Melia Salinas

Raquel is a fabulous amazing member of the team at the hotel. We did water Pilates and she was very supportive and made it very fun. She was always willing to go above and beyond her job role. Always welcoming us around the hotel with a smile and chat. The evening entertainment was great, good music and drinks and Carlos & the other gentleman were amazing dancers and really got the crowd going. Hotel is clean and beautiful, would have liked drinks to be made quicker but that’s minor. Large variety in food and it was delicious

We have just come back from a week's stay at this lovely hotel. Firstly we would like to thank each and every member of staff . From the moment we arrived at check in to check out. They are the foundation of the hotel . Each and every member of staff were such a pleasure to deal with. They made our time at hotel a total pleasure. We stayed in a beautiful room with a gorgeous view. Lovely shower and very comfortable beds. Room cleaned to such a hight standard every day We were lucky to be in preferred section. The pool area was lovely and we had lunch at pool restaurant everyday. Great staff who greeted us everyday with our drink order ready. We ate at all the restaurants which was so good to have a variety of places to eat.. and enjoyed our visits to each restaurant. The bar staff in the evening were totally on the ball and dealt with everyone with total professionalism and each one was a pleasure to deal with and an asset to the hotel. We had the most lovely week staying here and already looking forward to our return A last note for Guest Experience Manager Chloe .... an absolute lady and always a total pleasure to deal with on any occasion we have met. Melia Hotels are very lucky to have such a staff member. Again huge thanks to all staff for making our holiday so special.

TLDR: This hotel has so much going for it (excellent staff, decent food, good rooms, excellent location, beautiful lagoon pool, adults only), so it's our go-to for a very good, high-standard holiday. But it's not without flaws, and there are definitely areas (some more serious than others) to improve upon. Will we go again? Yes. And now, for details. I am reviewing our third visit, which was our second since the Paradisus rebranding. Every time we've been here we have had a good holiday. The hotel went from very good to outstanding on its reopening in 2023, so it was a little disappointing to find that standards had slipped over the first year by the time we revisited in 2024. The good stuff: if you love to sit by, or swim in, an interesting pool then you aren't going to find better on Lanzarote - the lagoon pool is just stunning. The hotel smells lovely, the decor is a delight, cleanliness in public areas is good, and the staff are so welcoming and attentive. We've had Laura as our Reserve concierge twice now, and she's brilliant; so helpful and friendly, she even recognised us and concentrated on the areas of the hotel that had opened since our last visit rather than a full tour on arrival. Always a pleasure to see her. As food goes, we think the offerings at Malva are good (not amazing, but good). There's plenty of choice, we've never found anything to be undercooked or burnt, everything has been hot, and generally we've been happy. (The speciality restaurants I'll get to later.) The Reserve pool bar and The Shack do really nice lunches too, cocktails are well-made, and I can recommend the barraquito coffee in the Ginger bar (I had a few around Teguise, and Ginger's was the best). The location is great, too; quiet, but right on the beach, a few minutes walk to shops and bars, easy distance to the town and night market, surrounded by good restaurants and tourist attractions like the aquarium and crazy golf. The bus stop opposite the hotel is a pick-up point for excursions and buses that can take you around the island. Our room (suite) hadn't been refurbished yet so was a little tired-looking, but overall cleanliness and the amount of space was spot-on, and the bed was comfy. We have been in a junior suite in previous years, in a refurbished room, and they were lovely, modern, bright and spacious, so on balance the rooms are good. However, there are a few things that disappointed us. (This is more to help Melia know what to work on; we did genuinely have a good holiday here!) 1) Quality at Samira: We loved Samira in 2023, but this time, not so much. One dish was bland and lukewarm; the millefeuille pastry was soggy, not crisp; one dish tasted overpoweringly of cardamom, the many pods of which we spent quite some time picking out. What happened here? 2) Lack of attention to detail: Orders put through incorrectly during lunch at La Graciosa. A water bottle floating in the pool all morning until we fished it out. Nobody manning the ice cream cart all week, and no signage saying who to ask. No clear guidance on using spa facilities after a treatment. 3) The up-selling: This is an AI+ hotel, but all is not inclusive anymore. Every menu, in every specialty restaurant, has a few extra-special dishes available for an additional supplement (around 15E per dish). Specially created by a top chef, no less. Seems a bit cheeky. Also, staff approaching guests, unsolicited, to pitch timeshare (The Circle). We hadn't even seen our room yet, and there was a large board advertising this in the lobby. No need to importune guests over it. 4) Under-staffed at The Reserve breakfast?: On our first two visits, breakfasts at The Level/Reserve were moderately busy without impacting service, however, this time, we often were forgotten. Despite usually being one of the first tables in (around 8am) each day, we had hot drinks forgotten twice, and one morning our made-to-order breakfasts took 40 minutes to arrive (we were about to walk out when the server noticed us, and when it came the temperature suggested it had been waiting a while). On our last morning we had breakfast at Malva, simply because we didn't trust that we'd be served in time to check out on schedule. Once the breakfast service gets busier, staff seem overwhelmed. 5) The addition of two TVs, constantly set to sports channels, to the bar and terrace is disappointing. Sitting in a space designed by Cesar Manrique and Fernando Higueras, and you’ve created a sports bar directly opposite a literal wall of art? Why? It adds nothing and detracts so much. 6) The sunbed situation is out of control, and some kind of system is needed to enforce and track the 'one hour rule'. Beds are reserved from the crack of dawn, yet are unused for hours, sometimes all day. Later arrivals to the pool can't find 'unreserved' beds, despite there being few people on said loungers; staff never remove belongings from unoccupied loungers despite the policy, and are slow to intervene in disputes; beds are rearranged to the point of blocking access to the pool. I found myself in an embarrassing, uncomfortable and upsetting situation at the Reserve pool one afternoon after I moved towels from a lounger I had been informed had been vacant for hours. After being there myself for some time, an angry, drunk Spanish lady came to yell at me, loudly and publicly, that my having moved her towels was disrespectful. It never occurred to her that staff might have done it (because they don't). Staff were far too slow to intervene: another guest helped me deescalate the situation before a staff member finally came to explain the rule to the woman, but if the policy was enforced in the first place, this wouldn't have happened at all. Some kind of system is needed (tickets, a timer, tags) so staff know to remove belongings after the hour, or so that other guests can see how long a bed has been empty and when it becomes fair game. Regarding pool access: there were several guests with mobility issues during our stay, yet staff did nothing when step-free access to the main pool was closed off by guests moving sunbeds onto the ramp, nearly into the water. This is a serious safety hazard, not to mention inconsiderate and thoughtless, and should have been prohibited. Poolside etiquette and safety really needs to be looked at, as all guests should have fair, equitable access to loungers and the pool. More poolside staff could help prevent all of this. It reads like there are real issues at Paradisus Salinas, but we truly did have a great time! I don't believe there's anything here that can't be fixed. We're looking forward to going back, and hope it will be back to outstanding by then!

