 weeks providing we were there by 9.20 we got sunbeds.

The rooms were lovely. They are spacious with everything that you could possibly need and more. It was great having a fridge in the room to keep drinks cold. The balcony was lovely and it was safe for little ones. We overlooked a pond and some trees and found even in the evenings when the entertainment was going it was not too noisy to get our little one to bed.

There was excellent choice in the restaurant. We did not bother with the children

Been All Inclusive a few times before and must say that both the hotel and food was the best I have experienced.

As has been said already, the hotel was spotlessly clean and the rooms spacious (living area, kitchen area, bedroom, wash area and large bathroom) with a large balcony.

A few points to address: We always used the sun beds by the upper pool and had no problem getting the 4 we needed at 8:45 each morning, the 7:30 sun bed rush seemed to be around the lower pool.

Some have said the food was very samey - well I suppose if you stick to the same thing every day then it would be, but there is plenty of choice (salad bar, hot food bar, grill, cold table and dessert bar) and I only had the same thing twice because I wanted it again.

Have seen better holiday rep shows, but they did do a good job. Kids loved the Mini-disco and especially Spikey Mikey, Dee, Natalie, Katie and Jenny. A special mention must go to Fogwell Flax and don't miss the ventriloquist (sorry, forgot his name, was laughing so much!) - Fantastic!!

As for the Kids Club, yes there could be a problem with the queue the night before, but I think this was caused more by the guests than the system. The first few days we were there people didn't start to queue until about 7:50 and everyone was happy. Then there seemed to be a new influx of guests that started to queue from about 7:20, thus encouraging others to join in fear of not getting a place for the kids. Another special mention here to Lee from Wavelength - fantastic with the kids, top marks.

As with all things, not everything was perfect. We went to the Sports Bar after the show on the first night and were put off going there again by the 'singing' from Powder Blue!!

Overall, a fantastic holiday, great hotel with great staff and reps. Would we go there again? YES!!

Stayed here on all inclusive basis and was happy overall, although I did have a couple of gripes. The coffee that you help yourself to is disgusting but if you ask very nicely, some staff will get you one from the bar.

Another one is the beer, it is served in very small glasses so your always running to the bar because the waiters are only there to collect glasses, probably to stop you drinking.

Food was excellent not one complain there.

Reception staff and most bar staff were excellent apart from the odd one, you will notice him by the way he never smiles and slams your half full glasses on the bar.

Hotel spotlessly clean although our balcony was not touched for 5 days, but a quick word at reception and we returned to it spotless after that.

Entertainment was excellent especially Fogwell Flax (you

This place is fantastic!!

The grounds, pool, resturants, bars are spotless. It's no accident either. There appears to be an army of cleaners, gardeners and maintenance men and women working round the clock 24 hours. Everyone's friendly - there is an 'hola' and smile from all staff.

Our rooms again were excellent. Spacious, clean and well equipped. The air conditioning is a god send when it's hot though make sure your balcony doors are firmly closed otherwise an automatic cut off will prevent the A/C from working, (makes sense really).

Don't waste time taking your own towels hire the FC green ones.

If you have young children who enjoy the splash park, head for the sunbeds in that area as you can watch them through the hedge whilst remaining horizontal!!
To get these beds you'll need to be up and out by 8am though.

If you're unlucky enough to miss the beds you want - don't worry! There are some nice grass areas around the splash park that you can lie your towels on. This is especially handy for parents like ourselves with babies as they are able to crawl around and play. (In the end we often chose to go for the grass instead of the beds).

The first choice team was both great company and entertaining. - though I base this on my experience of the Entertainment and Kids Club teams as we never had any issue that we needed to raise with the 'reps' based in the permanent office in reception.

We loved the daily water polo - though it was getting very competitive by the end of our fortnight and a few people did require medical intervention so be warned if your of a faint heart. (For that first day advantage - bounce the ball off the water when shooting)!!

Another good event was the Olympics/It's a Knockout which again was very competitive but lots and lots of fun.

Our highlights worth mentioning on the evening entertainment: Grease - especially the catsuit at the end and the Wicked Witch's death throes after being assaulted by confetti during the Wizard of Oz - it reduced the audience to tears of laughter and was surely worth an Oscar.

Finally, one last word of advice, if you don't like being hauled up on stage in front of 500 people, don't sit near the front - they'll get you. Once on stage, you may end up having to beg the audience for mens shirts and ladies underwear to win whichever game show you've been selected to play.....

I nicknamed the place 'happy land' after you've been there a few days you'll understand why.

Katie, Jenny, Natalie, Spikey Mike and DJ Dee - we thank you, (and miss you).

We travelled to the hv viva in early July 2005 on our first all inclusive family holiday with another family.

Our whole party was made up of 4 adults and 3 kids (7,8,10). The whole holiday was fantastic!! Would recommend to any family who want a lively, fun but relaxing break in the sun!!

Top tips...
Don't bring towels, hire them from reception (for free - 5 euro deposit each, that you get back at the end) and you can change them 3 times a week.

