Holiday World Polynesia Hotel

“Mixed feelings.”

Ok where to start.... First of all I would say - read reviews, but take them with a pinch of salt. Everyone has a different expectation and that is very evident from reviews. My opinion? - ignore reviews. A holiday is what you make of it and if you let niggly things bother you then just don't go o… more

Ok where to start.... First of all I would say - read reviews, but take them with a pinch of salt. Everyone has a different expectation and that is very evident from reviews. My opinion? - ignore reviews. A holiday is what you make of it and if you let niggly things bother you then just don't go on holiday or pay through the nose for a bloody expensive hotel elsewhere. There were 9 of us ranging from 6-62. Ill start with the negatives to get those out of the way then I'll focus on the positives - The hotel did NOT have our booking! They tried to blame us, then blame Easy jet & despite the hotel being "fully booked" they managed to find 3 rooms. There was no apology despite the saga taking 3 hours of our first day to sort. - The rooms albeit spacious had no black out blind in the living area so - the poor person sleeping on the sofa bed was greeted with sunlight very early! - The outside pool was FREEZING - the inside pool was 15Eu each but was fully booked. - Piano bar at night just had screaming kids running through it! We had kids with us ranging from 6-13 and not once were they allowed to behave that way. It was dangerous with glasses around! - although we could not do anything about the weather - the hotel were not equipped to deal with the wet. There were towels everywhere, puddles everywhere and a whole load of leaks - often without wet floor signs. - only one restaurant open. Not much entertainment and any that there was - was far too late for kiddos. - Arcade was dated. Opened too late & often the machines would just eat your money. We gave up after the first round. Positives: -Beautiful entrance, impressive decor & a huge hotel with Turtles, love birds and koi carp. - every night had a different food theme. Even for the fussiest eaters there was always something to choose from. - Drinks - actually not bad considering it's AI. they use real coca cola, Fanta, sprite etc which was great. Alcoholic drinks were not all bad either. Find a tipple and stick with it. We had rum and coke (they used Bacardi!) amaretto & coke, Archers & lemonade, Malibu &, lemonade & whisky. Be warned though - it's freepour so can be quite strong! - We managed to use the pools down at holiday world the once & although we could get drinks down there - there was no food available as it was shut due to 'low season' - They decorated the hotel lovely for Halloween & made a real effort with the food - Halloween themed - the kids loved it! - A shuttle bus down to the bottom of the hotel was great, ran frequently - every 10 mins or so & gave you access to either public busses or holiday world hotel for the pool. - Public buses run every 20 mins or so and was just 1.55eu each. This was a much cheaper alternative to getting cabs. - there is a shop on site that sells what you need, however it is convenience so you are paying more! - the rooms were spacious & cleaned daily. Wet Towels were replaced. - has a crazy golf & kids play areas but you have to explore to find them. - beach was lovely and only a 15 min walk. We found things to do daily, would probably come back in higher season but truth be told the location isnt fantastic and you really have to travel to get anywhere or do anything. Staff were generally happy and friendly. For us - it worked well - but would probably choose another location in future.

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