Hotel Costa Calero Thalasso & SPA

"We are a couple in our mid 30s who came away without the kids for 4 nights. The best thing about this hotel is there are more than enough sunbeds I have never been to a hotel where you don’t have to worry about getting up early you can literally choose where you want to go it’s a real treat. The food was ok but it was cold, there was plenty to choose from but I never had a hot meal so we did eat out on 2 of the evenings just to have something nice. Location wise there is nothing to do, the marina is quiet with a few restaurants but you need to travel to Puerto Del Carmen if you want to look in the shops and see the beach but its only 7euros in a taxi or there is a free shuttle bus at 10am, 11am and 4pm and comes back at 1:15pm, 4:30pm and 5:30pm. Rooms are cleaned daily and really nice, we paid for a sea view but there was a huge tree blocking our balcony so you couldn’t see anything. Evening entertainment is inside the showbar where there is a mini disco for kids and then an act. Kids disco doesn’t start until 9:15 though which some people found late. There is also a piano bar upstairs which we preferred. Weather was sunny but very windy, definitely need jackets in the evening. Pool was very cold only went in once but clean. The hotel is wonderfully quiet and clean, heavily populated with the elderly on Saga holidays, there weren’t many young families but there is activities for children. The prestige ares looked like a waste of money, I didn’t bother upgrading and didn’t regret it. From what I could see there is a separate dining area that looks the same as the regular area, there is a separate sunbathing area with better sunbeds but its not next to the pool, and there is an area you can drink separately but this was again heavily populated with the elderly and we wouldn’t have used any of them areas. The local brand drinks were more than fine for is so I wouldn’t recommend upgrading. We would definitely come back for the peace and quiet such a lovely hotel and definitely left relaxed which is what we came for."

"Return visit, was there in Nov/Dec 25. Hotel very clean and feels spacious, although busy, never felt overcrowded. You could always find a sunlounger around pools. Pools do need maintenance as lots of tiles missing though. Restaurant food good, plenty of choice, could always find different things to eat. Excellent gluten free area. Prestige area of main restaurant was usually good, a big thanks to Raby who was fantastic. Other staff good if you could catch their attention. Lunchtime average, lots of salads if you didn't want pizza, burgers and chips. Still confused by Prestige, you get seperate area for breakfast, dinner, sunloungers and barlounge. But at lunchtime you are on plastic garden chairs in the middle of a noisy chaotic restaurant. Coffee is from a machine and always dreadful. Prestige lounge great for relaxing in, but optics not changed when empty and lack of glasses, felt it could have been checked and cleared more often. Spa area great, very relaxing, but totally spoiled at the weekend by unsupervised children running around, yelling and jumping in. Go during the week, far more civilised. Rooms clean and bed very comfortable. Great to have the cold bottled water. Shower always hot. Didn't go to any of the shows, but the entertainment team always seemed to have something going on if that's your idea of a holiday. Lovely marina a short walk away with plenty of places to eat. Would I recommend, yes. But would be even better with decent coffee and supervision of children in the spa area."

"This is our 2nd visit to this hotel. The first time was around 7-8 years ago. The hotel is just the right size. There's always ample sunbeds around the pool area and restaurant (even in kids holidays). The rooms have been redecorated and are light and spacious. Our bathroom was nice but did have quite a bit of mould on the wall behind the toilet. The shower always had good pressure and temperature at all times of the day. The beds were very comfortable and typically pushed together to make a double. The air con was a little weak in my opinion and didn't get really cold. We had 3 double garden view rooms and we requested all 3 were close to each other. The hotel did accommodate our request and we had 3 rooms in a row, which was great for sharing the patio areas outside (ground floor). The TV had English channels (BBC1, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, CNN, and CBeebies). The rooms all had fridges which were small but big enough for medication, bottles of water, or chocolate. The food is fine, if a little repetitive, and the words All Inclusive actually mean one breakfast, one lunch, and one dinner, you cannot go back in once you have eaten. In my opinion this isn't AI, it's Full Board. The food is basically the same every night with a change to the meat on offer. I am not a fussy eater, but I struggled here. For kids - there is pizza and chips every night. There are no chicken nuggets or sausages and the bolognaise is poor with little to no meat. The salad is always plentiful and fresh. The lunch option is a more restricted version of dinner - burger, hotdog, chips, salad, pizza, and a meat option with potatoes. The snack bar is even more restricted with hotdogs (left over from lunch), sandwiches, and cake. The lower snack bar at the bottom pool does sandwiches and toasties - this is not advertised anywhere, not even at the bar itself, and I don't know why. The hotel doesn't use bands to differentiate between who is Half Board and who is AI, which means you need to carry your room key card to the bar, restaurant, snack bar if you want food or drinks. However, sometimes they want your card other times they don't - it's totally random. Other than no swimwear there is no dress code for dinner in the main restaurant. However men are not allowed to wear vests (even with trousers) in the restaurant. This only applies to men, and not women. The pool areas are clean and tidy and lots of choice of where to sit. There are no kids slides or splash zone areas, which does reduce the amount of children here. We found (even in the kids holidays) this hotel predominantly is the older generation with few families. This means it has a much more laid back quiet, relaxing vibe. The evening entertainment was OK. Singer (70's), Magic Show, Back to The 80's show, Ballet Flamenco, and a variety show. Kids mini disco every night. The piano bar had a mix of pianist, a saxophonist, and guitar player. They were all pretty good. The day activities are fun, but be aware of age restrictions on some things like Rifle Shooting and Pistol Shooting. There's a small selection of books to borrow on the ground floor outside the main restaurant entrance. There is a small shop on the same floor as the main restaurant entrance. Odd opening hours as they are not open in the evening (when most people are coming in and out of the restaurant). They have a few essentials, souvenirs and clothing. There is a supermarket right outside the hotel for any food/drinks you might want. The walk down to the Marina doesn't take long and the mini market is a nice place to take a wander. There's lots of boat trip options down there too, along with restaurants. It is a very steep walk back up to the hotel. Not for those with walking difficulties. The free shuttle bus to Puerto del Carmen takes around 10 minutes and drops you right in the centre. There's several drops per day, but if they don't fit with your timings you can get a taxi for about €8 one way. The hotel transfer in a private taxi took around 15 minutes. Check in was slick and the reception buy was super helpful and friendly. Equally check out was quick (bit of a queue, but the girls worked as quickly as they could). I would recommend the hotel, but maybe as half board and eat out."