Latest Reviews for Playa El Agua

The resort during the day consists of a few beach bars and restaraunts on a fabulous beach and is quite safe to be in. Entertainment on an evening is centred round the hotel, so I cannot comment on beach nightlife but was told it was unsafe to be outside the hotel, having said that some people did venture out and had no trouble.

After reading some bad reports about this hotel on other sites, I felt doubtful about going there, but having just returned on 9th September 2008, all I can say is please go and try it for yourselves, everything about this place is fantastic. It is an excellant budget hotel with amazingly friendly staff, not one miserable person there. Good food, clean rooms, great pool area and grounds and fabulous beach bar. There are alot of beach sellers but we even had a laugh with them and they can understand English, but pretend not to. The weather was in the 100s all fortnight but we did go on Orinoco Delta/Canaima trip, which we got from Ray who goes to the beach bar, well recommended especially Canaima, got bit to pieces by mossies in the delta but never suffered ill effect. Took antihistamines which seemed to have helped. Made some good friends and would love to go again sometime.

We went out a few times but we got pestered constantly by sellers. The beach was lovely but again we were constantly pestered by sellers.

Brilliant holiday !!!!!!!! The holiday would have been perfect if we had a better first choice rep. Our rep was manuel who never seemed to be there and could,nt even organize a trip for us which we done on our own in minutes just outside the hotel. The entertainment and staff were fantastic and very friendly to everyone

On arrival at the Dunes we were allocated a room near the main gate as requested by e-mail. If you were unhappy with your room changing did not seem to be a problem. Room itself was clean with a large bed, shower, bathroom fridge tv coffee maker and safe. A bottle of water was provided every day.

The room was cleaned every day and towels changed and toiletries replaced as required. A bus to the main building runs every few minutes. The front desk was very helpful if you had any problems. We found the food in the main restaurant to be excellent with many choices. You must be hard to please if you could not find something suitable. The beach restaurant also served excellent food with a choice from a menu or buffet or both. We enjoyed our two meals in the Italian restaurant as it was waiter service and the food was nicely presented and very enjoyable. Wine served with the meals was of a poor quality and could be improved. Ask for the rose wine in the Italian restaurant. Drinks in general were very good and the waiter service at the bars was mostly very prompt. The air-conditioned Cubos Bar was a very pleasant place to enjoy a drink in the evening. The pool and beach area have plenty of sun beds and shade but bathing in the sea is not advised as the sea is very rough. The hotel is starting to show its age and a complete upgrade is going to be required soon.

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay the the Dunes and would recommend this hotel to anyone who is looking for a holiday in the Caribbean at the lower end of the market.

Please think twice about this one it really isnt very good and you will be disappointed.The hotel is very run down and the rooms are cramped and very basic.The food is just about edible.The pools are grimey too so if I were you I'd give this one a miss,total waste of money!!!!!!!!!terrible

We booked the Hesperia for the main reason of having bars you could visit in the evening, however we would not recomend this, the road you go out onto is very dark and intimidating.

Our rooms were nice and clean,though we both had to be moved due to jammed doors, leaking air conditioning. The place itself was like a Building Site, there is major Building work going on at the moment, so there is dust and dirt everywhere. First Choice said they sent us a letter informing us of the Building Work, however us and 6 other couples did not get one.

The only place to relax in the evening is around the pool bar, where you probably spent most of your day.

The entertainment team work very hard and try to please. The food was excellent.

The Building Work going on is for new rooms and pools, when done we think the site will be great, however this hotel should be shut while all this is going on.

We moved to the Dunes Resort which was great, but half our holiday was gone, with very little pleasure.

Would not recomend this hotel until the work is finished.

Not recommended. The rooms are out-dated and very very basic,the food is just ok,the hotel has nothing to offer British holiday makers in the way of entertainment!The bars are decked out with cheap tacky furniture to match the rest of the surroundings and they serve the drinks warm off the counter and fill them with ice which means within a minute or two you have a very watery drink!!!!

Dont expect Cordon Bleu either the food is USUALLY luke warm yuk,it turned my stomach!!!!!!! The staff were friendly but Im afraid its a thumbs down from me.Guanteed sunshine though megga hot so if you're not bothered about food entertainment and hotel then this ones for you but beware the sea is too strong to swim in and its too windy to go to the beach!!!!!!! my rating due to travelling quite regular 2\10 and thats being kind!!!!! you,ll be disapointed.Sandra and Steve from CHESTER

We spent Christmas and New Year at Les Flamboyant and were glad we did. The hotel is very clean and the staff are all friendly and helpful. Frankie at the pool bar and Habien at the beach bar were particularly good. Our room was lovely with a balcony that had views of the pool, beach and the mountain and that was without Tas hassling for a better room!

The hotel was all inclusive, food was OK with a choice to please most people - as with all inclusives everywhere food is hotter if you get there early or when the new dishes are brought out. The hotel allows one visit to the Grill a week, food here is cooked fresh and was excellent. Drinks are national brands and are not great but are OK.

The hotel does not have facilities to change money and the nearest place to do so legaly is about 15mins up the road (there are a few black market places where you can try your luck if you have cash) Next to the hotel is a small market with a range of goods on sale.

The hotel is directly opposite the beach and the hotel provides beds and Drinks Luis on the beach is great fun and very helpful (as are most of the locals). The beach sellers are very polite and will leave you alone if asked. The sea is pretty rough so if you want to swim we suggest the pool.