We had a magical week in this wonderful hotel. The perfect place to relax and unwind. Our room was very large and spotlessly clean with fresh bath and pool towels every day and the inclusive minibar was great. The pool was large and beautifully laid out with plenty of well spaced out sun beds and umbrellas. I swam all day long and yes, it was cold, but as I told everyone who was dithering in the shallows ‘it’s lovely once you are in’! And it really was! Every, singe member of staff was lovely - so friendly and helpful. Big shout out to Miguel Angel who we met in various restaurants during our stay - his smiley face and happy attitude was a real tonic. The entertainment was fantastic - we enjoy the afternoon DJ sets at Alula, the evening shows and did a great Pilates and workouts. Despite other comments, we found the food to be excellent. Some people have mentioned not having food cooked to order but I waited a short while and had both steak and fish cooked fresh at lunchtime and in the evening. Just asked the chefs behind the fish and meat stations and they happily did it. There was a huge amount of choice at every meal. We loved the lunchtime tapas at La Graciosa (and the evening taster menu), the Italian and Middle Eastern restaurants were also very good. The cocktails were beautifully made (no ready made cocktail mixes here!) and inclusive wines were all excellent - having Rioja as the house red was a particular bonus! We rarely go back to the same place twice…but we will definitely be going back here.

There are so many good things about this hotel but two very important issues which mean I cannot give 5/5. First the good. Overall, customer service is excellent all the way from arrival to waiting and bar staff to housekeeping. Our room was kept very clean with towels and mini-bar replenished every day. We had a Junior Suite with sea view. It was a very large and comfortable room with large bath and shower, plus a sofa, dining table and dressing area/walk in wardrobe. On the large balcony we had 2 very comfortable loungers (more comfortable than those by the pool) and a whirlpool bath which was a bit of a novelty. This brings us to the first issue. Both the reserve pool and main pool area look very inviting, perfect for a regular dip in them. However, they are both very very cold. Given that I have no problem getting in pools or the sea at temperatures around 20-21C, they were both too cold to have an enjoyable swim. Hardly anyone stayed in more than a minute. It's a major drawback and one that would put us off returning. What is the point of such a lovely pool area if you can't use the pools? It's a shame as, unlike many hotels we saw that guests were packed together on sunbeds, fully visible to passers by on the coastal path like seals in a zoo, there was loads of room and plenty of sunbeds and shade. Also, despite being next to the coastal path, the hotel is up above beyond any prying eyes. The second issue is the food in the Malva 'food bazar'. The salads and starters are excellent and the desserts good. What lets it down are the main courses. On Italian night, the pizza and pasta were both cold, despite us being there shortly after it opened. It was the same for much of the food. A lot was hanging around for quite a while and the chicken curry was awful. This appears to be the same at lunch and dinner. We ended up eating at the Reserve pool bar and booking one of the a la cart restaurants. We ate at Samira and Capella, both were miles better than Malva. In the better buffet dinner hotel restaurants, a lot of the food is cooked to order at cooking stations. You might have to wait a short time, but what you got was fresh, not hanging around like the majority of stuff at Malva. Very 3 star, not what you'd expect at a 5 star hotel. The Reserve. Our room came with 'Reserve' access. The Reserve is a separate lounge with help yourself drinks and snacks plus a dedicated pool with own pool bar Is it worth it? Possibly. Would I pay hundreds of pounds extra for it. Probably not. It's a nice to have and it does spread guests out. The main pool area never seemed crowded, neither did the Reserve. The Reserve also comes with it's own reception or destination Concierge service and all the people there were very helpful, a special mention to Anica, who was excellent. The service does make you feel valued. Destination inclusive. Depending on how long you are a guest you get some excursions and attraction tickets included. We ended up going both the El Grifo wine trip and the trip to Teguise, the original capital of Lanzarote. Both were worth half day of our time. It was nice to get out and about without having to book extra excursions. We also had free tickets to Mirador del Rio and Cesar Enrique's Jameos del Agua. You'll hear about Cesar Enrique EVERYWHERE! Both were worth a visit, but beware with Mirador del Rio, go only on a clear day. Overvall, it's a lovely hotel but let down by it's freezing pool and average food in Malva.