Cockroaches and sunbed drama

[Bugsandbeds]

I'm currently on holiday with DH, DS & DD, flying home tomorrow after 7 nights away in the Canary Islands.

We spent £2700 for 7 nights, all inclusive, X1 free child place, inclusive of luggage and transfers etc etc. The hotel is listed at 3.8/5 on TripAdvisor and 3* on the travel agents website. Within our budget and looked good based on reviews....always a bit of a mixed bag on TripAdvisor but generally ok.

Well, the dining area is as hot as hell so it's a case of eating 3 meals a day in discomfort unless you've got one of the 5 tables next to the outside window. Ended up eating quickly so we could just get out of there which wasn't an enjoyable experience (shame because the food was overall good and varied). There's been a red warning heat wave for the past 2 days but it was boiling in the dining room before then.

The first two days our room stank of sewage, DH complained and someone came and sprayed something into the air con vent and it improved but the room hasn't smelt the freshest. There's been tiny flies in the bathroom (I've since learnt that they are called sewer flies) and at least 3 or 4 cockroaches in the apartment every day either on the floor or back of the curtains 🤢....explains the massive tin of bug spray under the sink.

First day we got up and went down to the pool area for about half 9, not an available sun bed in sight!....it was like those awful stories you read of crazy Brits fighting over sunbeds. We soon learnt that people were getting up at 6am to put towels out and even sleeping down there to make sure staff didn't clear their towels away (as the signs suggested). On Sunday morning everyone's towels were removed from the sunbeds at 8am and there was hell on....people complaining to reception and the rep, going on about it all day! (DH ended up being one of those crazy Brits and getting up early to put towels out and then coming back to bed for an hour!).

The apartment has been cleaned by housekeeping, beds made up etc all but one day so can't complain about that. However, I've been terrified of waking up to a cockroach on my face the whole time! Our apartment is on the ground floor with a cracked drain cover outside the room and maintenance/service area nearby.

I think what I'm trying to say is I was naive thinking 3 would be OK? or can you never really guarantee anything good unless it's 4 plus. Surely we could expect a bug free room and enough sunbeds for everyone for nearly £3000?!?

Staff are lovely and clearly work very hard and long hours. The whole place is just very tired and needs updating.

Definitely won't be doing this type of AI again, which is a shame as my youngest has had a great time and thought the cockroaches were hilarious 😂

Cheap AI is never any good. 3 star in the canaries will always be a bit run down. Most of the canaries is a bit run down tbh. Ground floor rooms are always worst....email ahead next time requesting not to be ground floor. Cockroaxhes really freak me out. The tend not to come out with the lights on so leave bathroom lights on, block up plug holes and put rolled towels or blankets under doors to stop them coming in.

It's a hot climate. Cockroaches are normal, and yes, rooms will be hot ... It's hot.

Everywhere I have been in Gran Canaries has cockroaches. Without fail

I worked in Gran Canaria for a while and the cockroaches were insidious. They were flying at me. Put me off holidaying in the canaries. I’ve never experienced anything like it anywhere else in the world.
as already pointed out, 3 * in the canaries is going to give you a pretty basic standard of accom

I've only stayed in budget AI in the Canaries. Not for about 15 yrs though! I never saw a cockroach.

I understand that....just not keen on them running out from under my bed when I'm getting dressed! A bit of Aircon in a dining area should be a given too in such a hot place.

That's a lot of money to spend on a holiday that turns out to be disappointing so I can understand how you feel.
I think the sunbed drama would piss me off the most.

The only thing I can really comment on is cockroaches. I have never stayed in an AI place on holiday but have been to a variety of hot countries and have come across cockroaches many times.

They used to freak me out but I'm much better with them now. It helps to remember that they are most active at night and that they're usually very shy. They will avoid contact with people.

I've mostly seen them if I've gone to bed, then got up in the night and switched a light on eg in the kitchen - they panic and scuttle off to hide under the oven or fridge.

They definitely won't be climbing onto your bed let alone onto your face.

I've learnt my lesson about the 3* now 😊 It was definitely one of the best value compared to many we looked at.... I welcome any recommendations for family friendly holidays that are not AI and a bit more interesting 🤔

I think the thing is that holiday prices have gone up hugely in the last few years so although £2700 seems a large amount of money it doesn’t go as far as it would have done a few years ago. You are not unreasonable in your expectations however, the sunbed situation is due to there being insufficient beds.

I don’t know what to say about the cockroaches they repulse me and I think I’d have been cracking out the credit card and looking for alternative accommodation.

Go out and buy some cockroach repellent and spray the skirting boards as you leave your room for the day.

Oh, and never travel to Australia.

Cockroaches are not normal in your hotel room!

No 3* isn’t enough. When you’re all inclusive and every meal and drink is at the hotel you need to either go minimum 4.5 or self catering.

