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| Holiday-Truth Readers Reports |
payne from manchester travelled to Caleta Dorada Apartments with
first choice
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 02 2008 | rated the Caleta Dorada Apartments as follows:| Cleanliness |  | | Location | | | Staff |  | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Arrived 09/02/08 at reception, 2 adults & 2 children, very unhelpful reception staff who gave us a map to the bungalow, 10 minutes away with no help & all uphill. The bungalow apartment STANK of must and everything felt damp, we asked at reception but were told we couldn't move rooms. The patio door was dodgy as was the childrens bedroom window lock, we asked the maintanance man to fix it and was told it was fine!!
We spent 20 Euro's paying for a hairdryer, remote for TV, & safety box, which was returned at the end of our stay. The rooms were dirty, paint peeling, no coffee/tea etc & the shop on sit very expensive. We have always gone on All Inclusive holiday where all things like this have been provided, also no complimenary soaps etc.
The patio was dirty with ants and table not clean, also you could wave to the aeroplanes landing as you are right under the flight path, start at 5.30 am until 1.00am, so take your ear plugs!!!!
The only place to eat was the oriental restaraunt which was being used for all meals breakfast dinner & tea all poor quality with no variation in choices, no cheeses, fruit, and dirty tables.
The only other place to eat was the C side pool bar with chips, chips, burgers, hotdogs which were cold & under cooked ... beware ... all the other restaruants that were advertised on the website were all closed !!!!
The C side pool was not heated so it was sub zero, we asked and was told the pump was broken, only the brave went in! This to was dirty, with cups, glasses, and dirty tables left there for days, until one of the bar staff cleaned on the Wednesday.
The B side was full of Italians so no sunloungers were available. they got the heated pool....
It was 10 mins in a taxi to the town as a steep walk back & beware it was full of Timeshare conmen, we nearly fell for it, also the trips are cheaper it the town, so don't be conned by the First choice reps... Aidee the boss very pushy & not interested in any complaints that anybody had, we were not the only family complaining, everybody moaned about the food & smelly rooms and cracked tiles round the pool & how cold the water was... I have never complained before but after 10 years of going on all inclusive holidays I feel have to warn others not to be suckered into booking here. Also the entertainment was good if you were under the age of 10 years old.
The whole complex needs a lot of maintanance and more staff, they should not be charging full price with only a quarter of the bars, restaraunts being open, I feel they should close for a month and re paint the whole lot or BOMB the place !!!! All very unhappy......
Click here for more information on this hotel, resort and region
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melling from wigan travelled to Caleta Dorada Apartments with
first choice
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 01 2008 | rated the Caleta Dorada Apartments as follows:| Cleanliness |  | | Location | | | Staff |  | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: We have just arrived home from a fantastic holiday, we stayed all inclusive and the food was reasonable I could always find something to eat as could my wife and two kids if you are going to a 3 star hotel then don’t expect 5 star food, the variety of dishes was good there was always a choice of meat or fish with potatoes chips rice and pasta the salads were lovely also the breakfast was just like home cereal/cooked breakfast pastries and fruit.
The entertainment was great the team worked extremely hard and were all really friendly the shows they put on were funny and the kids loved it a big thank you to all the team.
The kids club was brilliant so much so all my 2 kids have talked about is can we go back soon as they loved it the staff were absolutely brilliant they are a credit to first choice.
Our room was cleaned every other day with fresh towels and beds made yes there were some ants but no more than at home when the weather is nice.
The only negative point was at night time in the bar there were people from outside the complex selling cheap glowing flashing toys which appealed to kids at extortionate prices for what could only be described as cheap tat.
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smith from devon travelled to Caleta Dorada Apartments with
first choice
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 01 2008 | rated the Caleta Dorada Apartments as follows:| Cleanliness |  | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food |  | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: *Admin edit. This review has been removed as it was posted from Spain. To ensure that our reviews remain unbiased we do not allow posts from the country where the accommodation is situated.*
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Creevy Family from Rochdale travelled to Caleta Dorada Apartments with
Eclipse/First Choice
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 12 2007 | rated the Caleta Dorada Apartments as follows:| Cleanliness |  | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: We arrived on Boxing Day to glorious sunshine - thank goodness we had not come the week before - apparantly they had had 5 continuous days of stormy weather!
First impressions of the complex were quite good. Reception staff were extremely polite and helpful and had us checked in within a matter of minutes. We had originally booked self catering, but on arrival had noticed that the complex were offering an all-inclusive upgrade for 120 euros per adult and 60 euros per child for the week (totalled approx £225) - seemed like such a bargain, we did it there and then.
For us - this was a big mistake! Yes this covered all your food and drink for the week, but quite frankly if you like to go out of an evening, especially, it's not really worth it. Breakfast was ok, but the cereal was dry and tasteless. Cooked breakfast was just full of grease and fat and the queues for coffee/tea etc. from the one machine in the dining room were ridiculous. Lunch and evening meal were pretty poor. Yes you could always find some-thing to eat - but it was always the same - lots of salad and a very poor choice of meats that were usually disgusting. Not much choice especially for fussy children - except chips of course!It just reminded me of school dinners or a works canteen.
As for snacks during the day etc. - don't bother. They were disgusting - dry hot dogs that you wouldn't even give to the dog mostly and you had to queue for these at the pool bar. Yuk!!
The complex itself is spread out into 3 blocks. A,B and C blocks. We were housed in Block C, which is where the main pool and entertainment area is. The bungalow we had could not have been in a better place (C10). It was near to the pool area, but far enough away that if you wanted to sit on your terrace you could do in peace. It was right at the end too, so we had total privacy. Rooms were cleaned about 3 times in the week, with fresh towels left every-time and sheets changed once. Cleaners seemed to do a good job.
Entertainment was lousy. Think of butlins in the sun, and you've got it right. The usual kids disco (which was rubbish). A bit of a game. Then a farcical buy your tickets for bingo. Then Bingo. Then usually some stupid act or other - the only time it was any good was when they had outside acts in. Needless to say we went out mostly or retired to the bungalow to drink in peace on the terrace!
As for the drinks - there was very little choice. Cheap beer and wine and the shorts were disgusting - really wasn't worth the upgrade at all.
Kids club was good which our daughter really enjoyed, but it was a bit hit and miss - sometimes you would turn up and be the only ones there, so it would be cancelled - still, good when it was open.
The location of the complex was set on the hillside. It was about a 10-15minute walk into the centre. There are plenty of places to eat and drink. We did this every night. Taxis back were cheap - approx. 3 euros. Sadly this was our 3rd time in Fuerteventura, the last time being approx. 7 years ago and it is sad to see just how run down and dirty the place has become. It used to be lovely, but not any-more.
To sum up, this holiday was a lovely break in the winter sunshine. We had fabulous weather all week and
we had some lovely meals (away from the complex) - let's face it - any holiday is what you make it anyway. But I would not return either to the complex or the island. It's ok if you are not a fussy eater, like tacky entertainment and can drink any-thing to get yourself drunk. Aside from that don't bother - it's really not worth the money.
Oh nearly forgot - pools were lovely, but if you want a bit of peace, head down to the B pool which is behind the restaurant - much nicer and quieter and you can use the bar there on your all inclusive too.
Beware of leaving any valuables on show in your room - the bungalow next to us was burgled whilst they were sleeping in their beds on New Year's Eve! They had playstations, watches and money stolen etc - think it was probably an inside job (how would they know which rooms to target otherwise)! There's no security on the complex and it's all very open - you have been warned!!
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Dawn Davies from Doncaster travelled to Caleta Dorada Apartments with
First Choice
on a family holiday.
There were 4 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 12 2007 | rated the Caleta Dorada Apartments as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: This was like the holidays from hell you see on TV. Our apartment was damp, plugged shaver in bathroom and the lights came on, the cooker wouldn't turn off and maids never cleaned properly. The food was horrendous and cold, we had to eat out most of the time, to say this was all inclusive was a laugh. Entertainment was useless, we ended up drinking in the Italian bar every night, couldn't understand a word of it but at least it was clean and tidy, unlike the English bar.
To top our holiday off we were woken in the early hours of the morning to find 3 men in our apartment attempting to rob us!!!
The resort itself is lovely but I would definately NOT recommend anyone to stop at this complex.
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Thistlethwaite from cumbria travelled to Caleta Dorada Apartments with
first choice
on a family holiday.