The Kids club queues are only a problem caused by the guests and in our second week there were none - don't queue until the reps appear.

Be very careful with luggage allowance as first choice seem to have clamped down on excess baggage (

I will run through the events of our holiday and will spare no blows be they good bad or indifferent! My kids are 5&7

We flew from Glasgow International expecting to be flying with 1st Choice, to find we are flying with a sub contacted airline "Air Europa" they hardly spoke English we had paid for kids meals on the flight and they got the same as us which took me back to 80's type meals on planes.

The flight was very very rough don't know if this had anything to do with the flight crew but the landing was the so harsh my head was nearly hitting the seat in front. The crew did not offer our family or anyone around us any refreshment; during the flight or duty free, and this was the start of the holiday, we were worried.

When we got our bags which I must say was very quickly compared to other airports, we were escorted onto our bus very efficiently and it left pretty much immediately, great we were on our way, driver just your usual Spanish driver mental.

Got to the resort and was very very impressed with the reception and the how quick we were checked in. Fountains grassed areas flowers etc lovely aroma.

The room was large with our own bedroom and the kids on the 2 large seats TV only had one channel but others said they had more. Toilet could have done with an extract fan. Great idea with the safe have a code and no key to carry around. Great large balcony. Hallway was quite noisy but this was probably due to the tiled floors and it really could not be any other way as it would be to hot.

The sun beds scenario was not as bad as everyone was making out. Got up at 8am and went for a bed never had no problem pool was great my kids were never out the pool, what a size the pool was (1.0M) deep. There was a lot of complaints of earache from kids and my kids did complain of sore ears toward the end of our 2weeks. The deep pool was a bit warmer don't know why. My kids did the swimming lessons which we booked before we went and were told there was no room in our first week for them and they had to go everyday on our second week, which was not ideal. My kids think they are now mark Spitz. Some music around this area would have been welcomed.

The restaurants, well the Caribbean was rubbish, the Italian is no worth the hassle. The best one is the main restaurant, although you have to ask for water for the table.

The hotel staff were very very different some were absolutely fabulous, a few of them made my kids feel a bit unwelcome at the bar for juice etc. One girl in particular never smiled from when we arrived until we left, whilst others couldn't do enough. I went to the bar once and had to ask the staff to serve the kids in front of me and then I had to put straws in their drinks as the member of staff was to bloody minded that she didn't bother and they kept the straws just out of reach, not very friendly at all.

As for the resident duo of Powder Blue, they murdered so many songs, I think they may be rejects from Pop idol or something they were absolutely terrible, the other entertainment was very good though.

Reps were fabulous, my son thought Spikey Mike was a superstar and would nudge me every time we seen him around the resort, him and as we called her spikey Dee were superb. KT is the babe of the bunch and the others are not 2 bad either, my wife just laughed at me and said she was not bothered as these young girls were not interested in old dads like us.

The kids clubs well my 7 year old was in with the 3 year olds and eventually didn't want to go, they seem to mix the 3-5 and 6-8 clubs together. Boring for the older kids. I did mention this and was told something would be done but it wasn't. No problem getting them booked in do not queue no need.

The trips, we did the pirates, all I can says is do this one it is fantastic my young boy was on stage which made it a bit special for us. Dads try and be in Captain Scarlett's team, we were in black beards but this was a guy and not a woman as I expected.

Big splash well worth it we pried hiring a car and doing it ourself but it worked out cheaper to go on the trip try the surf board ride. Rancho Grande, my daughter loves horses so we had to do this trip, we got there at 6:45pm waited an hour then got on the horses for 1.5hrs and then had to wait another hour or so before we got anything to eat. We eventually ate at 10:15pm if they were more organised this would have been a good trip. They also state that the sangria was free all night there was only one when we arrived and one with the meal and orange for the kids no water or anything else had to paid for at very high prices, verdict do not bother.

Go to the market in Can Picafort on a Friday morning this was a laugh and my daughter had her hair pulled and pleated very reasonably if you like haggling like me you will enjoy this.

First Choice staff great but resort not as good as Thomson's, Reps were much better though.

Just returned from a fortnight all inclusive holiday at this paradise in the sun. It is Fab.

Accomodation

The apartments are large and spacious and not what you would expect for an all inclusive holiday and they are kept immaculately clean.
The grounds on the complex are superbly maintained as you would expect from a new complex. Watch out for the sprinklers at 12.30am we got caught out out a couple of times going back to the apartment. (above mini glof course)

I would agree about the towels, hire them from reception with 5 euros deposit and exchange them on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. takes out all the hassle of trying to keep them clean and keeps your weight down with the luggage as they are keen in the airport.

The pool area...

There are 2 large pool areas connected by a waterfall(which the kids loved) the top pool being the deeper of the 2 pools where all the water games take place. Top tip, dont go first on the li lo race in aqua olympics, its a killer.
There is a little kiddies pool for the toddlers and i did notice that this got rather cramped.

