More about Riu Waikiki
Lovely
by A TripAdvisor Member
We stayed in the Riu waikiki in May and had a lovely time. The food was brilliant with loads to choose from. Our room was very clean the pool was very big and clean, The hotel is in a brilliant location with just a 10 minute walk to the beach. The majority of the hotel were German and not many English couples there but they were all friendly and dont let this put you off. For the money this is a brilliant hotel but a weeks holiday was long enough as there wasnt that much to really do on the island and it aaws very quiet on the streets both through the day and at night.
Great holiday resort
by TripAdvisor Member leftyamazed
I arrived back from Riu Waikiki today (13th Feb 2006) and this review is one of the first things I'm doing upon getting home. My ears still haven't popped!
I travelled with my brother, parents and a couple of family friends and this was the first time we had gone 'All Inclusive', although our friends had stayed at a different 'All Inclusive' hotel on the island before. We have been use to renting a villa or apartment on Lanzarote and self catering, so this was a new way of holidaying and a new resort. The initial outlay for an all inclusive package is larger than getting flights and renting a villa, but in the long run, all inclusive was a lot cheaper than self catering for us, because a family of four dining out each evening is quite expensive.
The hotel is a European family hotel. By that I mean it is popular with English, German, Italian, Dutch, Spanish, Austrian and French tourists. The entertainment team is made up of three very hard working people, one Belgian, one Spanish and one from Luxemburg. I think it is fair to say that Riu's reputation as being a quality German hotel company stands and things do feel more geared towards german tastes. The entertainment team do work hard to include all nationalities though, so it wouldn't be fair to suggest (as other's have done in their reviews) that it is purely a German hotel. The food and drinks are included in the price as this hotel only offers all inclusive. Basically that means that beer and soft drinks are available from the moment the dining room opens for breakfast until the bars shut at midnight. Food is served in the dining room at breakfast, lunch and dinner time, plus a smaller snack selection is also available from 10am to 5pm from behind the pool bar. It is necessary to tell you that the snacks are behind the pool bar, because you wouldn't know where to find them otherwise. You just see people sitting around the pool with burgers or cake and wonder where it is coming from.
The hotel is a 3 star hotel. It consists of 5 circular towers, each of 8 storeys. The reception forms the ground floor of tower A and the ground floor of towers B & C are the dining room. The rooms are basic, but good enough to sleep in. If you have rain as we did, you would probably rather brave sitting in the pool bar (which is open to the elements) than sit in your room. The rooms do NOT have tea making facilities and also the centres of the towers are open so the rain actually rains in the towers.
The actual resort of Playa Del Ingles is billed as the 2nd biggest of it's kind in Europe. It isn't a long beach strip of restaurants, shops and clubs like many resorts. Instead it is made up of loads of hotels and 'commercial centres' which are shopping precincts with clubs, bars, shops, etc. Culture is hard to come by, as it is a purpose built resort. There is plenty to do though and I would recommend the resort itself to anyone. There is stuff for kids, families, gay holidaymakers, 18-30 crowd, but it is according to the time of day and where you go, so families can happily enjoy the area without worrying about louts.
If you want a good value holiday, Riu Waikiki can offer you that. If you want some pampering and luxury, then you should save up a bit more and go to Clubhotel Riu Gran Canaria 10-15 minutes along the coast at Meloneras, which is a 4 star hotel and totally another world.
excellent holiday
by TripAdvisor Member jude16
Returned last week after spending a week at Riu Waikiki. Big hotel but nothing too much trouble for staff . Lots of nationalities -including Belgians French German & British. Food PLENTIFUL & HOT- breakfast- fruit ,juices,cereal , 4 types of egg ,beans, breads,pastries,muffins , cheese ham . Snack bar at lunch - hot dogs,burgers,salad,pizza,garlic bread. or you could go into the restaurant at lunch which was serving similar to food as evening - soup, salads [BIG variety ] roasts, curry, spag bol ,noodles, casseroles and always at least 4 veg -pototoes- fries rice and the chef would always be freshly cooking in front of you steaks ,chicken breasts , loin of pork .I have 2 very & i mean fussy eaters and they were fine . You could go back for seconds ! Very rare you did as you usually couldnt move ,then desserts 10 or so & ice cream . If you had any room about 4pm cakes were available !drinks you helped yourself to except for spirits .never saw anyone drunk and very quiet at night bar shut at 12.Rooms were fine huge fan that kept 3 adults cooln with no doors open at night - best sleep ive had for ages ! Super hol -had bad experince on all inc few years ago was told to go where other nationalities go & wouldnt have problem as they dont put up with standards english put up with . RIU are super stayed self catering last year with them - will try another RIU as wasnt keen on area in Gran Canaria-too commercialised for us .
Beware room 770
by A TripAdvisor Member
Very good hotel,good facilities and helpfull staff.One big problem though.When it rains here as it often does in Feb.Some of the rooms are prone to flooding.Our room 770 was particularly bad as it flooded on our last two days here.Depths of 40mm were not uncommon.I am currently locked in an argument with the hotel regarding compensation for this.They were very keen to pass the book on this issue to my travel rep.However RIU should not sell rooms they know are prone to flooding.
Rather dated needs refurbishing soon
by A TripAdvisor Member
Have just returned from a 1 week break. The hotel is in need of some refurbishment. The staff in general work very hard and nothing is too much trouble for them. The entertainment staff did let my 4 year granddaughter wander off from the kiddies club and my daughter who was on her way to fetch her found her on the stairs in front of the swimming pool on her own. The food is just OK and is very repetative wouldn't want to eat it for 2 weeks. Mainly full of Germans who all think that they should be first in the queue or take priority over every other nationality. I think that the duo "Hollywood" who sing at the hotel most nights need a bit more get up and go or perhaps they should just go. This hotel is alright for an OK holiday but if I was going to Gran Canaria again I would look for something more up market and with more English residents.