The only thing that let the holiday down was the entertainment in the hotel, it was mostly in Spanish and consists of lots of Salsa, we did not expect everything to be in English but hoped there would be a bit more we could understand, this view was shared by other guests Swiss and Danish included. The animation team were also a little lack-lustre however we enjoyed ourselves. One of the highlights of the holiday was New Year, the whole British contingent in the hotel got together to celebrate - we set off party poppers at British New Year and more at Margarita New Year, we then did Auld Lang Syne in the middle of the dance floor joined by a very bemused Venezualan.

We came home with a lot of happy memories and Tas has a barmans shirt!

We had a great time here!

The flight with First Choice was good. We wanted to upgrade but all of the seats had sold out but it didn't matter as the standard seats had plenty of legroom. Even my partner who is 6'2"; had a comfortable flight!

The Dunes Hotel had sort of faded grandeur, I think it had seen better days. Our room was large, dated and had no balcony but the air con was a godsend and it was kept very clean. Our room was by the main hotel gate, away from the main restaurant/activity area but this suited us. Anyway there was a regular shuttle bus to take you to reception. The food was very good, especially for all inclusive and the hotel staff were really friendly and made a huge effort to ensure that you enjoyed yourself. The highlight of the hotel for us was the wildlife - capybaras (like a giant guinea pig) roamed the grounds, the bird life was fantastic with pelicans and frigate birds on the beach and other brightly coloured species around the hotel.

The hotel beach was superb with golden sand, sun beds, sun shades and a bar. The sea was very rough at times but this made for an exciting swim! The weather was great, very hot and humid, with a few hours rain mainly at night. Boy can it rain out there but it is still warm and quickly clears.

We were told that the island would no longer accept US dollars (something to do with the Venuezuelan primeminister falling out with the Americans again!). However we had no trouble changing money at the hotel and, in reality most places would accept dollars eventhough they weren't supposed to!

The island itself looked like something out of spaghetti western, lots of sand and cacti! The island is obiously very poor and felt a bit lawless. If you venture out on your own keep your wits about you. A couple of young girls from our hotel were robbed at gun point! They weren't hurt just shocked. Like any country you need to be careful and not flash the cash or jewellery. I am sure it would be OK to tour the island on your own (we met people that had) we just didn't feel that adventurous!

Excursions
With First Choice we booked horse riding -this was brillant with eagles flying close over head and you don't need any experience. We also went sailing and there were only 6 of us on the boat includig the 2 crew (I think this was unusual though). We sailed to an island and went scuba diving - it was great.

We also booked tours in advance via the internet with a guy called Walter. He was brilliant, spoke great English (and spanish and german) and he was local. We went on his jeep safari (not for the faint hearted and a love of rum and coke helps!). He also arranged for us to go across to Venezuela - up the Orinoco, a night in the rain forest and then on the Angel Falls. The whole tour was absolutely breathtaking and the main reason we went to Margarita in the first place. It is hot, sweaty and basic but the sites and sounds are second to none. This tour is a must do.

For the price we paid for this holiday I expected to stay in a hovel with rubbish food but this definitely wasn't the case. far from it. It was not one individual thing that made this holiday so special but everything together and it was so cheap to get there and stay there (much less than going to Spain!). Go on - give it a try - just relax and enjoy!

Booked last minute and paid about £500 each, we were really happy when we arrived. Cool cocktails and dancers greeted us, a nice welcome.
The rooms are ample, either overlooking the pool or gardens. The complex is quite small, so you get to know the other holidaymakers and staff in no time.
We didnt do Angel Falls as we were on a budget, however we did 3 trips - one to the Carribean side of the Island (which is lovely, you visit mangrove swamps plus a private beach with a restaurant), one on a 'Village tour' where you go up into the mountains and see real Margarita life, and one to a local town where everything is incredibly cheap. We used a guy called Gus (he looks like Freddie Mercury), he is a driver with the organised tours but will take a party of you for much less, plus he gave us a free excursion too, his wife and young daughter come along and he packs his cool box with beer, more like a family outing really.
Food is fine in hotel, drinks are plentiful. The entertainment staff go all out to keep you entertained! Plus they put a disco on for us on the balcony one night, we played bingo, sang karaoke. Its a very intimate hotel so the friendliness of the other holidaymakers (our group was a mixture of Englishs/Scots/Germans/French and Italians) made up for the low key nights anyway.

A couple of warnings though... a young couple were mugged literally on the steps of the hotel after walking from the main strip in the dark and were pretty shook up, their assailants were hiding in the scrubland leading up to the hotel. Also a chap was pistol whipped and shot at whilst on a night out in Porlamar. I'm sure that Margarita isnt crime ridden, it's just a very poor third world island.

I had my hair extended and braided for £30 on the beach, it took a full day to do but is well worth the money if you have ever fancied having hair down to your bum but the £250+ price tag in the UK has put you off. Beach is very nice, plenty of loungers and tent style shade, take a big insulated cup with you as the cocktails/beer go very warm in the heat. Also take Deet mozzie spray, I got bitten to high heaven, one of the girl's bites got infected and were very painful.
All in all a very good holiday, a nice hotel and beach and plenty to see.

Brilliant place to go if you like the heat.

Dunes hotel is great,a little dated but an excellent place to relax.
The staff are excellent as is the food,pool,entertainment,beach and the grounds.

We enjoyed 2 wonderful weeks in aug/september 2006 and would recommend Margarita wholeheartedly..