There were 6 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 12 2007 | rated the Caleta Dorada Apartments as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: I stayed here for 2 weeks in october 2006 with my friend and sister (whom just lost her husband)
the 3 of us found everything fine the food was good the staff very friendly and entertainment good infact it was that good when we got home we booked to go back in december same year for fortnight with our familys.
Me and my husband decided to come back for our sons 25th birthday and took a freind along telling him how good everything is an clean etc(came 8th decemeber 2007 till 23rd december 2007).we had a big shock the place looked delerict and we were put in the c block up on the hill,(which I was told due to me being in a wheelchair wouldnt be,and we booked in august for this holiday),the entertainment was awful adrian that was so friendly last year was completly different and quite arragent so were the receptionist etc we were shocked,there was 5 cockroaches in one of our aprtments and loads of ants in the other,it rained and this came into the apartment through the air vents,the towels were quite hard and the bedding give me a bad rash(which didnt happen the last 2 holidays here).
The maids defintly didnt clean as had alot of dead ants in the corner of my room all holiday which was 2 weeks.The food was cold and terrible(was lovely last year)and iff i see another red kidney bean again i will scream,we were told day before we to travel that the irish bar would only be open 9 to 12pm but nothing else,(by way belongs to other company thats there now think its german so even iff went in wouldnt understand anything).The main restraunt wasnt open the rep told us cos they were fixing the roof ,(nothing dond when we were there),so the chinese was not on as useing as main restraunt,also food testers were there taking bits fod into bottles.we all had bad tummys and had to buy some stuff(im diabetic)then we went to the meditrean restraunt were we ordered well done steaks,our friend went to put the vingerete on his chips when i noticed there was dead flies inside it and a few more bottles they brought him new plate of food bit when he and my husband cut into that blood come out and the meat was grey in colour defintly on the turn.we complained and adrian the rep said he had already been complaining to the chef etc and that the chef and staff had walked out the year we were there previously just before christmas and they were awful told us not to worry will be sorted then in then in the main restraunt(chinese) another bottle of fly vingerette.
the main restraunt which had been shut due to the ceiling needed doing was opened on the 19th(had nothing done to it still)and that day the food was edible but next day bad again.what a let down and also the disco/lounge bar wasnt open which is were we enjoyed going to and opened 12pm to 8am(suppost to)rep said its never opened in winter we told him we have picture of him the rest of the entertainment tema etc and alam the barman there in the december 2006 which he then said oh it must be getting done up arrrr more excuses he said the reception(which is small) will be open 24 hours,but we told him no spirits so he promised there would be then we found out should be anyway and its not the same as have to be quiet no music disco etc also no food as suppost tobe 24 hours food and drink (usually sandwiches at night,and needed one for my insulin) theres no food.we paid alot more than we did the year before and it was awful.adrian said he had been offered place at mexico and wonderd iff thats why he was not bothered about out.defintly putting a complaint is alot of people we met there.dont go there hostly its a let down now and this is on the first choice site now:
The complex is no longer exclusive to First Choice guests.
maybe they shouldnt of taken all our money and let us know/
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calata dorada from manchester travelled to Caleta Dorada Apartments with
otbeach
on a couples holiday.
There were 2 adults and 0 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 12 2007 | rated the Caleta Dorada Apartments as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: We arrived at the hotel for christmas on december22 it was raining we got 6 lovley days after a bad start.
On arrival we were given the keys and a map and it was a struggle with the cases to find our bungalow.
The apartment was really good and meant for a family of with everything you required if you wanted to cook a light meal or make snacks.
MANY people were complaining about their rooms so we hit lucky.
The food and drinks were pretty average for an all inclusive resort although the christmas gala dinner was excellent.We also enjoyed the snack bar and the fact there was decaf coffee.
The hotel staff worked hard to try and give everyone a nice christmas.
The entertainment was average except for the 3 professional acts which were very good I would not pay the 800 pounds plus to First Choice for next christmas look for more value. YOU have been warned
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Megan from Brighton travelled to Caleta Dorada Apartments with
First Choice
on a family holiday.
There were 6 adults and 4 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 10 2007 | rated the Caleta Dorada Apartments as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: The entertainment was great! People are so negative about the place and are exagerating! Its a fantastic place, i cant see any faults. Its great for all ages. Bar staff the majority very chatty and great english. Its in a good place with lots to do. Someone came in and cleaned almost everyday! Leaving the place spotless. I 100% Reccomend it.
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yvonne from stanley travelled to Caleta Dorada Apartments with
independent
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 10 2007 | rated the Caleta Dorada Apartments as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Things have changed alot in this hotel ie someone had been sick in the pool and it was left all day and still hadnt been cleaned.The food was ok needed abit of a kick chips mainly with everything to be honest.
The hotel is not suitable if you have walking problems but to be fair no one hids this.
The staff are great but the entertainment is rough its Blackpool in the sun. Stayed with this hotel in Jan and was shocked at how it changed.
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Miss Ramm from Peterborough travelled to Caleta Dorada Apartments with
First Choice
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 09 2007 | rated the Caleta Dorada Apartments as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: We have just returned from a great week at Caleta Dorada.
We booked our holiday approx 3 weeks before departure and after doing so found some negative reviews which made us really worried and were considering transferring to another holiday.
We also read some good reviews which convinced us that all may not be lost, so we stuck with it and went.
We are glad we did as we had a really great time!
I think the 2nd week in September is an ideal time to go as there were just the right amount of people there. It wasn't crowded and there were just the right amount of people there for an atmosphere.
The complex was clean and there were always staff around maintaining this.
Our apartment(C side 98) was cleaned almost every day and the beds were changed every other day. We hired the key for our safety deposit box(which was 7 euros to hire and 5 euros deposit which you get back).We also made sure we shut all our curtains when we were out to ensure no-one could see inside our apartment. This also helped to keep it cooler.
The food in the International buffet restaurant was really good. Lots of choice for everyone.
We would recommend the Oriental buffet restaurant which you have to pre-book for the day before you go. We ate here twice (evening meal). The Mediterranean restaurant (evening meal) was waiter service and the food was nice but we preferred to go to the buffet restaurants as this saved time as you dont have to wait for your food to come. The snack bar was ok (chips, burgers,hotdogs,toasties)and was cooked to order - not cold. When this closed at 1pm they had a small selection of salad/paella/pasta/bread by the Mediterranean restaurant (which is by the pool c side). All in all the food is pretty normal and should not disappoint.
The complex is within walking distance of the main town and beach/harbour(to the left) and also to the shopping centre(to the right)which has Bowling and some nice stores. Beware when you go into the main town, of nice people with questionaires and scratchcards. You have not won a prize. This is a timeshare.
The hotel staff are very nice and helpful. The 1 and only minor, small, complaint we had was that there was only 1 member of staff to check in 100+ guests when we arrived. This took approx 1 and 1/2 hours!
Evening Entertainment was a bit hit and miss. The evening always started with Crazy Zone (Agadoo, Mimic Man, Superman etc), then it was Head to Head Challenge, then Bingo (the prizes for bingo were great though - about 100 euros for a line and around 300-400 euros for a house). Sometimes there was a quiz (remember to bring a pen!!)and then the main show at 10pm.
Sometimes the main show was a professional act - Snakeman(brilliant)Ghosts(guitar heroes-brilliant).
most nights it was the reps which was ok but not great. The best rep show was Nick's Frank Sinatra type show. He is a great singer.
We only visited the c side pool which was the best one.
There are 4 slides in the main pool, a kiddy pool and a kids fun water area (water sprays etc).
Yes the water is cold but this is RELIEF from the heat.
the breeze is also relief from the heat (approx 30+ degrees) but ensure you apply suncream at all times.
We went on 2 excursions (through the reps). Jandia which is lovely. The sand is golden and the sea blue and clear. If you want to sunbathe here you have to hire your beds for (2 beds and a parasol) 9 euros).
There is also lots of shops here for haggling. You also get a tour guide on the bus who tells you loads about living there etc.
We also went to BAKU waterpark. On this day the park was quiet as the Spanish kids were back at school. We didn't have to queue for the slides (so many slides!!)which was great. You have to hire sunbeds here also and they have free inflatable rings for some of the slides but if you want to use them for the lazy pool you have to hire them (3 euros for the day). Be warned, slap on plenty of suncream regularly, as we didn't and we burned.
