Paradisus by Meliá Gran Canaria

Everything was perfect. The hotel is a destination by itself. The rooms are extra clean, well decorated. Staff is friendly and very professional. Everyone is so kind and makes sure that your stay is beyond perfect. The hotel is all inclusive so you don’t need to worry about anything, the staff can organize excursions to complete your stay. Don’t miss the stargazing experience at the hotel ! A big thanks to the staff, specially Victoria our concierge who made everything so perfect ! Gracias ☺️

We've just come back from a lovely week in Gran Canaria staying at the beautiful Paradisus by Melia Hotel. The staff were so friendly and welcoming and the facilities are amazing. We decided to upgrade to the Reserve Level and booked a sea front room which was a great decision. Our bedroom was fab along with a large terrace with a pair of sunbeds plus a table and two chairs. All the staff were great but two were outstanding - Robert in the Shack and Rita who worked in both the Reserve and Italian restaurant. Sadly, during our stay it was too windy to sample the food in the Lemon Fish open air restaurant but that another good reason to return.

Fresh, friendly and well designed. Beautiful bedrooms, gorgeous sea view (recommend paying small extra for an ocean view). Great food with buffet and a la carte restaurants for both lunch and dinner. Staff were very friendly and helpful across the resort.

We stayed at The Paradisus for a week in February after booking with Jet2 Indulgent Escapes. On arrival the hotel looked impressive but we had a very slow check in process. Given the 5* rating we would have expected a welcome drink and some better customer service but instead just got a painful wait while rooms were allocated and wristbands were administered. Given there were no queues on arrival this process still took about 45 mins. Rooms: We stayed in a premium double which faced the side/ rear of the hotel (overlooking some noisy construction). The room itself was nice and very open plan. There is only a curtain to separate the shower area to the rest of the room. There was no real storage inside the room and no wardrobe just a hanging rail (so all your clothes are on show). Bathroom facilities were modern and a good standard with a decent power shower. A hairdryer was also provided. The room didn’t have an iron but did have a steamer which was satisfactory. Your room key was on your wristband which made access easy. Air conditioning in the room is good and can be managed by the controls next to the bed - we turned it off overnight as it got very cold. Restaurants/ Food: The restaurant booking system proved difficult (new bookings go Monday-Monday), it’s probably best to do this when you first arrive. Although if you arrive on a Saturday you can only book up to the Monday, then will need to go back to reception and book the rest. You can download the Melia app but it only shows limited time slots. The restaurants encourage you to use the app to view menus which proves hard work for older people. We managed to book the Italian and Mediterranean restaurants at the start of the week. However we weren’t overly impressed with either. In the Italian restaurant the food was bland and not necessarily what you would expect of an Italian. The service was also slow. This became a running theme throughout the hotel, with very few exceptions. The best service was in the Peseta restaurant which served 3 set menus Michelin style (one fish, one meat and one vegetarian). They did allow us to to mix and match as not all courses suited our tastes. The food here was very good quality and the best experience in the hotel. This restaurant only allows one visit during your stay. The food and service in Kanna restaurant were very good especially from Carla and Cinthia at lunchtime. We ate a couple of evenings in the buffet hall but would not have opted for this given the choice. The food was poor quality and often served luke warm if not cold. We felt the buffet hall was poor for a supposed 5* hotel - it had very few hot stations and not much choice. Food was presented on the bar and you had to ask the chef to make you a portion, but often this was just reheating a dish. This was also very time consuming given the number of people in the hotel. One complaint I had was that the water glasses in buffet smelt fishy - on every visit we noticed this. Perhaps they need to clean the dishwasher filters! The breakfast buffet served in the main hall was ok. The gentle live music each morning was a nice touch. Pool area: The pool area is nice and spacious and very clean. There are plenty of sunbeds and umbrellas. There was never a need to rush and secure a bed. The adult only section with soft cushioned sunbeds fills up fast but there are plenty of other beds around the pool area. The pool itself was large and had separate children’s pools. There is no waiter service by the pool but staff did collect glasses. There is a drinks bar in the centre which has many spirits and beer on draft. From the bottom of the pool area you can access the prom and beach. Turning right, there is a lovely walk which takes you into Maspalomas. The immediate area around the hotel is quite limited for bars and restaurants and the shopping is poor (St Agustin shopping centre is grim and full of cheap tat). Pool/ snack bar: The Shack bar by the pool was terrible - understaffed with slow service with awful food. Tanya seemed extremely unhappy in her work behind the bar at the Shack and could do with a course in customer service. We also received poor service from Pedro at Shack. The only positive member of staff was Sara when ordering drinks. The all inclusive options allowed for food and drink from any bar at any time. The food was poorly prepared and we left it. We found the best place day/ night to be was the Ginger bar. Here drinks are made fresh and snacks are available on the bar. We received excellent service from Alby and Rocio in the Ginger bar. Evening Entertainment: The entertainment in the hotel in the Ginger Bar or Vibra bar was generally very good and varied. The staff were friendly and mostly attentive. We noticed they were accommodating on several occasions when customers asked to watch Sport on tv. There are also plenty of comfortable sofas inside or nice tables out on the balcony. Daytime Activities: We didn’t participate in daily activities, as we were too busy relaxing in the sun but did see people enjoying themselves in the aqua fitness classes and the yoga classes looked good. We also heard positive things about the observatory stargazing nights - they just didn’t work time wise (as they were always across evening dinner). On departure the hotel has a 12noon check out time which gives you plenty of time to get those extra rays in the morning. You can also use your all inclusive meal package until you leave. We had a nice lunch in the Ginger bar before we left for the airport. Overall we felt The Paradisus was not a 5* hotel standard, mainly due to the way it’s managed and staffed. The customer service let the whole place down. There were no signs of any managers or supervisors on the floor checking all was ok either in the hotel or restaurants. We also feel the standard of the food could be improved in the buffet hall and some restaurants.

Indulgent Escapes…not so much! We are still here, but unless there is a radical change in the cuisine (it’s not great), the service (grumpy and dismissive) and the in your face “class system” I am pretty sure my opinions won’t change. The plus side, the hotel is very nicely decorated and compact, so you don’t need to walk miles to all the amenities. There are loads of sunbeds so no race at dawn to bag your spot! Sadly we didn’t work hard enough at school so didn’t upgrade to “Reserve” and wow I have never seen such a marked difference in attitudes based on the colour band you are wearing. I truly don’t have an inferiority complex, honestly and like many of you reading this review have been lucky enough to stay in some lovely hotels. So hopefully I am approaching this review in a calm and rational way. So to start, the food is really not great, the canteen is serving warmed up leftovers for breakfast and dinner. We went to the Italian restaurant last night and we were sandwiched between “Reserve” guests who had a separate menu, and food that looked like it had been prepared by Nigella herself. I had antipasti starter with left over pickled veg and Pasta with meatballs with a sauce straight from a tin. Oh forgot to mention the salad my husband had for lunch with additional long dark hair that he had to extract from between his teeth (definitely not one of his). The Reserve guest area is slap bang in the middle of the complex, so every day on the way to the plebs area we tug our forelock and hold in our tummies whilst marching on determined to enjoy our day without the added bonus of a swanky lounge area and grapes peeled on demand. Needless to say we won’t be back and will try to get through the rest of the week though through gritted teeth, I know I sound ungrateful and the location is lovely!