Estival Islantilla Reviews

It's not the first time we go!! We love the location, facilities, services, staff…

Wonderful 🤩

I will not book with you again

Good afternoon . my name is Fisenkco Dmitri I lived from 06/04/24 to 06/13/24 I left a cash deposit of 50 euros, on 06/14 55.43 euros were withdrawn from my account. when I checked out, I asked if I had to pay anything extra, I was told that everything was fine, I didn’t owe anything. In fact, I was simply deceived by the reception staff. namely Christina, she took cash from me. Yes, as for service and room service. I was with my family and asked for a room with a non-smoking area, they didn’t seem to hear me and they put me in a room above the restaurant terrace overlooking road number 252, naturally they were smoking on the terrace and this smoke was coming into my room, after a couple of days my patience ran out and I asked for a different room... they gave me room 185, at least they cleaned it and changed the towels than in the previous one... I don’t know what influenced this, my passport, my nationality... Some of the staff don’t speak English and no one even knows German , which complicates communication. Now about the system of drinks and food: drinks, especially cocktails by the pool, are simply terrible, how can you drink such slop, like a 4-star hotel. different prices between branches of different bars by the pool when I bought ice cream, despite the fact that the prices should be the same (fraud). As for the food, although here they were up to par... but there is also a point: you cannot order tea and coffee for cash during dinner. I had half board, which did not include alcoholic drinks, which was kept silent at the reception, and the tour operator TUi said that I only had to pay for alcohol...

The best: Excellent hotel, excellent food, very reasonable drinks, very friendly and available staff, excellent beach but it is very difficult to walk and go to the bath due to the huge amount of broken shells in the sand, the pool is excellent. Worse: This year I had a cockroach with 8cm in my bed walking all over me at 3am and I had to call reception to have the animal removed. We didn't sleep anymore that night and no one took responsibility or wanted to alleviate the damage caused.

To start the hotel itself is really lovely looking, it is quite big! It has a good selection of pools for all ages, there is a waterslide pool, a main pool and two younger children's pools, there are a choice of 3 different bars and a snack bar to choose from out of meal times which was really good. The hotel also has access to a lovely beach just out of the gate and also has a shop on site which was really handy We unfortunately left our pram at Faro airport but the TUI rep Stuart at the hotel was so helpful in explaining what we would need to do to get it back and even found out from the hotel reception that they actually had one that we could hire for the week which was a life saver. The rooms were spacious and quite modern but also a little dated in some areas. The towels were replaced every other day which we didn't mind about, the cleaners however we didn't feel were up to scratch, every day they would come in and make the bed and clean the toilet then leave, the floor was only mopped once the whole week, which, with an 18month old and going to the beach etc you can imagine the floor wasn't the cleanest, I ended up having to wear flipflops in the room or my feet would be covered in bits. The air conditioning wasn't great, it felt like it was kicking out warm air at some parts of the night, but, luckily in June it wasn't scorching outside so we could put up with it. The food at the hotel was really really nice, we couldn't fault it one bit, every breakfast was similar kind of food (obviously) but they always tried to mix it up with different fruits, yoghurts etc. The lunch seemed to be different every day and always lots of choice, the evening meal had a theme every night of the week which was really good. You could walk up and get your own alcoholic or non alcoholic drink which was easier. Usually we would go out for a meal one or two nights on a holiday as the food usually gets a bit samey but we didn't feel we had to and thought a meal out might have even been worse. People have mentioned that there are queues to get into the restaurant, it's really not bad, you maybe waiting for about a minute as the staff on the door really try and accommodate quickly. A little moan we had was that sometimes we thought we were at school, the hotel have set rules throughout and they really abide by them (which is understandable to a point), for example we sat at a table that the staff didn't assign to us in the dining room once and was asked why we had sat there. I also wore a bikini covered with high waisted shorts in the snack bar area and was told to go and put a top on. The pool doesn't open until 10am even though you are allowed to sit around it on the sunbeds, which, with kids you are just asking for them to jump in rather than wait, but, you will be asked to leave if you step in before 10am. I did want to point out though that another review said they were strict about sunbeds and moved peoples towels if they weren't sat on them for a short w

