We stayed at the 4* Riu Canella hotel for two weeks in June this year (2005) and thoroughly enjoyed our visit, it was one of the most relaxing holidays we have had for many years.
The Riu Canela hotel has 347 rooms all en suite and most with a balcony or terrace. As the hotel has been open for about twenty years some of the rooms have a rather 'tired' air about them and probably would benefit from refurbishment. However having said that, the room we occupied was well appointed and spotlessly clean.
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SITUATION
The hotel is located at Canela Beach on the Isla Canela, Costa de la Luz, Spain. It faces the Atlantic Ocean. Isla Canela is a very small island connected by a road bridge to the town of Ayamonte, which sits on the River Guadiana that is the border between Spain and Portugal in this area.
The closest airport to Isla Canella is at Faro on the Portuguese Algarve and from here it is about a 45 minute drive to the hotel Riu Canela.
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THE
RESORT
The resort of Canela Beach is very small with only the one hotel, a lot of apartments and some villas. There are plenty of bars/restaurants here, along with a couple of small supermarkets and the inevitable car hire office. There are also several chiringuitos (fish restaurants) on the beach.
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RECEPTION AND ROOM
On arrival at the reception desk, a multi lingual member of staff supplied us with a glass of champagne and proceeded to 'check us in'. This was done in a friendly helpful way with lots of information on the facilities within the hotel. We hired a safety deposit box and a porter took us, still sipping champagne, along with our luggage to our room.
The room was not the largest we have stayed in, but perfectly adequate and as I said earlier spotlessly clean.
In our room we had twin beds with bedside cabinets with lights above them, a telephone was on one cabinet. There was a dressing table, with six drawers and a chair, there were a further four drawers and four open shelves in a unit which had space to store luggage above it. Alongside this unit was a double wardrobe. There was also a small table a small armchair, a mini bar (plenty of room for shop bought soft drinks) and a tv with remote control (the only English speaking channel on this was BBC world service).
There were sliding glass doors leading on to the balcony that was furnished with a table and two chairs.
The en suite bathroom was not particularly large but was adequate, it was furnished with a WC, a bath with a shower and a marble unit with washbasin. Also here was a hairdryer and an electric razor point. There was the normal supply of toiletries, fluffy towels and bath mat - these were all changed/replenished daily.
We could control the temperature of the air conditioning, but the whole facility was centrally controlled which was unfortunate as the tendency of the management was to switch it off about three o'clock in the morning. Four or five nights of our holiday the night time temperature was around 25 degrees centigrade which made the room very hot and sticky once the air conditioning went off.
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THE RESTAURANT
We stayed on half board basis at this hotel and were very impressed by the standards in the buffet restaurant.
Breakfast was from 8am until 10.30am and there was the usual hot/cold selection with a cooking station at the hot buffet. A chef was always on duty here, usually making pancakes and frying eggs. There was also a vegetarian buffet.
Dinner was in two 'sittings' 7.00 pm until 8.30pm and 9pm until 10.30pm. We chose to eat at 9pm and were allocated a table for two, for our sole use, for the two weeks we stayed there.
We've never come across 'sittings' in a hotel before but found the experience quite nice as it meant that there were never large queues forming in and around the restaurant and also that food wasn't lying around on buffet unit areas for too long.
The most wonderful array of food was arranged over six buffet units with a cooking station at four of these. There were always chefs on duty at the cooking stations preparing and cooking as was required.
The salad bar, the cold puddings and the cheese selection were replenished as and when was required.
There were always vegetarian foods available.
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FACILITIES
Lounge Bar with an outdoor terrace Card Games Room Indoor swimming pool with Jacuzzi and sauna Massage and Beauty Parlour Hairdresser Shop (selling quite a variety of items including souvenirs) Outdoor swimming pool with loungers, sun shades and pool towels. Children's playground. Tennis Court Paddle Tennis Court Table Tennis Poolside Snack Bar (serving snacks and light lunches) The poolside Bar was also open in the evenings, serving drinks.
There is a daily daytime and evening entertainment programme - the schedule for this was on a notice board in the hotel foyer.
There is a children's club at the hotel, but there were not many children in the hotel during our stay.
There is a large car park at the hotel with lots of shaded slots.
There is a bus service from the hotel - It goes between Isla Canela Marina, Riu Canela Hotel, The island golf course and the town of Ayamonte.
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SUMMARY
This is quite a large Andalusian style hotel in a very quiet picturesque area of Spain, probably suited to those of us who enjoy peace and tranquillity during our summer holidays.
All of the staff are very friendly, cheery and helpful. The reception staff are all multi lingual, we heard them speaking to guests in French, German, Dutch, Portuguese, English and of course Spanish, most of the rest of the staff have a little knowledge of at least one other language.
A Spanish phrase book or a little knowledge of the Spanish language would not go amiss in the Costa de la Luz area.
Although a car is not essential, we found it beneficial in allowing us to explore the surrounding countryside.
This was our first visit this hotel and this area and we will go back.
The website for the Riu Group of hotels is www.riu.com and from here you can access the Riu Canela Hotel.
Pauline 2005.
NB The town of Ayamonte is a five minute drive from the hotel.
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exceptional by (14%):
very helpful by (84%):
helpful by (2%):