Altogether for both trips it cost about 90 euros.
Our daughter used the Wavelength Club (9-15years)which she thoroughly enjoyed. Some of the activities had to be paid for though, although most were free. They have an activities board for this in the main reception, and the C side pool so you can see at a glance what is happening when.
There were games for all ages always going on at the c side pool so always something to do if you want to stay on the complex.
There are loads of cats roaming around which are tame and a cat cafe where you can leave them food if you want.
We only saw about 3/4 cockroaches in our entire week and these were no-where near our apartment or the pool/restaurants.
We did see ants in our apartment but that didn't bother us as there were very few and they were really tiny.
All in all we had a great time and we were sad to leave.
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wayne parker from manchester travelled to Caleta Dorada Apartments with
first choice
on a couples holiday.
There were 4 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 08 2007 | rated the Caleta Dorada Apartments as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: it was like butlins.the food was cold full of flys.the only good thing about the holiday is the cleaners kept the rooms clean.if you like mountain climbing its the ideal holiday as it is all up hill.the hotel staff well they were all happy,not. the 1 in b bar is so sad and very angry.the tiles round the pools all cracked.tiles in rooms cracked.if any sense you would stay away.
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edwards from swindon travelled to Caleta Dorada Apartments with
first choice
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 08 2007 | rated the Caleta Dorada Apartments as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: arrived back yesterday from caleta dorada apartments.
apartments were clean and tidy and cleaned regulary. food was excellent, wide range of choice ranging from english to more exotic foods. the meditarian and chinese restaurants are both worth a visit.the apartments are about 10 minutes walk to the town and the beach with a slight incline. the train is 2 euros a person and takes you to the far end of the beach which we thought was the better part. most of the staff were polite and spoke good english and treat you as you treat them! the reps were all good and friendly and down to earth, if you didnt want to join in with any activities they didnt force you. if you did however, they had alaugh with you. they were also really nice to all the kids. the entertainment was mainly geared towards the kids and they did really enjoy it. the 'school of rock' show was by far the best of the reps showm, but deano in his dress came a close second!!! be prepared to fork out alot for the kids activities though, the wavelength activities ranged from 3 euros up to 15. the kids clubs also charged for some. we found the 'c' pool very noisy and enjoyed our second week by the quieter 'b' pool. but be prepared to get up early to get a sunbed!!
the beach at Jandia is a must, we hired a car and spent the day there. it is one of the most beautiful beaches and has fantastic waves. it was the highlight of our holiday!
we read alot of the comments about this acommodation before we went and were nearly put off from going. we found it to be fine and was value for money.
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Reeve from Suffolk travelled to Caleta Dorada Apartments with
Eclispe
on a family holiday.
There were 3 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 07 2007 | rated the Caleta Dorada Apartments as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Cleanliness - Excellent, hard working staff.
Food - Average, edible. Lumch by C pool cold do with more variety & choice.
Location- Good, 10 min walk from town - uphill on return!
Staff - Brilliant, mainly polite & courteous with exception to one or two 'brassed off' bar staff.
Entertainment - Never Ending! Great First Choice entertainment team working hard at all times.
Main Moans - Security, door locks and window locks on B side were flimsy, we took cable ties, but still worried as heard of a few break-ins whilst we were there. We did hire a safe, but had heard rumours they were no match for the thieves! Rooms sockets were dodgy and fan didn't but a compaint to reception with any problem was soon rectified. However my point is that one should not have to spend time coimplaining about such issues.
C Pool had major safety issues, slippery at edge - we saw many near misses and falls. Also the plastic grill from beside the edge of the pool was being taken out daily by those some children whose parents didn't know, or didn't care what their children were up to. The maintenance man put them all back again every morning - but they were all out again with the hour waiting to be tripped over. Children were also climbing on top of the water slides and in doing so endangering themselves along with other users of the pool, as many slid off without warning onto unsuspecting swimmers below! The hotel should address the pool issues before a terrible accident occurs.
To sum up - A good family fun lazy holiday in the sun, don't expect the Ritz, but do expect good entertaimnet, edible food and polite staff.
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Yvonne Cerutti from Nottingham travelled to Caleta Dorada Apartments with
First Choice
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 07 2007 | rated the Caleta Dorada Apartments as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: After booking and paying for the holiday, I decided to look at reviews for the hotel. My heart sank there was so many negative comments. However,the negative reviews were totally unjustified. We had a fantastic holiday, my partner, 2 year old daughter and myself.
The apartments are small but perfectly suitable. We had prepared ourselves by taking powder which we only needed to dust around the drain in the back patio to keep the cockroaches at bay. There are a few tiny ants but they are only around spills.crumbs etc so clean up any mess straight away and they cant be seen.
The food at the main restaurant is buffet self service but there is a wider variety of choice than the reviews i have read lead you to believe. Chips were on offer every day but we never had any there were too many other delicious options.
Breakfast can be english cooked, cereals,freshly made pancakes and omelttes, pastries,jam, marmalade, yohurts, cold meats, cheeses, fruit and a good selection of fresh bread-do not believe there is a limited menu.
The whole site is kept wonderfully clean and no thanks to the litter lout guests. There are always hard working cleaning staff to be seen especially around the pool areas.
Finally, my partner and I were able to spend a really relaxing couple of hours each afternoon swimming and sunbathing while our daughter was left in the Tweety Creche. Great for our girl as the creche is in a cool, air conditioned, clean wooden building, enabling her to escape the heat within the relaxing calm environment, and all the First Choice reps are great with the children. It only cost 36 euros for 3 creche sessions and our daughter loves the t-shirt, sunhat and bag that she received as a free gift.
We would encourage any family to take a holiday at the Club Caleta Dorada.
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The Gilletts from Leicestershire travelled to Caleta Dorada Apartments with
First Choice
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 3 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 07 2007 | rated the Caleta Dorada Apartments as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Just arrived back form Club Caleta Dorada, wish i was still there 40 degrees most days and now its raining in uk again, any way down to business:
Arrived on time good start, 10 min transfer from airport with toady from neighbours sorry martin first choice rep meet him and you will see what i mean. got to the resort at 9.00pm and checked in in 10 mins went to room stayed in c12 very clean indeed better than my house. Maids came virtually ebery day.
Went to the bar as restaurant was closed had a few beers and burger and kids too, went to bed and now the holiday started, food was fantastic, plenty of it and loads of choice for all, drink plenty of it, ice creams were great for kids, first choice reps brilliant, recommend this hotel
It was fab loads to do and see kids loved it we loved it we will be going back again no problems at all fist time to the island and first time all inclusive, excellent go you will not be disapointed.
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mrs jones from crewe travelled to Caleta Dorada Apartments with
first choice
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 3 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 07 2007 | rated the Caleta Dorada Apartments as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: We stayed at the Caleta Dorada on a all inclusive basis. We found the food to be nice something different in the resturant daily and nightly.
The snack bar around the pool is ok but they could do with adding pizza to the menu as they only do cheese toasties burgers and hotdogs but these are all OK.
Some of the hotel staff are not very freindly although we think this is down to the fact that they are short staffed and some are doing the work of two people.
We did complain about this and they are taking on more staff, can I say though that the first choice reps are all great and they helped make our holday!
The entertainment was good most nights apart from the country and western night OK if you like that sort of thing though I must admit they gave us a good laugh but probably for the wrong reasons!
The rooms were really nice and clean we were right by the C section pool.
The maid visits five times a week with clean bedding and towels. So if you've booked to go i'm sure you will have a great time and make sure you try a lime is lime!
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MIss Smith from Kent travelled to Caleta Dorada Apartments with
First Choice
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 06 2007 | rated the Caleta Dorada Apartments as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food |  | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: We had a fantastic time, was so worried about the bad reports we read but was nothing like that at all.
It was kept clean and maid service was regular and very friendly.
We didn't hear of any break ins while we were there.
Everyone we spoke to had the same opinion as us about how nice it was.
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m bell from carlisle travelled to Caleta Dorada Apartments with
first choice
on a family holiday.
