Christmas was spent in Fuerteventura, where I stayed at Alua Suites in Corralejo. It’s an all-inclusive hotel located in one of Fuerteventura’s best tourist towns, but how was it?
Here is my review of Alua Suites Fuerteventura where I stayed in December 2021.
But let it be said immediately – the beautiful pictures on the booking site can be deceiving.
The original plan was to spend a couple of weeks in Thailand this winter, but good old C-19 put a stop to a trip to Asia.
Therefore, in the days leading up to Christmas without any plans, we checked all the usual last-minute travel sites for cheap trips to the Canary Islands. We chose Alua Suites in Fuerteventura.
The journey to Fuerteventura with SAS went smoothly, and check-in at Copenhagen Airport was painless.
We purchased airport transportation through the travel agency, which also worked well.
Things started to go awry when we checked into Alua Suites, a large, all-inclusive hotel with 4 stars.
Dirty rooms with ants 🐜
The room was outright dirty, and it was particularly bad in the bathroom, which simply wasn’t clean.
You probably know the feeling of having woken up early, flown for 4-5 hours, taken the airport bus, and finally checked in.
You just want to let go of everything and enjoy the vacation.
So much so that you can end up being okay with many things.
So, there we overlooked the dirty desk and the unpleasant bathroom.
However, we did complain when there was ‘brown stuff’ on our towels one day, and new ones were provided relatively quickly.
Passable Food
It was my first all-inclusive trip, so the concept of a buffet for breakfast, lunch, and dinner was new to me.
It was quite fun the first time I went for lunch, being able to pour myself a small beer and choose from various dishes.
The food at Alua Suites was passable.
I understand the challenge of cooking for children and adults from all over Europe, who naturally have different preferences.
However, the food didn’t taste that great, and if I had received food like this in a restaurant, I would have been very disappointed.
It should be mentioned that several times, we found lipstick on the cups we were given for drinks… 🥲
Friendly Staff in Bars and Restaurants
The hotel staff were helpful and friendly, whether it was visiting the bar to ask for a soda, beer, or sangria, all of which were included in the price.
What really tipped the scales was an incident at one of the hotel’s many swimming pools.
Poo in the Pool 💩
Yes, a guest (likely one of the younger ones) couldn’t hold it in the heated swimming pool. My partner and I were lying by the pool, enjoying the fantastic winter sun – it was up to 23 degrees, a real treat in December.
So we were about to go into the pool. We thought we had found the perfect time, as the pool had been quite crowded for the last half hour.
Now we could have the pool to ourselves!
Incompetent Staff by the pool 🤬
I won’t say who, but one of us got into the water before a hotel employee casually walked over and suggested that we should probably get out.
That’s when we noticed a small yellow sign at the other end of the pool advising against going in.
Seeing what was floating around in the pool with my eyes made me angry.
If someone defecates in your swimming pool, every single staff member should ensure that no guests go into that water.
It was an insane experience, and I don’t know why I didn’t make a bigger scene then because it was utterly disgusting.
Afterwards, they did properly close the pool…
New Room was Also Dirty
Quickly back to our room and after a shower, the ants, the dirty room, and the generally inadequate cleaning (we had no trash can in the room, and even though there was daily cleaning, our garbage was not dealt with) became unbearable.
That was when we decided to let go of our zen feeling and complain about the room.
Fortunately, the receptionist took it seriously, and we were given a new room relatively quickly.
But it was also dirty. There was even a glass with cigarette butts on the terrace.
We considered our options: should we complain again?
We thought that this might just be the standard for the hotel – it’s just a dirty hotel with ants.
We ended up ‘adjusting’ and spent the last few days outside of the hotel, which looked fantastic from home but turned out to feel a bit like an all-inclusive hell.
Avoid Alua Suites Fuerteventura 🚩
I strongly advise against traveling to Fuerteventura and staying at Alua Suites in Corralejo.
Fuerteventura is a fantastic island, Corralejo is the perfect holiday town, and the weather in December was just perfect.
Alua Suites in Fuerteventura was dreadful and in no way worth the money.
See the difference between my photos in this review and the hotel’s here. You see how it’s easy to get deceived, right?
I’m sure I’ll be back to Fuerteventura, but I wont be staying at Alua Suites again, that’s for sure.
Check out my guide to the best areas and places to stay in Fuerteventura if you’re looking for an Alua alternative.
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