Gran Castillo Tagoro Family & Fun Playa Blanca

Overall, we have had an excellent 2 weeks at the Gran Castillo. We are a family of 3 with a 12 year old. Conscious that our time here has been enhanced with a family room with sea view which was very large and had a separate walk-in wardrobe which was handy to have. The hotel is sprawling and I’m not sure I’d have liked other small looking rooms with either no view or situated right next to the manic swimming pools. It is definitely not close to being 5 star as described. Positives, staff especially the maid service were all exceptionally friendly and welcoming. We stayed with all inclusive which I believe was value for money. Breakfast, lunch and dinner was varied enough and well laid out and frequently replenished. We spent most time at the 2 main pools which had entertainment but didn’t last long to put off anyone who didn’t want to take part. Evening entertainment was fine, some nights good, some nights not so. The hotel is a good walk to the marina, then further again into Playa Blanca. We enjoyed walking this almost daily as the views are stunning, but may not suit everyone. Some negative points which are a bit frustrating; it’s billed as a family resort but the music at the pool frequently blasted songs with ‘f*cking’ and ‘f*ck’ in the lyrics, absolutely bizarre why they would think this is ok. Also, there are seemingly no non smoking areas in the hotel either at the pool or outside the main evening seating area, so we had to move a few times to avoid. Finally, we have a late flight so paid €35 to check out at 2pm. We were then offered a ‘courtesy’ room at 3pm. This was absolutely disgusting, tiny with one grubby sofa, one tiny frosted window and a toilet. It also smelled badly of damp/mould. We handed the key straight back. Hard to see why they would want anyone to have this room as a lasting impression of the hotel. I think overall if we were to return it would have to be price/room dependent as it can be very good with only some minor frustrations

5 star mmm im not sure. This is a difficult review as they did lots of good and there are some things not so good. First impressions on arrival dated reception and painting some bits would make a huge difference. Reception staff excellent. Rooms - we booked a family suite so it was quite a big room with a bed settee but we had no view whatsoever ie a white painted brick wall. I guess someone had two have this room and to be fair they did try to move us but to no avail. We would have used our outside space due to all the kids making a racket but we had no view and even if we sat there we couldnt see above the wall so it was very much like a prison cell. The food in the restaurant was excellent at breakfast lunch and evening meal but it wasnt really varied enough. This might be an unkind comment because all the food was excellent. However I did get a bacterial lung infection but it would be impossible to pin it down to the resort. The staff in the restaurant , well, the older ones were absolutely outstanding so attentive and ever so helpful. The younger ones seemed to shy away from doing their jobs and avoid customers. The largest pool was ever so loud and we referred to this as the vomit pool after it closed twice in 2 days. It says 8 pools but in reality there are 4 pool areas. The vomit pool is one which is very noisy with staff shouting out of a mike and playing awful yet kids music. It was almost impossible to get a sunbed in this area. At the other end of the resort were two more pools which were designed for infant age kids so these were very much out of bounds for us. With two 17 yr olds almost 18 in our party they hated the children's areas and so there was really only one place to go. The adult pool area is actually quite good. However, we were asked to leave several times because our lads were slightly under 18. At night the only thing to do was to play pool on a very old table with no tips on the cues. The table was taken away due to malfunction and everyone was fighting to play on it. It malfunctioned due to the payment system so come on Tagora do you really need to take money for kids playing pool. . Three days later it was replaced by one that didnt work after a day. There was nothing for this age group and they were completely bored and spent a lot of time on the internet which I have to say was better than most places ive stayed at. We found ourselves with nowhere to go due to no sunbeds at the noisy kids pools, ie people hogging them with towels, and being refused entry to to the adult pool. Staff eventually saw sense and for the last 2 days we were allowed to convene as a family in the adult pool area due to the issues. This has been a difficult review as there are some really good bits such as most of the staff are outstanding, but other things let it down. The photographs shown in the advert are also wrong and do not show it as it really is it has been changed. Our party commented that things could have been done better and I

This was our 3rd visit to this hotel and sadly it will be our last. We were here in 2022 & 2023 and absolutely loved it, but this year it just wasn't the same. The staff are all lovely, the food and drink great. But this year there was no adults only section in the restaurant, not many themed food nights, the evening entertainment was no where near as good as it was in previous two years. Parts of the hotel are being renovated, but we weren't made aware of this until we got here & found out for ourselves when we arrived. One of the highlights of our stay the past 2 times was the portofino Italian restaurant which was absolutely brilliant, and was an actual restaurant. This year this was closed & it was now in a small area outside of the sports bar with a very limited menu not like last time. The prices for next year have almost doubled in price too which i can't understand as it has definitely declined with time. Playa Blanca is a beautiful special place to us so we will definitely return just unfortunately not to Gran castillo togoro.

My family and so visited last week & in terms of the pool and entertainment for the kids i couldn’t fault it. Our son had a blast, multiple pools, 2 slides, poolside entertainment, a pirate foam party and lots to keep him occupied. Let’s talk food - Oh dear. They do not cater for people who are coeliac or gluten intolerant at all which massively limits what you have available to you. We were all inclusive & breakfast was pretty good. Lunch and dinner gets very samey very quickly. The dinning room is SO loud so go to the overflow for a more quiet experience. Meal times gets very busy so the earlier the better for less of a Zoo type feel. Some staff were fantastic, friendly & helpful - others not so much. Portefino dinning room onsite was IMPOSSIBLE to book into, however when we did it was a huge disappointment! Not suitable for children really and a very small restricted menu. The service here was also very poor and food was not enjoyable so i wouldn’t stress if you can’t get into here. Believe it or not the main dinning room is better by miles. There’s a few shops, a super market, soft play, park and shops a 5 min walk outside of the hotel which was great and all very welcoming. The rooms are dated. The views from the suites are lush which cannot be denied however decor is dates and all rooms are incredibly basic but they do the job just fine. Evening entertainment was great, something for everyone. Kids club looked great too however not entirely ASD friendly so be mindful if you’re a neurodiverse family. Generally it was a great holiday, a few downfalls but nothing that spoilt our holiday too severely. I wouldn’t go back in all honesty but we still had a blast. Oh and 20 mins walk and you’re in the marina which is BEAUTIFUL!

Brilliant hotel for a family, entertainment throughout the day, food was also great both for adults and little ones. The staff were super helpful and friendly. Rooms were clean and spacious and the sea view from the room was perfect l.