This is an update to my initial review, as after further reflection on our experience at the hotel, I felt my original comments were too critical due to a minor setback. Currently staying here with my family, including a 6-year-old boy and a 9-year-old daughter. Starting with the positives, the food at this hotel is exceptional. It's a buffet, which suits our family perfectly on all-inclusive holidays, giving the kids the freedom to choose what they want at each meal. The selection is vast and of outstanding quality, making it a highlight of our holiday experiences. The staff organize and maintain the food area incredibly well, keeping it clean and making the dining process seamless. There is a walk-up snack bar available during the day, where you need to wear at least a top to enter, but it’s great for letting the kids grab snacks whenever they like, which they really enjoy. There is also a Mexican restaurant available, though we never felt the need to use it. The hotel has three pools; one is a kid's splash park with three slides and a lily pad-style crossing, providing endless fun. The other, larger pool has a small section for children and allows inflatables if desired, and there is a baby pool to the far side. Lifeguards are present, but as is standard in all hotels, parents are expected to supervise their children. The bar staff are always helpful and quick to serve drinks. There is a kids' club during the day, though our children made friends so we didn't use it much. The evening entertainment is probably some of the best we’ve seen; the magician, especially, was a favourite, and our children were talking about it for days after. The hotel is predominantly visited by Spanish holiday-goers. The kids' club mainly caters to Spanish-speaking children, and while the animation team is fluent in English, our children felt somewhat left out, which is understandable and no fault of the hotel. Weekends can get busy with Spanish holiday-goers, resulting in slightly longer queues, but finding a poolside sunbed has never been an issue. The only small drawback is the air conditioning, which, although adequate, doesn't cool down as much as one might hope. This wasn't a major issue during our visit, but it could be more of an issue in the peak of summer. The rooms are a good size; parents have their own room, and the children have a fold-up bed. Even with the bed unfolded, the room is very spacious. The cleaners clean the room daily, and it is left spotless most days. The cleanliness of the hotel is incredibly good; the staff are always working, making sure glasses are picked up and everything is tidy. The hotel itself is stunning, with palm trees and well-maintained gardens, making it picturesque. Overall, our family has thoroughly enjoyed our stay, and I wanted to update my initial review as it was influenced by a singular bad experience, which in hindsight, feels unfair given the overall positive aspects of our visit. I would also like to not

This is an update to my initial review, as after further reflection on our experience at the hotel, I felt my original comments were too critical due to a minor setback. Currently staying here with my family, including a 6-year-old boy and a 9-year-old daughter. Starting with the positives, the food at this hotel is exceptional. It's a buffet, which suits our family perfectly on all-inclusive holidays, giving the kids the freedom to choose what they want at each meal. The selection is vast and of outstanding quality, making it a highlight of our holiday experiences. The staff organize and maintain the food area incredibly well, keeping it clean and making the dining process seamless. There is a walk-up snack bar available during the day, where you need to wear at least a top to enter, but it’s great for letting the kids grab snacks whenever they like, which they really enjoy. There is also a Mexican restaurant available, though we never felt the need to use it. The hotel has three pools; one is a kid's splash park with three slides and a lily pad-style crossing, providing endless fun. The other, larger pool has a small section for children and allows inflatables if desired, and there is a baby pool to the far side. Lifeguards are present, but as is standard, parents are expected to supervise their children. The bar staff are always helpful and quick to serve drinks. In the evenings, the entertainment is predominantly in Spanish, as this is mainly a Spanish resort. This means that while the animation team does an excellent job, including water aerobics which is incredibly popular, the evening shows are mostly in Spanish. During our stay, there were only two shows that we opted out of because we couldn't fully understand the dialogue, choosing instead to enjoy a walk on the beach. The kids' club mainly caters to Spanish-speaking children, and while the animation team is fluent in English, our children felt somewhat left out, which is understandable and no fault of the hotel. Weekends can get busy with Spanish holiday-goers, resulting in longer queues, but finding a poolside sunbed has never been an issue. One drawback is the air conditioning, which, although adequate, doesn't cool down as much as one might hope. This wasn't a major issue during our visit, but it could be more of an issue in the peak of summer. Overall, our family thoroughly enjoyed our stay, The weather was great, the rooms were clean, and the food was amazing.

We stayed as a family of five and had a very pleasant experience from start to finish. Arriving late, we missed dinner, but the staff kindly prepared a cold meal for us in our room. Throughout our stay, our kids enjoyed all the activities offered, including the Kids Club, daytime programs, mini disco, and evening shows. The pools were excellent, particularly for children. The beach, right in front of the hotel, had fine sand and available sun shades and sunbeds. The food was good—not exceptional—but our three picky kids always found something they liked. There was a great variety at breakfast and dinner, with a reliable selection of salads and kid-friendly options like pasta and pizza. For lunch, we tried different options, such as visiting the nearby commercial center or buying burgers at the hotel bar, mainly for the kids. Based on our experience, I would choose breakfast and dinner again over the all-inclusive option. The staff was excellent throughout our stay. From the Kids Club to the restaurant, everyone was helpful and attentive to details. For example, on my wife's birthday, we received a bottle of cava and some sweets in our room as a surprise. Check-in and check-out worked smoothly. We stayed in a suite, and the ocean view was beautiful. Overall, I would definitely recommend this hotel for a family stay. We stayed for 10 days and had a fantastic time.