The sun beds did fill up rather quickly by about 8.30am around the bottom pool, but around the deeper top pool you appeared to be able to get sun beds up to 9.00am. But watch out for the towel napper who would remove your towels and take them to reception if you did not stay with them until 9.00am.

The food in the restaurants was of a good standard with a large variety of diiferent foods, although by the end of the 2 weeks and a stone heavier it does become a bit monotonous. If you didn't fancy the restaurant then the snack bar was ideal for your burger, hod dog and chips etc. and they were quick with the service.
The staff always had a smile even though they never appeared to sleep.

Entertainment.

This is Butlins in the sun and we loved it. The daytime activities were great, always something to do for all ages from French bowls to water polo. We returned with a various array of certificates from entering just about everything, as well as my wife getting a black eye from the water polo. (not that rough, honest)

The evening entertainment began with kids disco and usually followed with bingo. We then had some quality professional entertainment from knife throwing to ventriloquists. Naughty Nigel was great, dont miss, the kids and adults will love him.

The reps would also put on some quality entertainment, from Wizard of oz to Grease. Dee was the star of the shows and could really sing. Wizard of Oz was especially good; the costumes were great and the munchkins especially cute. (bit bias as my daughter was one of the munchkins). The kids will love the shows and there is plenty of adult humour thrown in for the adults.

The adults games were great especially when you join in, we did and we loved it. Spikey Mike, DJ Dee, Stu, Natalie and the Jenny twins were all fabulous. DJ Dee being the pick of the baa best of the bunch, she would always go that extra mile and interact even when not on duty. Powder blue (Andy and Helen) were the resident duo. You would mainly see these in the sports bar. This is another couple that would go that little bit extra, and our kids loved them.

Kids club/reps

My oldest daughter is 10 years old and she went to the wavelength club. Lee was her favourite; he likes been pushed in the pool. (ask him to show you how to make dred locks!)

Unsung hero was Vicky who always had time for the kids. One night un be known to us my youngest daughter was being sick in the toilets and Vicky sat with her until my wife arrived. She was in her glad rags, ready for a night out with friends so well done Vicky.

Vicky was also the rep on the pirates trip, which by the way is fantastic, dont be put of by the early set of or long bus ride, the rep keeps you entertained.(Viva give Vicky a pay rise)

Well done first choice and especially Mike and Dee, keep up the good work. We would definitely return in a flash.

With all our love from Baaarnsley.

Excellent is all I can say.

Apartments - very very clean

Food - Good and varied chioce everyday

Pools - Excellent no problems whatsoever

Reps - Superb (esp Spikey Mike and Dj Dee) all work very hard

Entertainment - we enjoyed it very much they have a mini disco for the little uns followed by big cash bingo (up to 500 euros some nights) and then a cabaret act..Fogwell Flax was very good.

Sunbeds - All english resort but with german traits ie you will have to get up at 7.30 to put a towel on your sunbed ..you will have to stay with your sunbeds till 9am otherwise your towells will be removed and taken to reception. we tended to get up about 10 and just lay our towels out on the grass which was just as good if not better.

Bars - Very well run

Kids Clubs - I cant see what the fuss is about. All you have to do is queue for about 20 mins the night before to book your kids on a session for the following day. Believe me there is plenty for all the kids of all ages to do.

Plenty for the adults too during the day ie Killer Darts , Killer Pool, Crazy Golf competitions, Water Polo etc etc all worth having a go . If you win you get a certificate which you collect on stage in the evening.

Location - Excellent only a short walk to town with nice resteraunts and bars. No Club 18-30 rowdiness or Time Share people anywhere.

Trips . Definately go to The Pirate shows but dont bother with the Caves of Ham a complete waste of time !

All in all we cannot fault the place one bit and will definately book again for next year.

Rooms absoulteley spotless for the full 2 weeks the cleaners where cleaning 24/7.

As agroup of 9 we could not fault the food at all there was plenty of choice and something for everyone no matter how picky they are even the children aged(2/7/9).

Lovley location only a 10 min walk to the main drag with plenty of shops bars and resturants.

The staff are very helpfull, pleasent and cant do enough for you.

Entertainment for the kids was fantastic, the reps theme nights(greece etc)was brilliant but found powder blue to be not so good on stage but great in the sports bars later in the evening.

As this was our first all inclusive holiday we could not complain and would definately go back to this hotel again.

Well we have just spent a wonderful week in this hotel and I would highly recommend it to anyone with a family.

We started off self catering and upgraded to all inclusive. A good selection of food from yogurt, fruit, cereal to a full English and pancakes with every kind of topping for the kids at breakfast. Lunch salads, fruit, soup, hot food and much the same at dinner.

The hotel is one of the cleanest that I have been in, there are always staff around buzzing about cleaning everything that doesn't move.

The hotel staff from cleaners, restaurant and reception are excellent, always helpful and available whatever the reason.

The First Choice entertainment team are magnificent, they cater for a wide variety of humours and the kids absolutely love them.

The normal pro acts they bring in could be better, although some of them were really good.

I would definitely go back again, a huge thumbs up to First Choice for this hotel, they have definitely got it right.