There were 3 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 06 2007 | rated the Caleta Dorada Apartments as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: when i booked this holiday this was the first site i looked at to find out what it was like and after reading a few reports i was not looking forward to going, but i was blown away it was totally fantastic. We stayed at club caleta dorada apartments we stayed in room c11,caleta de fusta. we started off self catering but soon up-graded to all inclusive, the food was perfect in all the on site restrants. The main resteraunt cooked food in front of you, you could not get fresher, and on the plus side english sausages most mornings brilliant. The staff were very friendly and helpful.The kids club reps were really brilliant with the kids and parents alike.The apartments were very clean the cleaners came every day clean towels every other day the room was spotless. The location was perfect we would walk into town and get a taxi back as the taxi's were very cheap.We will definatelt return next year.
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claire harris from milton keynes travelled to Caleta Dorada Apartments with
first choice
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 3 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 06 2007 | rated the Caleta Dorada Apartments as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Just returned from a week at the Club Caleta Dorada apartments, first impressions, what a dump!!
The whole place is in need of a revamp, broken tiles, towels were frayed and very old, repair work being undertaken on pavements in the middle of the day while small children are running around.
This resort is supposed to be first choice exclusive, it isnt, on the b side its mostly italians, the c side is the liveliest place to be, its where the main pool and slides are (if you dare get in its that cold!), and where the main bar with entertainment is, also where you can grab a snack during the day, which is only chips, hot dog, cheese toastie or burger, barely edible but better than the food in the main resturant (if you can call it that, this is the first holiday I have been on that I actually lost weight!!).
Dont let these things put you off if you have already booked, a few broken tiles and bad food is not enough to ruin ones holiday, it didnt ruin mine, first choice reps are all helpfull and friendly and will deal with any problems quickly.
Entertainment was good, kids disco and bingo every night, outside entertainers came a couple of nights. Daytime activities also and kids clubs for when you need a break, hiring a car is also very cheap about £40.
We only did one trip oasis park, was a great day, camal ride was amusing, not worth the money though about £120 for 5 of us.
This is a nice place to go if you want a cheap relaxing no frills quiet holiday. We meet people who had loads of complaints but at the end of the day a holiday is what you make it.
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DAVID BEARD from RETFORD travelled to Caleta Dorada Apartments with
ECLIPSE
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 06 2007 | rated the Caleta Dorada Apartments as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: we stayed in the celata dorada apartments all inclusive. the food was excellent, the location was excellent. we were in room C97. The hotel staff were very friendly and helpfull. And the entertainment were also excellent.
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Matthews from kent travelled to Caleta Dorada Apartments with
eclipse
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 05 2007 | rated the Caleta Dorada Apartments as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: The hotel is huge, and spread over a large area, so there is a fair amount of walking to be done. (Burns off all that food and drink!!) The hotel staff were all friendly and helpful and the hotel was kept incredibley clean. It’s just a short walk to the beach, which is slightly downhill, you don’t really notice it going down but you certainly do coming up! Could have got a cab for a couple of euros but decided we needed the exercise!
The entertainment was fantastic, the best we have ever seen by far the reps really work hard and are all lovely people. The pools were like ice and our 2 year old got a rotten chesty cough from the main pool, which we insisted was too cold for him. After that we spend our days by the pool B and Irish bar.
The breakfast was always plentiful and tasty and they were cooking fresh eggs, omelettes and pancakes every morning. The lunch was good too loads of choice and fresh salads, but for some reason our 2 year old went on strike and lived on chips for 2 weeks (not the end of the world) so we opted for lunch from the Irish bar most days so he could get his chips and we had toasted sandwiches, Slightly better on the waste band!! The choice at dinner was ok always a fresh carved meat soup and salad, chips but to be honest not a whole lot else, don’t get me wrong there was plenty, but probably the least choice we have ever had on an all inclusive and I think that if we had of lunched in the restaurant too it may have got a bit repetitive.
We did the oasis park trip which was well worth the money, although we didn’t look round the botanical gardens or go the birds of prey show, instead we went back to the zoo and went to the children’s farm, (anything to keep the little one happy).
We didn't hear of any break-ins and felt safe in our fooms. The gates around the complex were locked every night with security guards patrolling which made us feel even safer. My wife did come down with sickness and the runs for 3 days but she was 5 months preg and extra careful with the food she ate so we are certain that it was nothing to do with that, just one of those things. On the plane on the way home there was a little girl who had been at a different resort and hotel too and she had had it as well.
There were plenty of sun beds and all 4 bars were open, although I think they need a lot more umbrella's I know its a windy island but when the sun came out it came out strong 50* in the sun some days! Which was far too hot for the misses and little one to be in all day and there wasn’t any shade? We counted 5 brolling the whole hotel, which to me is nowhere near enough when it’s a family hotel.
We didn’t get to the Chinese restaurant t but we did try the med which was ok, nothing fantastic but was lovely to be waited on and not have to keep getting up in the middle of dinner.
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Hale from Sheffield travelled to Caleta Dorada Apartments with
First Choice
on a family holiday.
There were 1 adults and 4 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 04 2007 | rated the Caleta Dorada Apartments as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: We've just come back from the hotel and I must admit I was dreading it after reading all the bad reports. Yes, the water in the pool is freezing but my children still spent all day in the pool. The food was different every night and the entertainers kept us all amused with games, quizzes etc. The room was cleaned 5 days out of 7 so was never dirty and we always had fresh towels.
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Nicola Milne from Cumbernauld travelled to Caleta Dorada Apartments with
First Choice
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 04 2007 | rated the Caleta Dorada Apartments as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: We have just returned from Club Caleta Dorada before hand we checked the reports and were concerned people had issue with the resort and accommodation I can honestly we never experience any problems.
On arrival the accommodation was excellent value for money. The complex was always kept clean with plenty of cleaners on site. The maid service was outstanding clean towels, bedding and clean room every day.
The entertainment staff were fantastic always went out of there way to speak to you on a daily basis, they were also fantastic with the kids. One of the team Lesley is wasted as a holiday rep she has a fantastic voice and personality a credit to First choice.
There really was only two let down for the complex the distance from the main resort it was a bit of a walk with a 2 year old in a buggy. The food was not to the standard of the complex the buffet was more like a poor staff canteen there was limited choice and chips with everything.
Overall we had a lovely break and a perfect complex for families for a nice family week away. I would say 2 weeks would be too long as I felt you have to look for activities to do on the second week.
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Jo & Kids from Manchester travelled to Caleta Dorada Apartments with
Eclipse (First Choice)
on a family holiday.
There were 1 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 04 2007 | rated the Caleta Dorada Apartments as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Just returned a few days ago from a lovely Easter fortnight at the Club Caleta Dorada!
Before I begin this review I have to say we had none of the problems people have reported there in the past - the food didn’t make us ill, we didn’t hear of any break-ins and everywhere was spotlessly clean with lovely helpful staff, most of whom spoke excellent English.
We arrived Saturday evening (31 March) and were told that First Choice had overbooked the Kids Den apartments (funny, how I booked the holiday 16 months in advance, and still didn’t get what I wanted…) but the hotel had decided to put us in adjoining apartments with an interconnecting door, on the C side; near to the Kids Den rooms and the main pool and entertainment area.
Once I realised this meant we would have two bathrooms, two TVs etc I decided not to complain but to make the most of our extra space. (We were in C19 & 20, just in case anyone’s interested in asking the hotel direct about interconnecting rooms)
Our apartment was right near the ‘Cat Café’ and as a cat-hater (I’m allergic to them) I was rather irritated by this; okay, so the cats have all been neutered and food is provided for them so they don’t need to go begging, but this doesn’t stop them hanging around your apartment whenever you leave the door open for longer than 5 minutes and it doesn’t stop them wailing and screeching outside your window at 6am…
We found a couple of half-dead cockroaches in the apartment on the second morning, I just scooped them into a paper cup and left them out for the cleaner to dispose of, didn’t have any more after that. I don’t like them but the Canary Islands are their home and they’re a fact of life wherever you go on any of the islands. Lots of tiny ants everywhere, but they tend to stay outside as long as you keep the inside of the apartment clean and put your sticky paper cups in the bin.
The complex itself was pretty quiet, which was surprising considering it was the Easter school holidays, but more people arrived over the two weeks. The A and B sides were like a ghost town. We stayed around the C pool (although the A and B pools looked lovely).
We never had any trouble getting sunbeds; there were plenty of them, although I always put our towels out about 9am, specifically to get ‘our’ beds just next to the pool steps.
There weren’t many umbrellas but they can be a bit dangerous anyway - the complex is up a hill and it can get quite windy - we had an umbrella on our first day but after it had blown away about 6 times and almost knocked a small child over, we decided to give up and let someone else have a go.
