Riu Chiclana Reviews

The Chiclana does not disappoint. The set up of the RIU chain of hotels is more or less identical in how the rooms are arranged. That fact for us is key. The room in this hotel was clean, tidy, functional and had that all important dividing door that closed off the room. This small detail shuts off virtually all the noise from the corridor. Not that there was much anyway as we were in a peaceful corner of the site. We asked for and got exactly what we requested in terms of the room. At first though it did not look good as we overlooked a public car park at the side of the hotel but it was mostly under used. The bonus was the excellent sea view across to Sancti Petri and the glorious sunsets. The hotel is a fair size, boasting over 800 rooms broken down into various size blocks over a large site. There are 2 pools and walking through to the rear most pool leads to a coastal path. This leads down to an excellent 8 km beach accessed either walking through the dunes or the steps. Considering it can accommodate over 2000 guests, it never seemed overly busy. We could always get a sun bed more or less where we wanted. The restaurants and bars were never packed to the point of being uncomfortable. The Chiclana is all inclusive and is quite reasonable food and drink wise. There was plenty of variety on offer and fish featured predominantly. Fresh fruit, salads and veg. were plentiful and there was always a good choice. There are 3 different restaurants, the main one you come and go as you please but the other 2, The Grill and The Andaluz, required a booking. Both offered more or less the same food but with a slight variety. The local brew is Cruzcampo and the wine was ok. In the bars, the spirits are not your recognized brands but are ok all the same. There was entertainment every night in the main bar and it was mixed. A couple of nights they did Flamenco which was good, the rest of the time it revolved around miming to music. On one particular night they did a version of Grease which the animation team spent some time plugging. We never got to see that as the plugging had the desired effect. The room was packed. But all was not lost. We had noticed a PA system had bbeen set up in another bar that was generally quiet and used just for drinking so we headed over there. It turns out that the large Italian contingency that were there for a conference had apparently brought their own entertainment. We ended up listening to a live singer for the rest of the evening.

Holiday was fab. however the hotel was in the middle of nowhere so you had no option but to eat in the hotel every day. food was very nice however there was pork as the only meat option for 11 of 14 nights! entertainment was very good and pool area very clean, plenty of sunbeds to use every day. used the spa a lot which was good to chill out when the weather got too hot.

rooms were nice and spacious we had a lovely view of the sea. cleaned everyday and the maids left sweets on our pillows.

wouldn't go back again only because we found ourselves getting bored by the end of the hol but would definitely stay at a riu hotel again as we have been to one before and the hotels are great!

great hotel very good food all you can eat and drink very few brits mainly spanish and europeans much cheaper if booked direct of riu website car essential if you want to go out realy great beach all inall highly recomended