R2 Rio Calma

The hotel Itself looks beautiful. Couldn’t fault the appearance with beautiful lobby and windows. My first experience with customer care was also excellent. A guy named Santiago who is Canarian but lived in the same area of London that I’m from made for an interesting first conversation and natural helpfulness in directing me to where I needed to go on the island. Was patient in helping me to a fault. Perfect. Restaurant Other things about the hotel were not so good. And polarised the experience. And that is expressly the way the restaurant staff behaved consistently. I was ‘relieved’ on the last day to see another female guest being bullied and almost bossed around and away (politely told to do one) for asking for a fork. Literally the bane of my life. A guy is overheard the previous day chatting with another guest as also talking about his experiences with the same. I chimed in and said I agreed it was ‘hurtful,’ because that’s essentially what it is when you pay for a holiday and you’re made to feel as if you’re very presence is a burden they want to do away with. Quite literally the closest to a fawlty towers restaurant experience iv had. Staff had adopted an attitude of thinking it’s ok and normal to chastise and disrespect guests and whilst I certainly don’t expect / want red carpet treatment (it’s not relaxed) I don’t expect to be told off for forgetting my wrist band when my face is known by staff. Equally iv never in my life been in a restaurant where obtaining cuttlery should be an endeavour with emotional implications. Slamming cutlery down is a standard cue to tell you it’s time to leave. So meal times whilst could have been great were always subject to a slightly threatening atmosphere. Conversed with one other guest about this and observed another guest being told to go away when asking for a fork. Same happened to me and was left to sit. Another guest actually went and got cutlery for me off another table. However another staff member was helpful in getting me salami from the kitchen one night when it wasn’t put out on display but this caused scandalized looks amongst the other staff as if a rebellion was about to break out in their ranks. Pool. To be honest intuition told me not to bother with the pool and upon reading other reviews realized why : it’s chaos. Upon passing by it was very crowded and the music wasn’t very good. Ie. Ambience could have been cafe Del Mar and been pleasant but instead it was a tin can sounding kind of techno. That might have been to do with the aqua aerobics class however. Generally a competitive environment rather than a relaxing one. There is a pool bar selling burgers. And a shop. In addition to the mini supermarket in the lobby that sells crisps and drinks and other holiday essentials. The pool looks nice but wouldn’t swim in it as it’s so crowded by the pool side and wouldn’t have been relaxing Spa. Website at time of booking doesnt expressway state that a spa visits is permitted for a

The hotel is conveniently located, very close to the beach, just a short 10-minute scooter ride to the local town, and a 10-minute taxi ride to the Oasis Zoo. The rooms were well-maintained, and the cleaning staff were very pleasant. As a pool plant manager, I noticed that the pool upkeep was not very good. Chemicals were left out on the poolside, making them accessible to anyone, which is a safety concern. Additionally, the pool was shocked daily with chlorine, which is not ideal as it causes chemical levels to fluctuate rather than remain consistent. The pool was generally clean, although the wind and surrounding trees caused leaves to frequently blow into the water. Unfortunately, the food at this hotel was disappointing. While breakfast was satisfactory, lunch and dinner offerings were consistently either overcooked or undercooked, with the menu remaining the same every day. The waiting staff were neither helpful nor professional, with Macarena, in particular, being quite rude and treating guests poorly. Additionally, I would not recommend this hotel if you are looking for an adults-only experience. There were many families with loud children, which could be disruptive. Overall, this is a nice hotel in a good location, but significant improvements are needed in the quality of the food, the attitude of the waiting staff, the maintenance of the pool, and the atmosphere for those seeking a quieter, adults-only environment.