I'm currently staying here and wanted to share my review while the details are still fresh. The standout feature here is undoubtedly the food, which is the best in terms of variety and quality across all the all-inclusive resorts I've visited over the last decade. The snack bar and poolside bar are fantastic, especially for kids who can freely pick what they want. However, there are some drawbacks. The hotel primarily caters to Spanish-speaking guests, meaning there weren't many English-speaking children for our kids to interact with. The kids' clubs are predominantly Spanish, and although the animation team speaks English well, our children felt left out. The evening entertainment is also mixed; some shows are understandable, but others are exclusively in Spanish. I've been to other hotels that better balance the language in shows, making them more inclusive. Additionally, the kids' disco starts at 4:30 PM, which is unusually early and disrupts our usual routine of dinner followed by the disco and show. The evening shows not starting until 10:30 PM made it difficult for our kids to stay awake, and after a few days, we stopped trying. Moreover, there’s an issue with the air conditioning in the rooms. Despite repeated inquiries, the hotel staff has neither fixed the aircon nor provided a clear explanation or alternative solutions. It seems they might not turn it on until the high season, which is inconvenient. Poolside lifeguards and some bar staff can be quite ruthless and rude. Despite always being polite and using Spanish pleasantries, their responses sometimes felt arrogant, and we were often ignored at the bar, even getting pushed in front of by older Spanish women. Given these experiences, although the food is exceptional, the lack of inclusivity and comfort would mean I would not recommend this hotel.

Great place for children. My 7 years old girl loved it. Many activities and beautiful location on the beach . Food is very good. Pools were cold but getting warmer in the afternoon. Entertainment was decent with dancing and kids clubs. Will visit again.

Just back from a lovely week here. The pool was rather cold but much needed and you do get used to it. A stunning area to spend the day or have a drink by early evening. Staff were amazing and really helpful. As a vegetarian I was pleasantly surprised by the choice of food although it did take a bit of hunting down and creative meals sometimes. I did however draw the line at Cheese Pasta and Sprouts when choices were limited one night. Amazing salads, Spanish Omelette, Veggie Burger, Cannelloni to name a few. Unfortunately the Mexican which we booked and looked forward to all week didn't cater for vegetarians. The restaurant could benefit from a clear explanation of the food categories and the signs could be bigger as it's hard to be completely sure what was Veggie or not. The same if you had any allergies etc. Rooms nice size, bed was ok, had much worse and never as good as your own. Our room was at the front above a Restaurant and noise wasn't an issue for us. Nice to be able to just nip to a beautiful beach. We got let down on a Tour so took a Taxi to Ayamonte thanks to help from Alba in Reception who also recommended getting the Ferry to Portugal for £2.50 each way which was well with the money and chance to visit another Country. Taxi was £35 each way and took about half an hour. Unfortunately we couldn't get hold of Taxi company to return but local Taxi Rank on meter cost the same. Didn't attend evening entertainment as early risers and after a long day in the beautiful sunshine couldn't stay up until 10.30. Hotel was clean and tidy. Not much in the surrounding area but we knew that and was exactly what we needed. Ventured a couple of times to the Mall and Titanic Bar. Wifi very good for anyone needing it and very cute little Dining area for young kids. Lovely Bar Cafeteria for drinks before Meal with helpful Staff. I would recommend for anyone who enjoys a typically Spanish resort in a peaceful location with lovely surroundings.

We are here at the minute and must say hotel is great. Check in simple despite Tui making a mess of the rooms booked Alba was amazing really helpful. Room is clean and nice with a small balcony. They have a kettle and hairdryer in there, along with a fridge. The food is really nice loads of choice. They have themed nights one of which was Asia and that was really tasty. There's something for everyone, but no vegan food only salad so be prepared if you are vegan. Restaurant can be manic but as its a large hotel what can you expect. You can fill waterbottles up in there too. Snack bar great same everyday but a good choice for something quick. You can also ger self service beer in there. The pool is really cold but once you are in its lovely. There is not a lot around, few little shops and bars very quiet. Overall lovely.

Just returned from a weeks holiday. Took my 4 year old daughter and we had an amazing time. The meals were amazing always something different and kids meals such as pizza, fish fingers, pasta and hotdogs always available. The pools were a bit cold however once you were in they were enjoyable. The kids pool is fantastic from the slides to the small kids pool, my daughter would not come out. The kids entertainment was fantastic, they take the time to interact with your child and knew my daughter’s name every time she saw them. She attended the kids club a few times and always came out with pictures she had made. The rooms were always clean and the hotel is immaculate. The beach was lovely and clean, cost 10 euros for two chairs, table and umbrella. We spent a full day there and it was beautiful. There is also some shops not far from the beach to have a look at. I honestly could not fault this holiday and we would love to return.