We were all-inclusive, and the food and drink was fine for us; self-catering guests have to buy tokens to exchange for drinks etc on the complex as the bar doesn’t take cash, or alternatively, you can opt to upgrade to all-inclusive for 20 euros per day for 6 days or more, or 30 euros per day for less than 6 days (kids 2-12 half price).
The choice of drinks was fantastic, just about everything you can think of - all local brands of course, but as long as it’s wet and makes you feel smiley, who cares? They do need to re-think their sangria though - I’ve never seen it made with banana liqueur before…
Soft drinks are proper Coke, Fanta etc and you can help yourself to water, tea, coffee hot chocolate and juice. All drinks are served in paper cups apart from early in the evening when there are a limited number of glasses which you have to hang onto for the rest of the night. Some people just brought the glasses out from their apartments.
Breakfast is pretty much the same every morning, toast, cereals, fruit and the usual greasy bacon, sausage, eggs (scrambled, boiled or fried) and tomatoes or tinned mushrooms.
Lunches were lovely, lots of salad and always grilled chops or fish or chicken with a choice of vegetables, chips (or variations on chips) and pasta or rice.
Evening meals weren’t quite as good, but I always managed to put something together. Desserts were always an assortment of ice-cream flavours, cakes and jelly and there was always plenty of bread and fruit at all mealtimes.
If the meals aren’t enough for you, snacks (hot dogs, burgers, chips and toasties) are available from the pool bar from about 10am - 5pm and then 9pm - 11ish.
My only complaint was there wasn’t very much choice of food compared to other
all-inclusives we’ve been to.
Also, the Chinese restaurant wasn’t open during our stay. We were told they only open it during the summer season, but it doesn’t say this in the brochure, and I’m pretty sure I’ve heard it mentioned in winter reviews quite recently. The Mediterranean restaurant was only open on Tuesday & Thursday, and you have to book for this on Monday or Wednesday morning at reception. We tried it one night and although it was nice to have a proper menu and waiter service, the food wasn’t anything special. The steak was overdone with tinned mushroom sauce, and the pizzas were very sloppy with too much tomato sauce. I ordered tuna, mushroom and olive topping on my pizza and the olives were whole, with the stones in! The garlic bread was tiny and the tiramisu was the same as the cakes in the main restaurant but with a bit of squirty cream to make it special.
Another complaint was the bars on the complex - in the brochure it says there are four bars - well, we had the main pool/entertainment bar up on C side; there was a 24-hour self-service ‘facility’ in reception and then there was the Irish bar on B side which only opened occasionally during the day (for people using the B pool) and was never open in the evening. There was no bar at all on A side (apart from an underground adult lounge bar which was all closed up). I was hoping to have a quiet, preferably adult bar for in the evenings - my teens are old enough to do their own thing and I don’t always want to sit through the same mini-disco and hundreds of free-roaming kids every night! I’ve been there and done all that when my kids were small.
On a couple of evenings I ended up watching TV in our apartment for an hour or so before the main show, just for a bit of peace and quiet. (TV in the apartment had BBC1 & 2, ITV and a few other English channels, apparently some people had Channel Four and Five, but we couldn’t get it on ours).
Another complaint was people smoking in the main family bar in the evenings - I thought Spain had new laws about smoking in public areas. Some people were polite and went to smoke outside, but most people ignored the fact that it was a family bar which served food and just lit up anyway, which I found disgusting and disrespectful.
Each evening followed the same pattern: Mini-Disco from 8-9pm, then a quiz, bingo and ‘Play Your Cards Right’ from 9-10pm and then the main show at 10pm. The main shows were really good! The First Choice entertainment team were great and worked so hard. Some nights the hotel brought in ‘professional’ acts (magician, hypnotist, Drifters, Beatles etc) but we enjoyed the reps shows more.
Our entertainers were: Nick & Nat (awwwwww), Dani & posh Vicky (who’ll be on their way to Majorca for the summer season by the time you read this), scouse singer Lesley, and not forgetting the lovely Deano who arrived for the summer season a few days before we went home. The best show was Skool Of Rock and we also enjoyed Dr Funkenstein, Decades, Nick’s night and several other evenings of excellent entertainment.
After the show, the reps would come and sit with you for a while for a chat, which was really nice and made all the difference to how you enjoyed the holiday. They would also sit and chat for a minute or two during the day in between games of water polo, killer darts, giant Jenga etc. We got to know them all really well, and I would like to wish them all the best for the summer season.
The kids clubs seemed good, although we didn’t really make use of them. My 14 year-old daughter half-heartedly joined in a few Wavelength activities, but this isn’t a bad reflection on the club itself or on Wez the rep; it’s just at that age any form of organised activity is just ‘so not cool’. As she said herself - she wasn’t going to Wavelength club, they were just ‘going to bother Wez for a bit…’ She made a lot of friends, and has been in touch with some of them since we came home.
Liz, the sun cream woman is very helpful - okay she’s there to sell her stuff, but she won’t sell you anything you don’t need and she’ll come and see you most days to see how your tan’s coming along - I’m a secret redhead (I’m salon blonde at the moment), I have freckles and I get prickly heat, and I never usually come home with anything more than red blotches and itchy lumps, but this time I have something resembling ‘a colour’ thanks to Liz’s products, so give it a go if you’re ‘sensitive’ like me.
The complex is uphill from the main resort, it doesn’t take long to walk down to the beach and shops but it’s quite a hard slog back up again, especially if you’ve been shopping. You can treat yourself to a ride on the mini-train if you don’t fancy the walk (I think it’s about 1 euro - we always just missed it).
There is a small commercial centre just at the back of the complex with a couple of bars and restaurants, and a handy Netto if you need any bits and bobs. The complex also has a mini-market on the C side, downstairs from the pool bar, very handy for a newspaper and a ‘proper’ ice cream.
We didn’t bother with any of the organized excursions, which is unusual for us because I love my days out, but there was nothing on the island we hadn’t already seen. A lot people went on the Oasis Park trip and had a good day. There is an agent - Tourventura - in the town who sells trips cheaper than the hotel reps, but we had some discount vouchers in our First Choice ticket booklet which would have made it around the same price anyway.
In conclusion (finally) we had a great time. It’s always nice to come home and get back in your own bed, drink proper tea etc, but we’ve been home nearly a week now and I miss it a little bit more each day. Walking down to breakfast in the morning and looking down over the beach and harbour is a sight I won’t forget. I’d be happy to go back, and I know the kids would be back there tomorrow if they had the chance!
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M & K Cooper from Hertfordshire travelled to Caleta Dorada Apartments with
First Choice
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 3 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 04 2007 | rated the Caleta Dorada Apartments as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: What can I say, we had a fantastic holiday.
The complex was so clean every morning there would be 4 or 5 ladies cleaning (moping) the pool floor area and again during the day there was one lady who was old enough to be my grandmother cleaning the floor area again and tidying up the rubbish, that some people obviously found to difficult to put in one of the many bins provided around the pool area.
The apartments were very clean and was cleaned 5 times a week, linen changed about 3 times in the 2 weeks we were there.
Although we were all inclusive the cutlery and cooking facilities in the apartment were top class, they had everything including sandwich toaster. The reps for First Choice were top class. Our children had such a great time that they did not want to come home. They all attended the Wavelength kids club which is for ages 9-15yrs, the rep (Wes) was absolutely the best he knew exactly how to speak to the children. The entertainment staff were also great they worked very hard at entertaining all the families on holiday.
The food was good there was always a good variety of dishes during lunch and evening time, breakfast was good as well.
I cannot fault this complex at all we had a great holiday and would definately go back again. Please ignore the negative comments, of course you are going to get ants and cockroaches you are in a hot country and anyway we get ants in this country and sometimes they get in houses here also.
I am sure you will have a great holiday.
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a hulme from stoke on trent travelled to Caleta Dorada Apartments with
first choice
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 03 2007 | rated the Caleta Dorada Apartments as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: This was our first time abroad and we chose a lovely complex to stay at. It was incredibly clean there were no creepy crawlies it was private and spacious we were in area c.
The pools and bars were great the children loved it and enjoyed the kids clubs. The food was lovely with a great choice of food I'm veggie and I always ate well.
