Barceló Fuerteventura Castillo

We stayed at the Barceló Royal Level Adults Only in mid-August during the school holidays. Despite the peak season timing, the adults-only section was surprisingly peaceful and well-maintained. The rest of the resort was definitely busy, but never felt overwhelmingly packed. The Good Bits: The spa treatment was top tier. Genuinely one of the highlights of the stay. I had the 80 minute Golden Nectar treatment which was a wrap and massage and I was glowing afterwards. The gym is better than most resort setups. Loads of equipment and plenty of space. Same goes for the fitness classes – I was the only one who turned up to yoga, so got a full one-on-one session. Zero complaints. Big shoutout to the staff who were consistently friendly and extremely helpful. The housekeeping and table-clearing teams at RLAO were lightning fast, which kept everything looking spotless. Royal Level amenities delivered across the board. The adults-only bar in particular was a lovely, well-kept space and a welcome escape from the main resort bustle. The cocktails here were great, all freshly made (unlike the frozen machine versions at the standard bars at Castillo and Mar). We managed to get a table at La Mar Salada one night thanks to a voucher we got at check-in. It included the tasting menu which was nice – though a bit limited if you're a picky eater. If that’s not your thing, you can get 20% off the regular menu instead. The Not-So-Great: My biggest issue? You can’t actually book the à la carte restaurants (Mexican or Brazilian) even though Royal Level is meant to include unlimited access. You can only try via the app, which never showed availability the entire time we were there. Staff at reception just told us to "keep checking," but no luck. We ended up at the buffet nearly every night, which got repetitive fast. I'm not sure if they app thought we were not Royal Level as it technically says all inclusive can have 'one reservation if staying seven nights or more' but RL can have unlimited. Our app said 'No availability due to restrictions'. Our family who were also there for a longer stay could get a few reservations towards the tail end of their stay. The app itself is clunky and unreliable. Tried to order drinks to the spa pool and it just... didn’t work. No confirmation, no delivery. I was also constantly logged out. It’s not at all clear what’s included in Royal Level vs other packages. We were there with family on the standard all-inclusive and it was a bit of a nightmare trying to figure out where we could all eat together. A simple key or chart at each venue would solve a lot of confusion. It also felt strange that they couldn't use any of the icecream bars but we could. Signage needs a refresh. A lot of it still says “premium” instead of “Royal Level” which just adds to the mix-up. WiFi in the room was painfully unstable. Dropped out every other minute which made streaming or even basic browsing impossible. The sunbed situation is exactly what y

We originally booked a bungalow with a separate bedroom. Upon arrival, we were told we had been upgraded to a suite. The reality? The suite is 12 m² smaller and there is no separate room for our daughter. In other words, we ended up in a less convenient room that simply did not match what we had chosen. (Room 3025, in case you want to check.) On top of that, I had an email agreement to apply my -10% discount code. But when we arrived, the hotel suddenly played with words and decided it only applied to certain meal plans. We are talking about a gesture of €30 on a €1000 booking — clearly too much generosity for Barceló. Very classy — really makes you want to be a loyal Barceló customer. And then there’s the so-called all inclusive. Honestly, it’s a joke. A frappé coffee? Extra €3. Change a towel? €2 per towel. Not all restaurants are included. The alcohol? Cheap low-quality brands only — if you want anything drinkable, you have to pay extra. We’ve done plenty of all-inclusive stays, and Barceló’s version is by far the weakest. The buffet was nearly identical every day — thankfully we only stayed 3 nights, otherwise it would have been unbearable. The kids’ club? Only open in the mornings, poorly maintained, and frankly disappointing. Not exactly what you expect from a supposed family-friendly resort. If you want guests to return, perhaps start by actually delivering what you sell, instead of downgrading rooms under the name of an upgrade, serving bottom-shelf drinks, and hiding behind fine print for a few euros.

Currently staying at this hotel room 4009 and it’s hard to be impressed or even happy with it. The food is the same every day. I left lunch and watched them start to pre cook the evening meals. Breakfast is painful, it’s juice but not glasses or glass and no juice. Never any spoons or coffee cups and if you don’t sit outside get ready to boil. Enough aircon but they won’t turn all the machines on. Multiply occasion stuff was dropped and smashed, it took 20 minutes one day to clean up the broken plate. Everything had to be booked on and app with drive me crazy. The bands for all inclusive break almost instantly. The pools are salt water so if you have any kind of skin condition prepare for a rash. The only fresh water pool is a small one away from the main bar. In the evening there is only one place to sit for a drink before meal time that is an absolute mess as it’s shared with the pool during the day. The pools are merky at best and no and I mean no inflatables are allowed in despite selling them in their own hotel shop. Drinks at this bar are served in plastic cups even in the evening. The entertainment is not great. One night a person played an electric keyboard but then the next night a lady was brilliant. Beds are really comfy and pillows lovely. Beach is decent and the marina is ok. Walk there is along a board walk with planks missing, you have to watch where your going otherwise you’re in trouble. It’s a shame that you can’t dip your toes on the water off the marina in the evening as this would be nice. It’s a really tired hotel and 80% of the staff are really grumpy but the other 20% are nice. One bar you can get all inclusive on one side but if you walk the promenade side the exact same beer from the exact same pump is chargeable with no discernible reason why. The management are weak and just watch everything unfold. They eat at the same time as us and see the lack of spoons and plates and do nothing about it. By far the worst Barcelona hotel I’ve stated at and really puts me off staying at another. I have another week here 😳