Better than I expected
by TripAdvisor Member lbalad
I have to agree with the previous poster, this hotel is in need of a refurbishment. The exterior and the pool could do with a coat of paint. The bedrooms are looking a bit jaded. However the hotel is spotless. I have never met such friendly and helpful staff. The food on offer is of very good quality, and freshly cooked in front of you. As mentioned previously beer, wine, soft drinks, coffee etc, are self service, so never any queues. I dont think I would like to stay at this hotel in high season, but out of season I would definately return.
It was very good
by A TripAdvisor Member
Been twice to this hotel, and my parents went on their honeymoon (eugh), and it has been really good both times. The staff are friendly, the food is great, the bar service was really good and the pool is maaaassive. Rooms are kept clean and tidy and the surrounding area is quite nice- can take a while to get to the beach, but you need to exercise when your on holiday. There's also a nice bar around the corner which we went to everyday and there's a supermarket right next to it as well. And you can get a copy of The Sun from the onsite shop which is useful.
Average hotel Great Location
by A TripAdvisor Member
Stayed at the Rui Waikiki for a week 22-29 May. We arrived late at the hotel and although the restuarent had closed they allowed us in to have something to eat, it was cold meats, soup and salad but after a long day it was welcomed. Wasnt very impressed with the room but we went straight to bed, i could hear road traffic all night, the next day the room still seemed dark. I asked at reception about getting our room changed to a pool view room which they did, the reception staff are very helpful, this was much better, although all the rooms are the same size it seemed bigger and much brighter. The rooms are a decent size although they could do with an extractor or something in the bathroom as there is nowwhere for toilet smells to excape apart from back into the bedroom. Maidservice is very good they managed to make sense out of the mess we left everyday.
At meal times there is a lot of choice on the menu the only problem is that you more or less get the same choice everyday which did become a bit boring, nevertheless with it being all inclusive and self service you can have as much as you want - so you can basically try a bit of everything. Snacks are served at the back of the pool bar during the day hot dogs, pizza chips, cakes in the afternoon. You can get cocktails and drinks to sip around the pool but i must say you cant taste any alchol in them and i certainly never felt the effects of drinking god knows how many.
All in all, its a good clean hotel with helpful staff, walking distance to the beach although the hotel have a free bus service, close to shopping centers and walking distance to the nightlife. This was my first time in Gran Canaria I would defo go back, I would recommend Waikiki to anyone but would probably stay somewhere else next time.
Very Enjoyable
by TripAdvisor Member net0519
My Husband and i have just returned from our holiday, we were at the waikiki from 5th to 19th June 2006. We have enjoyed the holiday overall. Hotel was good, cleaned well and the food was ok plenty of choice but remained the same really most nights not much of a variation really!. The rooms probaly could do with a lick of paint but at least they were clean. We had requested a low floor room and on arrival was given this but didnt like it at all, wasnt much privacy with people walking past youre patio and didnt feel very safe with being so accessable, so we requested a change and they moved us immediatley and also rang the room the next day to ask if everything was ok which it was, the room was loads better. There is loads of Germans at the hotel and the usual pushing at mealtimes did get me angry, also there seems alot of people for the facilites to accomadate, the restaurant was overloaded and we table shared for the second week with a welsh couple who were lovely so we didnt mind that, we had our evening meal at 8.30pm so by the time you get to the pool bar you were lucky to get a chair!. The first week was really much quieter so we had no problems but loads came the second week that was when it was packed. We didnt see much of the entertainment but the one night did see a show and realised we hadnt missed out on anything wasnt our cup of tea!. The activities in the day was quite good my husband loved the water polo. We went round the pool most days but opted to sunbathe on the upper level which was out of the way of the hustle directly round the pool, it was up some metal stairs at the side of the pool and there was two long rows we sat nearest the stairs so we could just pop down to dip in the pool. The beach is nice abit of a walk down some steps to it but its worth having a look down there, also some shops down there. There are lots of little shopping centres around but most are pretty much the same shops in each. We didnt do any trips but if we went again would probaly adventure round on the buses to see some more of the island as they are cheap ways of seeing a bit more. We were told the atlantica centre was good and got loads of top name shops there. The staff at waikiki were really nice and couldnt fault them on service. All in all very good time had and would most likey go back but might look at another part of gran canaria perhaps go back to waikiki in a few years.
Fab Holiday
by TripAdvisor Member Vespa69
We have just returned from a two week stay at this hotel and had a fantastic time. I was on holiday with my partner and 13 year old daughter. The staff are excellent and can't do enough for you very polite and happy. The food was really good you will never go hungry at this hotel, when the main restaurant was closed there were snacks around the pool. The pool area had plenty of sun beds so you didn't feel like you needed to get up and put your towel at at 6am. There was plenty of bars in the evening within walking distance and the sand dunes are a nice walk at sun set. Porto Morgan is about a 45min bus ride from right outside the hotel and is well worth a visit very pretty little port and there is a market there on a Friday. Camel riding on the sand dunes is good fun but be careful if you go dolphin searching the sea can be a bit choppy to say the least (was ill). Holiday world and aqualand are down the road the taxi's are very cheap and it will cast you about 3 to 4 euro's. I would recommend this hotel we had a lovely 2 weeks.
Sign in with Facebook