The kids tried different things and loved the fact they could go and get drinks and ice cream when they wanted.
| | |
Lisa MacDonald from Manchester travelled to Caleta Dorada Apartments with
First Choice
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 3 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 03 2007 | rated the Caleta Dorada Apartments as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Me, my husband & our 3 girls (aged 12, 6 & 3) arrived back on Wednesday and I can honestly say we had a fantastic time.
I'd have no hesitation in recommending the Caletta Dorada to anyone, nor to returning ourselves. The children wanted to come home because they missed the rest of the family and friends but now they've seen them they want to go back!!!
I know it's not to everyone's taste and not everyone has been as lucky as we have, but it's a 3* all inclusive hotel and you get what you pay for and as far as I'm concerned we did.
The reception staff couldn't be more helpful. They speak English as well as we do (better in some cases). I know some people weren't happy with their room and they seemed to be moved without any problem.
The rooms are cleaned 5 times a week and ours was spotless. We were in a kids apartment with pull out bunk beds, we had a double bed and my eldest was in the lounge on the sofa (which had a pull out bed under it as well). We did have 1 or 2 ants now and again, but then it's a warm country.
The whole time there I saw 1 cockroach (which you do expect in the Canaries) and that was in the road late one night. The kitchen in the room is well stocked with all the usual crockery/cutlery along with a microwave, sandwich maker, toaster.
There's a large fan in the room and a TV which has BBC1, ITV, Tiny Pops, CBeebies, CBBC and a music channel (great for the kids!). Fresh towels, I think, each time they cleaned, beds changed once a week.
Food - is really what you expect for a 3* AI, it was fine though, plenty of salads, several choices of main course each night, usually paella, chips (though there were other potatoes a couple of nights), lunch time is very good, breakfast usual choice of cereals, fruits, croissants etc, breads (there's 2 toast machines - bit slow though!), then your beans, sausage, eggs, bacon etc. In the Show bar by the main pool (where the entertainment is) they serve burgers/ cheeseburgers/hot dogs/toasted sandwiches/chips, all made fresh there.
The Chinese restaurant was closed while we were there - think it's only open in high season now and the Mediterranean was only open 2 nights a week - we did try it once and it was OK but wasn't over impressed.
The hotel is about 10 Min's walk to the shops and the beach (though there are a couple of bars, restaurants and supermarkets close by). It's not suitable for anyone with walking difficulties because there are quite a lot of steps (there are ramps everywhere)
We never had any problems with hotel staff, they were all lovely.
Whilst we were there there were workmen refurbishing apartments in A & B sections so it looks like they'll be done for the summer.
Entertainment - is fantastic (though if I hear 'we are the cartoon heroes' once more I'll scream!!), there's a mini disco every night, the little ones loved that, then a quiz, bingo & play your cards right (quite big prizes!) every night, then at 10 there were different shows - we didn't see the same 1 twice in 2 weeks - a hypnotist, Drifters tribute, Beatles tribute, quiz show which was good, then the entertainers put on shows like Grease, a ladies night, and a couple of them did solo shows - they worked really hard.
Kids clubs - again fantastic, they didn't go all the time, but when they did they really enjoyed themselves - the Bugs Bunny bash (4 hours!!)was really good, the eldest went Bowling and to McDonalds, movies night, chocolate party and lots of sport.
Pools - were cold!! But were warming up at the end of our fortnight.
First Choice - can't fault - would definitely book with them again. The hotel reps are great and will do anything to help you. (don't believe them if they tell you that Martin used to be Toadie off Neighbours- he's from Cardiff!!)
The only thing I would say is that I would expect it's a bit chaotic in high season - it was no where near full when we were then and a couple of times they had a load of Spanish people in for a night and the drinks machines gave up and the food at breakfast was running short.
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Rachael from West Sussex travelled to Caleta Dorada Apartments with
First choice
on a family holiday.
There were 5 adults and more than 6 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 01 2007 | rated the Caleta Dorada Apartments as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Me and my family along with some friends stayed in the Caleta Dorada apartments.
We were separated between 5 apartments, with 3 in one area and 2 in another, but all in walking distance of each other.
Sorry about the next rant. It's just a minor warning don't let it put you off as the holiday was fantastic!
The ONLY main complaint about the apartments was SECURITY!!! On around the 4th night there whilst at the nightclub, roughly 1am, the apartment was broken into and burgaled. I alone went back up to the apartment at around 1am, and on entering realised the back door was open and the place had been completely trashed, someone saw people running as I went to get help and so I'd obviously interrupted them. Not the safest situation for a 16 year old girl. The security arrived and spoke very little English and various items had been taken from the room, yet the staff were sympathetic enough to let us change rooms.
On closer examination as the apartment was on the edge of the complex the wire fencing had been cut, someone had got in, attempted to kick the door (foot marks on it) failed and so broken open the easily sliding windows with a crow bar, then ran out of the back door and jumped over the tiny wall!
The first choice staff had nothing else to say really than go to the local police in the town and didn't even really give directions. They were very unhelpful and I would not advise using them for this holiday.
The next day we went to the local police station where once again very limited English was understood and we were sent on an hour bus ride into the centre of the island to another police station where it took 2 hrs on the phone to an English translator just to explain that a couple of phones, some jewelery, hair straighteners and some money etc was stolen.
We then had to go to get those reports signed etc, and on return to england were unable to claim hardly anything back on the insurance! A whole day was wasted!
So just a warning.. don't bring anything of any value, always leave stuff in the safe (if you had the key of course), and be careful people are most probably watching your every move.
However besides this event the holiday was one of the best I've been on, and i would definitely consider going back!
The '24' hour all inclusive was good during the day as food was served regularly in the bars and the staff were friendly and helpful, with the buffet bar being open at lunch times and various restaurants in the evening.
However after midnight only one bar on the complex was open which was for over 18's only, not helpful when the majority of our party were teenagers of 15 to 17 who ended up not allowed in after say 1 or 2am.
However the nightclub style bar was great on the nights it was open and the staff once again were very friendly and entertaining.
The complex was on the whole quite clean, with regular visits from the maid to the apartment, however there were problems with ants by the end of the week, possibly due to spilt food etc. don't keep food or drinks in the room if it can be helped.
The hotel food was on the whole very nice with a large variety on offer and no problems with food poisoning etc. Once again however there wasn't much available in later hours of the night.
The location was great as it was walking distance from the local market, which amazingly had about 50 identical stalls selling similar knock-offs but it was fun to go and look around.
There were various bars and restaurants outside the complex near by, and the beach was within walking distance.
The only issue was that being situated on the top of a hill the walk back up from the beach was rather tiring, however there was a tram service available for a couple of euros.
The hotel staff and entertainment were wonderful. The staff during both the day and night were friendly, encouraging guests to join in with games etc, and we made lots of friends out there in no time, for us teenagers it was ideal.
The evening entertainment involved both the younger children and adults and had lots of variety, with the energetic staff making it very enjoyable.
I would however not really advise going in January as although a couple of days the weather was quite hot it was not as hot as I'd hoped which meant the pool was freezing.
I only used it once as I could not bare to be in it for more than 2 minutes, however some of the younger children in the resort seemed oblivious to this.
| | |
Colin from lancs travelled to Caleta Dorada Apartments with
first choice
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 01 2007 | rated the Caleta Dorada Apartments as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: We stayed at Club Caletta for 2 weeks from Jan 3.
We were AI and on average the food was good apart from chips with every meal, ok for kids but us adults could of done with a spud or 2.
The complex was very clean and tidy and the hotel staff were pleasant and helpful.
The location was fine as it was only a short walk to the main town, the reps were also very good and also very friendly which makes a change.
| | |
b madden from Billingham travelled to Caleta Dorada Apartments with
First choice
on a family holiday.
There were 3 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 12 2006 | rated the Caleta Dorada Apartments as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: We enjoyed our stay at hotel and the staff were friendly.
The food was good with plenty variety during the first week but got abit repetative during the second week. We only ate out three times in a fortnight and that was just for a change.
The apartment was clean although we did have a problem with ants but we were given some spray by the hotel and that cured them.
The entertainment team were great as were Adrian and Steve the entertainment Managers. They did a brillant job there sorting out problems of holidaymakers, well done lads!
The location was perfect the beach and shops nearby. The pool was freezing but that didnt bother the kids.
| | |
dick oneill from derby's travelled to Caleta Dorada Apartments with
first choice
on a family holiday.
