Mary
18-10-2004, 02:23 PM
Thank you for taking time out to post your review. This will be an invaluable peace of advice to other people considering this accommodation!
To assist you, we have provided a template layout below.
Trip Information
Accommodation Name : Barcelo Club El Castillo apartments
Type of board (e.g. full board, self catering etc) : self catering
Date of stay (e.g. 4th. July 2004) : August 2002
Length of stay (e.g. 14 days) : 14 days
How many of you stayed : 3
Their ages (e.g. 36, 35, 7, 2) : 28, 30, 3
Your Ratings (all out of 10)
Food : 8
Service : 7
Cleanliness : 6
Room : 2
Facilities : 7
Location : 10
Resort : 9
Overall : 6
Your Opinion (now you can enter your full opinion below)
We stayed at the Barcelo Club El Castillo apartments, Caleta De Fuste, in 2002. This property certainly proved to be a mixed bag on two different fronts.
Firstly, the property itself. Even though a lot of the brochures give the Barcelo Club El Castillo 3 stars, the official rating for this property is only 2 keys. Believe me when I say this, I don’t even think it deserves these 2 keys. The rooms themselves looking tatty, were showing the signs of many years wear and tear, and looked like they could do with a refurbishment. Having said that, they were in the process of refurbishing, although there were only a handful of apartments done which were positioned right behind the reception area. The complex is quite large and so I’d expect this refurbishment to take a couple of years before its completion, if they even go that far. Would be lucky to get one of these, and very unlucky not to!
Next lets move onto the cockroaches! Our apartment had hordes of them. This was probably caused by the large gap beneath the front door through which they entered. All it would have taken to fix this would have been to add one of those brush draft excluders. Additionally or first room was tiny. We didn’t realise this until we were moved (to get away from the roaches) and ended up having a much larger apartment. It also had an additional walled outside line area, and much more useful terrace with sunbed, table and chairs. The previous terrace could barely hold a very small table and two chairs.
Other than the rather sad state of the property itself, the best thing was its location. It was right on the beach, with only the pedestrian promenade to be crossed to get to the beach. Some rooms were located across a road which would have to be additionally crossed to reach the beach. The main strip of shops and restaurants were only a short stroll away, either via the promenade or along the back road/path. Location therefore was excellent.
We had heard/read a lot of praise for the apartments night time entertainment. We had a 3-year-old with us and to be honest found the entertainment leaving much to be desired. OK perhaps the ability for the children to join in the staged shows etc had some appeal, but it was no different to anything else you would expect. If you want something better though, simply visit the Barcelo Fuerteventura 4 star hotel right next door. The entertainment here is second to none, with professional acts being brought in to entertain. The drinks in the hotel were no dearer then in the apartment complex so it was well worth it.
We were self-catering at the Barcelo. We bought some vouchers to have 3 breakfasts and evening dinners which worked out quite well as the meals were buffet style. The quality of the food was good enough and the choice was varied – meets, pasts, fish etc. Plenty of sweet pastries, ice creams etc. We never had any problems with the food anyhow.
Caleta De Fuste is not a very large resort. We actually found it difficult enough to find exceptionally good restaurants. However we can highly recommend the Chinese restaurant in the main area by the beach, simply called ‘Chinese’. There food here was delicious, the ambiance/decor was spot on, and the price was really keen to boot! Also the Italian restaurant in the same location is quite good, although the staff tend to rush you out rather then letting you to sit back and relax for a bit after your meal. I believe there is now a McDonalds in the resort and I’m sure many other offerings too. Our main disappointment was the Mexican – very cheap to eat there, but you really to get what you pay for here. Lets just say we never went back.
Overall we really liked the resort of Caleta De Fuste. It proved to be a peaceful family resort well suited to younger children. I’d imagine that teenagers might be a bit bored here however. We would certainly love to go back here again. However we’d stay in a different property next time around.
Hope you find this review helpful! :)
To assist you, we have provided a template layout below.
Trip Information
Accommodation Name : Barcelo Club El Castillo apartments
Type of board (e.g. full board, self catering etc) : self catering
Date of stay (e.g. 4th. July 2004) : August 2002
Length of stay (e.g. 14 days) : 14 days
How many of you stayed : 3
Their ages (e.g. 36, 35, 7, 2) : 28, 30, 3
Your Ratings (all out of 10)
Food : 8
Service : 7
Cleanliness : 6
Room : 2
Facilities : 7
Location : 10
Resort : 9
Overall : 6
Your Opinion (now you can enter your full opinion below)
We stayed at the Barcelo Club El Castillo apartments, Caleta De Fuste, in 2002. This property certainly proved to be a mixed bag on two different fronts.
Firstly, the property itself. Even though a lot of the brochures give the Barcelo Club El Castillo 3 stars, the official rating for this property is only 2 keys. Believe me when I say this, I don’t even think it deserves these 2 keys. The rooms themselves looking tatty, were showing the signs of many years wear and tear, and looked like they could do with a refurbishment. Having said that, they were in the process of refurbishing, although there were only a handful of apartments done which were positioned right behind the reception area. The complex is quite large and so I’d expect this refurbishment to take a couple of years before its completion, if they even go that far. Would be lucky to get one of these, and very unlucky not to!
Next lets move onto the cockroaches! Our apartment had hordes of them. This was probably caused by the large gap beneath the front door through which they entered. All it would have taken to fix this would have been to add one of those brush draft excluders. Additionally or first room was tiny. We didn’t realise this until we were moved (to get away from the roaches) and ended up having a much larger apartment. It also had an additional walled outside line area, and much more useful terrace with sunbed, table and chairs. The previous terrace could barely hold a very small table and two chairs.
Other than the rather sad state of the property itself, the best thing was its location. It was right on the beach, with only the pedestrian promenade to be crossed to get to the beach. Some rooms were located across a road which would have to be additionally crossed to reach the beach. The main strip of shops and restaurants were only a short stroll away, either via the promenade or along the back road/path. Location therefore was excellent.
We had heard/read a lot of praise for the apartments night time entertainment. We had a 3-year-old with us and to be honest found the entertainment leaving much to be desired. OK perhaps the ability for the children to join in the staged shows etc had some appeal, but it was no different to anything else you would expect. If you want something better though, simply visit the Barcelo Fuerteventura 4 star hotel right next door. The entertainment here is second to none, with professional acts being brought in to entertain. The drinks in the hotel were no dearer then in the apartment complex so it was well worth it.
We were self-catering at the Barcelo. We bought some vouchers to have 3 breakfasts and evening dinners which worked out quite well as the meals were buffet style. The quality of the food was good enough and the choice was varied – meets, pasts, fish etc. Plenty of sweet pastries, ice creams etc. We never had any problems with the food anyhow.
Caleta De Fuste is not a very large resort. We actually found it difficult enough to find exceptionally good restaurants. However we can highly recommend the Chinese restaurant in the main area by the beach, simply called ‘Chinese’. There food here was delicious, the ambiance/decor was spot on, and the price was really keen to boot! Also the Italian restaurant in the same location is quite good, although the staff tend to rush you out rather then letting you to sit back and relax for a bit after your meal. I believe there is now a McDonalds in the resort and I’m sure many other offerings too. Our main disappointment was the Mexican – very cheap to eat there, but you really to get what you pay for here. Lets just say we never went back.
Overall we really liked the resort of Caleta De Fuste. It proved to be a peaceful family resort well suited to younger children. I’d imagine that teenagers might be a bit bored here however. We would certainly love to go back here again. However we’d stay in a different property next time around.
Hope you find this review helpful! :)