Hotel Riu Chiclana

This is a typical all inclusive resort, the hotel itself is ok, rooms are nice and clean but to me, their major assets are the Gluten Free menus, the flexibility they have at making a special dish of your liking and the friendliness of everyone at the restaurants. I had the chance to talk to the Director and Sub-director and they were super nice and very interested in what I had to say in order to make some things better. Ideal for families with young kids. We had a great time.

Rui Chiclana is a lovely hotel, great staff and good food. However, if you want a quiet, restful holiday then Don't stay here. Every Friday night is a "party night," which we didn't know about until we checked in. Also, the hotel is mainly full of Spanish guests who have no volume control, so they are extremely loud. You can't even escape around the pool areas either. Aqua zumba at least twice a day plus water volleyball. Even in the main restaurant, the noise was deafening. There needs to be more 'no smoking ' areas, including some by the pools. The cocktail list was small, and the choices were sweet. Plus, they didn't seem to contain any alcohol. Wine was on tap only, and the quality wasn't great.You are unable to pay for better wine, and spirits were also limited in choice. The resort is lovely, although there is very little around the hotel. If you want to see more of the resort, then you need to take the local bus. We would not rush to go back to this hotel as we like our holidays to be relaxing, and this unfortunately wasn't

We had a short stay here from the 19th to 22nd of April. We had a hire car and were using the hotel as a base to go off exploring wonderful places like Cadiz, Jerez and Seville This is a very family orientated hotel and gets rather busy at the weekend, which was when we stayed. In no way could this Hotel by classified as a quiet relaxing place. Our first floor accommodation was located in block six, on the edge of the sprawling grounds of the Hotel, overlooking a piece of the gardens. It was was very spacious, comfortable. There was colourful and patterned decor and beddinh which was replicated on the ceiling. There was a wall mounted television, small fridge and a comfortable seating area. It  was a short walk away from the main areas of the hotel. There were two restaurants, Botanico and La Gaditana, which opened for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The food was a bit hit and miss with quality and availability. We did visit Noray, the Andalusian themed restaurant, reservation required, reviewed separately, best food in the Hotel. There was an Italian themed restaurant, La Dolce Vita, a reservation was required, we did not eat here. A snack bar Kiosko Pepito was open daily from 12.00 to 19.00. There were a number of bars including a pool swim up bar, the Sports Bar was open 24 hours. Local drinks were served, no branded labels here. On the Friday night, we stayed, there was a white party night which was held in the main entertainment area. The music was so loud and booming that the large plate glass windows, by where we were sitting in Lounge 24 Bar, a distance away were vibrating. Luckily spent a lot of time out and about, rather than spending time around busy and noisy pools. There was no escaping children running around and screaming. There is access from the hotel grounds to the long stretch of golden sand beach, Playa de la Barrosa There was a large car park across the road from the Hotel where it was free to park. A short walk away there is the Parque de la Battalla de 5 de Marzo de 1811.

Probably best family holiday we have had! Family of 4. (2 children ages 4 and 2) We have done Dubai, Turkey and Portugal with our children. Now I don’t know if it’s because our children have now become confident swimmers, so we don’t have to hold them all the time in the pool, but this really was our best family holiday to date. Pro’s - hotel is very very clean, literally spotless. - lots of swimming pools, so never an issue for sun beds at anytime of the day. - secure kids pool in a gated area with soft play - staff are extremely friendly and helpful - rooms are modern and spacious - lots of activities to get involved in everyday. (If that’s your thing) - beautiful beach that stretches for miles Con’s - food can be quite repetitive at times - very remote location, there is nothing near by. - If you have mobility issues, will be very hard to access to the beach from hotel due to the steps. Tips - request a quiet room if you don’t like the loud music from the main arena that will go on till around midnight. - go for dinner during the early setting (7:30), as it’s always quieter. As this is a majority Spanish hotel they tend to dine from 9:30 onwards. - download the RIU app, as everything is on there and be sure to book any restaurants 2-days in advance. - If you like golf, then there is quite a few local ones near by that are amazing! Contact them direct and they will offer free shuttle service. - bring kids socks for the soft play! Lastly don’t get put off by bad reviews, honestly I panicked when I originally booked this hotel after reading the reviews, but I can honestly say this has been our best family holiday to date!

We stayed here for a week with our two toddlers. The hotel is nice and clean and the staff were so friendly, cannot fault the staff! Just a heads up to families with young children, to get onto the beach there a quite a few stairs to go down (not the hotels fault I just think it’s good for people to know) There are good options for kids pools but one has a pirate ship to climb on and adults aren’t allowed on it, they obviously must have their own health and safety regulations around this but my 3yo was a little hesitant to go on it if I couldn’t go with her. (Again I just think it’s good for people with young children to be aware of this) There is a pool snack bar which is handy although, I think it would be great if you could get an ice cream throughout the day to enjoy at the pool, you could only get ice cream at lunch or dinner when. We had a kettle with tea bags in our room and on arrival the fridge had bottled water in there. There isn’t a lot around the hotel, so if you want some extra snacks for your room you’ll need to rely on the on site shop or get a cab to the closest town. Overall we had a good experience and the staff really add to this, super friendly and go out of their way to help you.

Felt like we had just landed at Butlins Holiday Camp. Although, I have visited a few Riu hotels this is the worst. Nice gardens and pool areas food is plentiful but not 5 star. not even 4 star. The wine is awful considering Spain is known for its fine wines. We even offered to buy a nice wine and they don’t have any so we had to buy outside and bring in to drink. They use cheap spirits and sugary soft drinks nothing is zero sugar besides coke and it’s from a machine. We will not return to this Riu again but, it’s been an experience and you have to try to see if you like or not. The rooms and bathrooms are very nice and clean. Pool towels you’re only allowed one per person and they don’t fit the sun loungers. Bath towels are small too. There is a kettle in the room with cups and glasses even water but no teabags or sachets of coffee or sugar. There is a fridge but it’s empty. No water or soft drinks or juices in there.