There were 1 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 11 2006 | rated the Caleta Dorada Apartments as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: On arrival all looked ok-then the walk uphill over poorly maintained thickly gravelled path to our apartment [22c] close to the main pool.
First opinion of accommodation was not too bad, THEN cutlery was grubby and water flow was slow,30L hot water storage, their quote not mine, By the time basin had filled it was cold. Fan not working, TV co-ax lead US Ariel socket faulty, exposed fuse box. The mattresses twanged each time you moved [EX HONEYMOON STOCK ? ]
I can’t express opinion of food as I and lots of AI people ate in town. Only one family said the on site food was good. kids entertainers were great they gave it 100% adult entertainment wasn't to bad.
My opinion is Butlins meets Skegness with sun and an accent.
If you are unsure about going abroad but worry about the language and food this may well be an ideal starting point for you. Please read between the lines and other reports ,as I say I am normally an independent traveller and have my own criteria.
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Spurry from Wigan travelled to Caleta Dorada Apartments with
First Choice
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 10 2006 | rated the Caleta Dorada Apartments as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Well, where do I start, this was our 3rd (and probably last)visit to the complex (last years review is on here somewhere for a comparison). We were really looking forward to it as we had such a good time last year and my daughter was meeting up with friends she had made previously.
I can't fault the reception staff they were very friendly and helpful, as for the canteen (can't call it anything else really) staff they were mostly ok although I did have a run in with a young upstart who thought it was his job to reprimand me!!! for wiping my dripping glass (rather than carry it across to the table wet) on the paper which was covering the trays, when I told him it had nothing to do with him he asked me for my room number, obviously I told him to go away (in no uncertain terms) and demanded he gave me his name which I will be passing on to turicomplex in my letter of complaint.
The food was awful at best in the canteen, we only ate there 4 times in the evening out of the 14 we were there, the food was either under or overcooked,the bar snacks were of a similar fashion. The breakfasts were ok though,
The Med restaraunt was not bad but the choice was very limited(we went there a few times because the wine was better than the stuff they had in the canteen) The Chinese restaraunt was also ok but it was the same choices every night. Considering we paid for all inclusive we ate out a fair bit, which we hadn't budgeted for.
The Bar Staff. Well this was even worse, the manager who I'm not allowed to mention by name (but will when I write to turicomplex) was the most arrogant person I ever had the misfortune to meet, he never smiled or spoke to you other than "yes what do you want?" he made my daughter feel very uncomfortable. Some of the friends she had met there last year were staying on a SC basis, she said he felt like was watching her everytime she was in the bar to make sure she wasn't passing on drinks to them (which she wasn't.)
Last year we were greeted with a smile and polite friendly chat as we paid for our drinks but this time they were virtually thrown across the bar at us, maybe that's the price you pay for paying in advance, which resulted in some of the beer/wine/coke etc being sloshed on the slop mat, there were 1 or 2 bar staff who were friendly(and I will inform turicomplex who they were) but they were in the minority.
I also did not like the idea of all drinks being served in a paper coca cola cup, there were glasses available but they were rare.
I know this sounds like a clouded and biased view but if you read my review from last year you will see the difference.
Entertainment. Once again FANTASTIC, Keiron, Fran, Jenny, Hannah, Phil etc. were brilliant they helped save the holiday for us, they worked tirelessly to entertain both day and night and we had some great laughs with them, and both my kids really had great fun especially singing and dancing along to Cartoon heroes and mimic man etc. My wife and I had the fortunate pleasure to win a trip to Jandia after taking part in a stage quiz(Mr and Mrs type thing)which was great day out...
First Choice were brilliant and I will not hesitate to book with them again in the future.
Obviously this all just mine and my family's experience and opinion, but compared to recent years the CD has definitely lost it's appeal
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iainmcg from Wishaw travelled to Caleta Dorada Apartments with
First Choice
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 3 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 10 2006 | rated the Caleta Dorada Apartments as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: We have just arrived back and had a brilliant holiday. Like so many other people on this site after the reviews we had read we were worried, but have to say that a lot of rubbish had been written.
The staff were great and the kids loved it. We are going back next year who knows might even move there. So if you are going enjoy yourself. We did.
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Mcloughlin from liverpool travelled to Caleta Dorada Apartments with
First Choice
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 10 2006 | rated the Caleta Dorada Apartments as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: We have just got back at 2am this morning and I can honestly say that this was a brilliant holiday!
I had read all of the reviews before we flew and was not looking forward to going at all, so I had more or less decided I was going to hate it before we got there.
How wrong I was!
The apartment although basic had everything we could want and was exceptionaly clean and stayed that way throughout the week thanks to the great maids who cleaned through even in that heat everyday except sunday.
The food in the hotel was fine, after reading one report I felt my children would have lived on chips and ice cream but no, there was plenty of variety and hardly any repetition and the staff in the main restaurant were lovely especially with the children.
In fact the only moan I really have was about the other restaurants both the Chinese and the Mediterranean one.
The Chinese one had quite a poor selection of Chinese dishes and the staff were it seemed quite unfriendly, but the Mediterranean one as by far the worst. One waiter in there really had a problem on the night we went there. Slamming glasses of drinks down in front of you and practically snatching the menu from your hands, we only asked what was in a particular salad and found that we had were having it whether it was what we wanted or not. It turned out it was a salad with tuna, I think the tuna must have escaped cos most of it never found my plate. The main course wasn't much better. The lasagne was luke warm. Needless to say we didn't eat it or hang around for the dessert. No it was off to the good old International for something decent and friendlier staff.
We were obviously not the only ones who had had a bad night in the Mediterranean, as we met up with another family who had also walked out and gone over to the normal restaurant.
We did not venture into either of those restaurants again.
Now for the pools. Must say that the C pool looked good but as we only have little ones we tended to stay in the baby pool. This was cold but okay once you were in it, the only real problem was that after about two/three days there was a really horrid smell coming from, I assume the drains, which did make you balk as you lay on the loungers around the pool, but one mention to the reps and the next day the pool chaps had it sorted and it was fine for the rest of the week.
Oh I just remembered another little moan. The pavements around the complex especially the slope down to reception, be careful, it is full of pot holes and our three year old has fabulous scabby knees from numerous falls going to and from our apartment.
Now for the kids club, Fabulous! or so says my six year old. Sorry! I am hopeless with names but the girl with the glasses has a fan for life in my three year old.
Out and about there are a few trips to go on, the glass bottom submarine and sealion show with Harley (thats the English sealion) is a must for little kids and if you want there is the Whale watching trip.
But on the whole Caleta de Fuste is all about relaxation, so if you want to do nothing but soak up the sun, this is the place. I would imagine though that with all the building work going on that if you went back in say five years time the place will be a lot more built up and livlier like Corralejo which would be a shame.
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adam topley from derby travelled to Caleta Dorada Apartments with
first choice
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 1 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 10 2006 | rated the Caleta Dorada Apartments as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: This is the second time we have visited this hotel and would not hesitate to go back. As many people I read the reviews on holidaytruth.com and was unsure if this was the same complex as we stayed at 2 years previous, we needn't have worried.
This is not the Hilton! Dont forget it
This is a very friendly well run hotel of basic but very clean and adequate facilities.
We stayed AI and in my opinion is the only way to stay when you have children who are fussy eaters at the best of times; the choices were varied and plentiful. Granted the food wasn't cooked as you ordered it but you don't hear people complaining at your local harvester. To be honest it was hard to know when to stop piling you're plate up. each breakfast was a choice of sausage,bacon, fried egg, scrambled egg, boiled egg, tomatoes,beans,pancakes,toast,yoghurts,cereals, fresh fruit, dried fruit, pastries,croissants,fresh locally baked bread, cheeses and cooked meats. Cannot comment on the lunches at the buffet restaurant mainly because we stockpiled up at breakfast!! If we were feeling peckish at lunch the pool side bars offered plenty of gap fillers. As for the dinner the choice was more extensive. soups, lasagne, spaghetti, macaroni cheese, pork spare ribs, chicken, beef, lamb, fresh carrots, peas, beans, cauliflower, cabbage, pizza, curry, rice, cooked meat, cheeses, fruit, yoghurts, every night fresh local caught fish and two nights we had paella and yes there were chips, plus the drink option lager rose, red and white wine, orange juice, pineapple juice, sprite, coke, lemon fanta, orange fanta, coffee and tea whenever you liked.
