As part of afamily vacation, I stayed at theSheraton Fuerteventuralast summer. Ideally located on this island of the Canaries, the property has everything to please:spacious rooms, a varied catering, a very good spa and very pleasant swimming pools. On paper, everything to please... Except for the customer service, really execrable before the stay.Little considerationfor Starwood loyal customers: my requests were all ignored, even lies were told. Inadmissible. A look back at a trip that started so badly.

Booking

I made my reservation on the SPG website as usual. Given the high rates, I looked for a more interesting rate on various price comparators. Bingo, I find a much more interesting rate and make what is called a Best Rate Guaranteewhich allows me to obtain a 20% discount on the best rate of the comparator, with the addition of a Premium room, superior to the Deluxe room, which is the standard in this hotel.

Problem: no matter how you book,no room with a double bed is available. I figure given the season and the low number of SPG members at such a resort, I’ll be upgraded without a problem.

Fatal error. After many exchanges with my SPG ambassador (reserved for clients staying more than 100 nights per year in Starwood hotels), and a few exchanges with the hotel, nothing could be done:no change to a double room possible, and no upgrade to a suite was possible.

Arrival

When I arrived at the hotel, still upset by the last exchanges about my reservation, I expressed my surprise, as these room categories were still available for reservation for the whole of my stay, as shown in the following screenshot…

I am surprised by their bad faith, and the reception supervisor gives me avery unpleasant refusal.

I should mention that my ambassador had told me that an unlimited access to the spawould be provided as well as a surprise (so big that he didn’t want to reveal it to me…).

In the end, spa access is provided to all Platinum guests, and I never received any promised surprises. In short, thecustomer service is terribleand nobody came to see me during the 7 nights of my stay.

Even more distressing, and despite the approval of my Your24 request the room was not ready at 10am as requested and confirmed months in advance. What good is this guarantee if it is not guaranteed? We had to wait more than an hour for our room to be ready, with, of course, no way to enjoy the pool and the beach, since we could not change.

Room

The room assigned was located on the 5th floorof the property.Very spacious, it is a standard room with a sea view like all the rooms of the hotel.

As booked, there aretwo twin beds, as well as a bed for children.

The bathroomis very spaciousand has toilet basins, as well as two alcoves: one with the water space (bath and shower), and the other with the toilet and bidet area.

Sheraton toiletries are provided in large quantities, and comfortable bathrobes are available to guests.

The storage in the hallway is also spacious and combines closet, shelves and drawers, as well as a safe.

The night space is also spacious, with a fewsofas and a desk, in addition to the beds of course.

Theterrace is very large, with asuperb view of the hotel’s water facilities and the Atlantic Ocean.

Nevertheless, I think that as a “punishment” for the mails exchanged before the stay, we were given a very noisy room: it was located just above the piano-bar of the hotel in which animations take place every evening from 9pm to midnight. Result: impossible to sleep before this time, which is not a problem for adults on vacation but can be definitely a problem when traveling with family.

Hotel facilities

The hotel has many common areasthat make it a real resort.

Pool and beach

The hotel has avery spacious aquatic area, with multiple pools on the same floor: there is something for all tastes and all ages, from the paddling pool to the large pool and the jacuzzi. Activities are offered in these pools: zumba, aquagym, water polo, without being intrusive or with deafening music.

Getting a deckchair is not a problem, they arepresent in sufficient number to accommodate almost all the guests of the hotel.

On the other hand, due to the Spanish legislation, the beach cannot be privatized, and the problem is that the deckchairs on this beach are managed by an external company: out of question for me to pay a cent for the deckchairs, whereas the beach is in front of the hotel and towels are provided: the hotel must be able to guarantee access to the beach to all its guests by offering an agreement with the beach attendant.

Spa

The property has anexcellent indoor spa, which I was able to access for free throughout my stay as a Platinum guest.

The changing rooms are very well equipped with many showers. Bathrobes and towels are of course provided with a locker and key.

The aquatic area is very pleasant, with various sensory showers, saunas and steam baths.

A relaxation area and an outdoor solariumare also available to guests.

Finally, a large pool with various streamsand an exercise river allow you to relax after a day of exploring the island.

Note that the spais only accessible to families until 1:00 p.m., so you can enjoy it in the afternoon.

Yambaland Kids Club

In order to let parents enjoy their stay in the sun, a children’s club is available to guests free of charge at the Sheraton. The activities are external and aquatic in the morning, and internal in the afternoon.

Restaurant and bar

The hotel has4 restaurants and 2 bars.

The breakfast buffet, offered in the main restaurant, is of excellent quality, with lots of variety and quality ingredients, as you can see below:

For dinner, we tried the Asian option, which offers a sushi platter at a very reasonable price. Since we were not on half board, we had dinner most of the time outside the hotel.

Departure

The departure formalities were laborious, the system not working properly. I was still waiting for my surprise at this point, in vain… No surprise on the final bill anyway.

Conclusion

The hotel and its facilities are excellent, the service staff friendly but the customer service is clearly not up to Starwood standards. Individual customers booking directly should be systematically privileged over Tour Operators’ customers, whose turnover is much lower. I can’t understand the logic of this hotel.