Labranda Golden Beach Only Adults

Cleanliness and Staff: The hotel is praised for its cleanliness and friendly staff across different departments including reception, restaurant, and housekeeping.

We stayed at this hotel recently for a couples trip. Good points: - nice staff: Dagmar on reception was helpful, restaurant and bar staff were efficient - hotel is very clean throughout - quiet at night so we slept well - good sized room (swim up) - pool was nice and warm and there were plenty sunbeds - Costa calma has some gorgeous beaches and walks, it’s a lovely area Bad points: - food was poor, not much choice (I expect this as a vegan at a buffet …. but this was the worst I’ve had). My husband said all meat was very overcooked, no variation day to day. The soup had no stock in it. It’s mostly German clientele so I think the food is more geared towards their requirements, however even then, it was the same food every meal. - the room lacked a few basics I’d expect - there was no full length mirror, only a face mirror in the bathroom - shower tray is flat so shower kept flooding the room

The room was OK. We appreciated the safe and the fridge, and the walk-in shower (no bath, sadly). Being on the ground floor afforded us an AstroTurf patio with two private sunbeds and parasol, which were very handy. Other ground floor rooms had private plunge pools too! Unfortunately, whilst the room looked recently decorated, it also looked like it had been done cheaply and in a hurry: our wardrobe was chipped where a screw was poking out, and the doorframe to the bathroom had been glued on back to front. Our toilet also continually dripped. None of these were dealbreakers, just snags you'd get in a 3-star hotel as opposed to a 4. The food was good but not exceptional. Evening meals are themed (e.g. Italian, Mexican, Asia, Spanish) are there was a decent amount of choice. Perhaps a little too salty and grisly at time but overall not bad. The allergy labels are effectively pointless as most dishes are labelled as containing nuts when in reality they're only 'may contain'. Had my partner and I both heeded these warnings rigidly, we'd basically have lived off aubergines and watermelon the entire trip. We're fortunate that we can do taste tests and, thankfully, neither of us experienced any reactions at all. Breakfast was better, with a choice of continental meats, cheeses, cereals, yoghurts, pastries, donuts, churros, bacon, sausage, a made-to-order Spanish omelette station and more. The public spaces are spacious and clean. The pool is fine; missing the occasional tile but not dangerous and - for once - not overly chlorine-d. It's unlikely you'll need to get up at 6am to secure a sunbed BUT you might want to secure a parasol if you're not in a ground floor room as there's a severe lack of them around the pool area. I suspect many of them had been broken in the gusty winds that blew through almost every day whilst we were there (apparently Fuerteventura is known for being windy?). Evening entertainment ranged from the bizarre (an Avatar-themed gymnastics show complete with inflatable whale puppet the audience has to stroke) to the genuinely impressive (the dances of the world show and the 3-piece band being our favourites). Special shout out to 'Mr Sax' who put on an impressive hour long afternoon set around by the pool once a week, followed by a show in the evening. All good fun, and we appreciated that this wasn't the only pool-side entertainment; two afternoons there was a DJ mixing chilled house by the pool. However, the best entertainment (and significantly tastier drinks) can be found at the nearby Rapa Nui surf bar, a 10 minute walk away (it's 100% worth a stop). The staff were all lovely and very welcoming. A word on the location. Costa Calma is pretty quiet as far as resorts go. There's a few restaurants and bars, a couple of small shopping arcades selling touristy things, and several supermarkets. We found the one nearest the hotel (HyperDino) the best stocked and slightly cheaper than the nearby Spar. Beach-goers will appreciate th