Ex travel agent and holiday rep here. I used to deal with a lot of complaints.

I wouldn’t be happy with any of that. Even for 3 stars you should expect more than that. But the cockroach thing IS normal for hot climates: they’re everywhere and even with the best cleaning in the world they’ll find a way to get in. In the UK we tend to associate cockroaches with being unclean and a sign of not having good enough housekeeping but this isn’t actually true when it comes to places like Spain etc.

We spent a week at 5 star Tui Biomar in Mallorca in June and saw a few cockroaches. So many people were going on and on about it but with the balcony doors open a lot etc they climb up the drains etc, it happens. Having a google showed they have much higher numbers of them all over Spain this year due to the heat. So I can forgive that. (Although yes I did panic they’d crawl on me in the night)! Our room was cleaned every single day and the rest of the holiday was faultless.

Think cockroaches in the Canary Islands are like spiders in the uk. Especially in a ground floor room. I do think sadly you have to pay more for a swanky hotel or put up with drain smells, etc.

last time I went to Tenerife we hired a private apartment from the owner as I knew it had a large balcony with sun loungers so we had those guaranteed. The bathroom shower drain stank terrible. So much so that I sealed it with a sandwich bag and duck tape when not in use. 😁

Sorry for the derail, but I thought that the star rating of hotels was simply to do with the facilities? Not that 2 and 3 star hotels have bad drainage and are cockroach infested, while 5 star hotels have excellent drainage and are bug free?
Surely this kind of stuff has nothing to do with the star rating?

Agreed. This is true at least in the UK (from when I was looking at getting an official star rating for our B&B).

Also we stayed in a 3* hotel in Greece this year which was absolutely beautiful.

I've stayed in some decent 3 stars over the years, now the kids are grown up we mostly do 4 stars and noticed a massive difference, we've done a couple of 5 stars and they were amazing, book your sunbeds via an app etc ,so no morning rush for a sun bed, fantastic food. etc.We recently stayed in a 3 Star in Tenerife with family, and whilst it was immaculately clean , still encountered the odd cockroach, they also charged €2 euros a day for sunbeds, which meant there were plenty as many people didn't want to pay and just put a towel on the ground by the pool.

I was thinking more of the OP saying it was 3.8 average trip advisor review. Which is low. You can have a cheapish, low star rating place with a better trip advisor review average normally.

We are finding the equivalent holidays that would have cost us £2700 - £3500 a few years ago are more like £4800 now.

We just save up a bit more and filter hotels by mininum 4* on Jet2. You can get some good deals if you book via an agent as they often have agent codes they can use.

I think £2700 for AI in school holidays is cheap. AI adds a huge percentage to the holiday cost. I think there is a place for AI but unless you have hungry teens or drink from dawn to dusk you don't get good value.
Next time look at half board. Tripadvise 4.5 minimum.

Cockroaches are everywhere in the Canaries but you can reduce the risk by going 4/5* high floor.
The pool beds is ridiculous but you get that almost everywhere in cheap family hotels in school holidays.
Are you near the beach? It might be worth buying some cheap chairs and a beach mat and give up on the pool.

Can you tell us the complex so we can avoid it

Surely this kind of stuff has nothing to do with the star rating?

well yes and no. First it depends on the country, in some it's even government regulated what you must have. But while yes you may need to have certain facilities to get a certain rating, you can also expect that a 3star is more basic in all aspects, including cleanliness, quality of furnishings and linen, or sufficient number of sunbeds.

If it's just a place to sleep and you spend the day out and eat your meals out, I'd be happy to go for less luxurious - but if it's AI, get the best you can afford.

I'm also currently in the canaries in a 3 star, that has 4.5 star reviews on trip advisor. Its self catering and lovely and clean. Have seen a couple of dead roaches but thats in the town in the street not in the hotel. Which i'm most grateful for as I hate them. Although roaches generally cime with the hot climate, I also wouldn't expect to find them in my room, and I have traveled extensively.
I tend to go for hotels that lock up the sunloungers at night. None are put out until 10am here, and there's never a scramble for them. Same as the hotel we go to in majorca. The pool is gated and locked until 10am.
Most importantly I would never go for somewhere that has such poor TripAdvisor reviews, regardless of what the official rating of rhe hotel is.
We're currently staying at surfing colours in fuerventura. And we also frequently go to hotel son baulo in Majorca. Highly recommend both for a budget friendly holiday.

I use to live and work in The Canaries!

Cockroaches are unavoidable in The Canaries. Be grateful you didn’t meet a flying one!

Problem with restaurants that open up is that they can’t be air conditioned. I usually look for ones which are internal and have air con.

Canaries are hot in summer. Some years they are extremely hot and also very humid.

I had ds in The canaries in August and being pregnant in 40° heat was interesting 😂