The hotel rooms were basic but were cleaned 5 times in 7 days, linen changed 3 times. Never had cockroaches or spiders in the room mainly because of the cats roaming the complex eating them, did have ants in the room but a quick blast of bloom SX soon sorted them out
The location of the complex is on a quite steep hill and can be hard on the elderly or infirm, but for 1 euro you can catch the train from the harbour and town area into the complex.
The hotel staff were polite, informative and always helpful whether it be cleaning your room, serving your drinks or booking your car hire.
The entertainment was very good. There is 3 pools on the complex c-side being the most energetic, we stayed by the pool on a-side where it was quieter and where my 3 year old son could learn to swim without distraction but there was still activities to join in with if you wish or just kick back and enjoy the sun.
All day on c-side there were things to do right up till the evening where there were kids mini discos, followed by shows, bingo, play your cards right plus local speciality acts.
The kids clubs were excellent catering from British registered nannies if you want a night out on your own through to 3-7 year olds, 8-11year olds plus the wavelength club for older kids
.
All the entertainment staff worked tirelessly to make sure your holiday was as fun packed or relaxed as you required.
Finally, never heard of anyone with sickness or anyone being broke into just be aware that there are opportunist who will take advantage if your guard falls
So lock doors and windows when you are out or asleep
Sorry this review has been long winded or boring but we feel that this complex has had a lot of bad reviews and should be given a fair chance, as I said earlier this isn't the Hilton as long as don't think it is you will have a great time.
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daniels from coventry travelled to Caleta Dorada Apartments with
first choice
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 4 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 10 2006 | rated the Caleta Dorada Apartments as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: This was by far the best holiday I have ever taken. A big thank you to Rachel, Adie and Chloe our main reps they really made our holiday special. Shame about entertainment team very boring and uninteresting people, over paid for the rubbish they push out. Other than that very nice complex and fab reps.
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Katie from Birmingham travelled to Caleta Dorada Apartments with
First Choice
on a family holiday.
There were 5 adults and 3 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 09 2006 | rated the Caleta Dorada Apartments as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: After all the reviews I read on here I was scared about going to this hotel and was really dreading my holiday but upon arriving I was shocked and pleasantly surprised.
The apartments were really clean and the toilets were sealed upon our arrival. We had maids in 5 times a week if I remember correctly, who worked really hard cleaning and tidying up. Our linen was changed often can't remember how many times and we had clean towels each day the maids were in. Everything worked in our apartment and although we were all inclusive if you was self catering there was plenty of equipment in the apartment to cook your meals.
We was situated in C block and all our windows and doors locked properly and we never heard of any break inns during our 2 week stay.
There are three restaurants at the complex and we tried all three.
The international restaurant was clean and the staff was really pleasant always smiling and saying Ola! There was plenty of choice of food that was always hot and cooked infront of you too. The breakfast ranged from traditional bacon and eggs etc to cereal, yoghurts and fruit.
Never ate there at lunch as we was always snacking round the pool. For the evening meal there was agin lots of choice from lasagne, pizza, roasts, vegetables etc and vegetarian choices as well. There are desserts on everyday and these are also lovely.
The chinese restaurant was nice we ate their for my birthday, there is limited choice there but hey we wasn't at our local in England.
The med restaurant was really nice and you are waited on in this restaurant also.
We liked the hotel location it was close to the town and market and if you didn't fancy a 5 minute walk to the town or beach you could jump on the mini train for 1 euro each although taxis are really cheap out there too.
There was also some shops just outside the complex and pubs there too that sold whole selection of beers and other drinks and they also show the football.
The staff at the hotel were generally nice although sometimes were moody behind the main evening bar and it was only one female then who decided to slam drinks down if she got your order wrong and she made you feel like it was your fault. The rest were nice.
Reception staff were brill always happy to help you.
The entertainment was fantastic we thoroughly enjoyed it and if people in your party are willing to have a go at the daytime or evening tasks you will love it.
The entertainment team Kieran, Fran, Jenny, Hannah, Lauren, Kelly, Toni and Phill worked extremely hard from 10am till midnight and they were all nice and their shows well funny. Bingo was well good especially when you win and the money aint bad and play your cards right is good too someone won over a thousand pound when we was there as it was a rollover. The outside acts were also good the supremes an parrot show etc.
There are three pools on site all were really clean when we was there and you saw them being cleaned of an evening. We stayed mainly by pool c as it was the most lively and had slides. The pool with the bridge is quiet and the 3 kids in our party loved the little pool there.
We also went to the bar that opens at midnight its good the waiter gets your drinks lined up for you and aint that busy really. The kareoke at the Irish bar is good too.
When going to this hotel go with an open mind an you will love it im glad we went an we needn't have worried so much before we went. We are already booking up to go next year we cant wait.
One last thing the weather was fab we had not a single drop of rain so couldn't fault it.
Sorry if this review is so long but I couldn't fit the truth into a short piece I wanted to let you know about everything.
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Thompson from Hampshire travelled to Caleta Dorada Apartments with
First Choice
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 09 2006 | rated the Caleta Dorada Apartments as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: Caleta Dorada Bungalows
We read lots mixed reviews about this hotel before we left at one point I thought we should change but I was really pleased we didn’t. We had a great time at this hotel and would recommend to our friends and family.
There are 4 sides to this complex A side B side C and D side.
We stayed in C side which was situated close to the pool with the 4 slides.
First 4 days into the holiday everything was good, but after the 4th day you could no longer get any drinks from the pool bar which was very annoying when you wake up at 7.30am to be no longer able to get a coffee until served at breakfast plus the dinning room was a good 10 min walk from our room.
We visited all 3 restaurants
Oriental- Chinese food but to be honest we thought it never tasted of anything, very bland
Mediterranean - Waiter service here served lovely food both we and the kids liked eating here
International- Breakfast, dinner and evening meal were all served from here.
There is always a variety of food for all different taste buds.
The cleaners were always in cleaning rooms and the complex was kept very clean.
We did have one encounter with a cockroach in our room horrible things but 1 out of two weeks I thought was good but others did have more complaints about them.
A bit of an issue with ants here to, everyday they were all over the floor in room.
Our cleaner unfortunately one day did not lock our room after cleaning it; nothing was taken but made us feel a little worried if it did happen again.
During our stay the pool on C side was closed on 3 different days. This was a pain as the weather was very hot but there were other pools you could use. Apparently the maintance staff put the wrong chemicals in the pool?
The water they use to spray on the flowers smells really disgusting especially as all the sprinklers were on at breakfast time really did turn your stomach!
There are plenty of sunbeds around the pools no matter what time of day we always managed to get 4 sunbeds together.
When we arrived at the welcome meeting I was shocked to see so many kid club reps in one hotel
The entertainment team were great Kieron works very hard and his Ohhh Betty still has us in a fit of giggles. The children have had the club reps dance cd on about 50 times. The wave length boys were great with the children which was great for us as we manage to get a couple of evenings on our own. Bliss!
We visited the town Caleta de Fuste which has lots of shops bars and restaurants. Great beach and many places to play crazy golf.
Taxis back to complex cost us 2 euros. We hired a car for a week from Avis and drove all over the island. Visited the water park and the sand dunes also there is a lovely big stretch of beaches in Corrajelo.
Oasis zoo is a fantastic day out you can visit the reptile and sea-lion shows which we all enjoyed. Son had a big kiss from Coco. We also took a camel ride to the top of a hill.
We really enjoyed our two week stay and in a few years we will go back to Fuerteventura.
Lovely Island and the weather was fantastic we had two weeks of great sunshine!
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jo from west midlands travelled to Caleta Dorada Apartments with
first choice
on a family holiday.
There were 2 adults and 2 child(ren) in the party. The travel date was 09 2006 | rated the Caleta Dorada Apartments as follows:| Cleanliness | | | Location | | | Staff | | | Food | | |
| Entertainment | |
| said: We stayed in a 2 bedroom kids suite in C block in September all inclusive.
On arrival the complex was very clean. The bungalow was very nice and clean.
The food was great and a good variety. We had no tummy bugs whilist there.
There are 3 pools. The C pool was closed for 2 days when we were there due to someone leaving a present in there this was no fault of the hotel. We spent most of our time at the B side pool. All the pool areas were clean and pleasent.
I heard of one break in while there. We kept curtains drawn and windows shut at all times whilist out and the tv turned up loud and valuables kept in the safe.
The entertainment was basic. They cater more f |
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