Great stay but there are a few things which need improving. Room was kept very clean, and the hotel grounds gardens and pool were also kept superbly clean. The room was lacking essentials- there are no dressing gowns/slippers, no kettle, no welcome teabags or coffee sachets, like most 4*s would provide. You had to leave a €20 deposit to use a kettle and you are charged €4 per day to use the safe- it should be free. There was also only one spare pillow in the room to use and just one chair next to the bed. Definitely more of a 3 star room. I have also noticed that the listing says free wifi- there is no free wifi and you are charged at €1 per day, per person. I think this should absolutely be free at a 4* establishment. We did see a couple of cockroaches, one was under the juice machine and one was in the toilets. Every time we went to dinner or breakfast the staff were constantly running around and dropping things and we kept hearing breakages and clatters- I think they are worked too hard. It also felt like the restaurant staff and pool bar staff were very unwelcoming- they barely spoke to us and barely even looked at us. It was like they were miserable and didn’t want us there. On the other hand, the reception staff and lobby bar staff were super friendly, as was the cleaning lady. Her names was Lordes and she was lovely. The negative reviews on the food are a little unfair- the food was good, if a little bland at times, and there was plenty of choice. The only bad thing is that the staff do not upkeep the tidyness of the buffet and it can get a bit messy. There is a beautiful beach a 5 min walk away, and another beach a 30 min walk away. You can get scooters if you can’t be bothered to walk. The pool is amazing, so well kept and such a lovely area. It is such a shame that one of the pools has fallen into disrepair- it would have been amazing (the fake beach one right at the sea front). Other guests reserve beds even though it says not to. Which is really annoying because if you don’t get down early all the beds are taken even though noone seems to be on them for big portions of the day, and even at night time towels are left on them. One thing to add- they don’t skimp on the drinks- they are super strong! Which depends on the way you look at it- personally we want to enjoy the taste of our drinks and they just didn’t need to be that strong, as you have two and you are drunk. More entertainment would be good. The gym is outdated and needs new equipment and more of it - and aircon- however for basic workouts it is OK. Overall we really enjoyed our stay but the hotel was more of a 3* and needs some basic facilities to bring it up to a 4*. But the pool was fantastic one of the best pools I have been to. Beware if you are allergic to cats as there are a lot roaming around the hotel grounds!

The worst hotetel I have ever been, food awful, almost the same every day. I am a vegetarian in this hotel, nothing to eat .The menager of the restaurant, dosen’t know how to make the restaurant to work. After waiting for 30 miutes for waitress or manager You hear You are just the geust . I have said bad word about time of waiting to the menager .She was so unpolite. She took our glasses after my complainmat, no one important for her. We are having all inclusive, I can say about this hotel.

We travelled as a family of four adults in November for a week - this hotel suited us perfectly. Its staff in all situations were without exception kind and courteous. The food exceeded all expectations - often buffet situations can get a bit same and repetitive but not here ! All diets catered for and local dishes which we love. On my daughter’s birthday we went into a local restaurant for lunch to have a “special” meal including octopus - to find in the evening the hotel had octopus on the menu which was so much better than our lunch time one ! There was a massive amount of choice for food and it never got boring. The pools are lovely and the whole hotel grounds are beautiful. Lots of sun beds. Drink prices were very reasonable in the hotel bars (not more than outside the hotel). My son used the gym and found it good. We took the bus (a 15 minute walk to the bus stop from the hotel) to Morro Jable a few times - getting off at different stops to visit the beaches, shops and restaurants there. Costa Calma has a couple of beaches in walking distance from the hotel, it didn’t appear to have much of a centre and not many restaurants or shops. If we came back here I think we would hire a car to be able to explore more of the island and beaches.

Spent a wonderful week at Rio Calma in Mid November and are already planning to return for a longer stay. Hotel reception is an amazing cathederalesk vaulted expanse, with settee seating areas and the hotel bar. We enjoyed our pre and post dinner drinks here listening to the sound of the evening pianist playing during dinner service. Our standard double room was in the annex, a lovely location within the grounds, with a garden view and sunrise from the balcony through the palm trees. The room was well appointed with a sizeable bathroom with excellent powerful over bath shower. The room staff, Doris, made sure our room was perfect every day and our only change would have been for a double bed rather than two single beds pushed together. The gardens are well landscaped and maintained with the plants and palm trees enhanced with lighting at night. We really enjoyed a few romantic walks around the grounds late in the evening and sitting outside the entertainment bar on one of the many garden settees on the patio. The infinity pool, with its waterfall is a bracing but refreshing way to cool down and the shallower second pool, being heated for winter season, was a welcoming 23 degrees. I really enjoyed the fun aqua aerobics session being held here daily. There were plenty of sunbeds available and we booked one of the romantic four poster double sunloungers a couple of times and really enjoyed the included fruit platter and bottle of bubbly. The buffet restaurant had a very wide range of food options available both at breakfast and dinner service; with freshly cooked omelets or fried eggs for those who asked at breakfast and fish and meat options cooked to order at dinner service. We loved the beautifully made delicate mini cake deserts. We ate both in the restaurant and outside on the terrace, enjoying the terrace a little more as there was background music. Being up on the cliff away from the town it was helpful that there are three shops on the reception level (level 6) providing souvenirs, swimming attire, jewellery and other gifts. One providing a small selection of sweets, snacks, water, alcohol, cigarettes, vapes, toys and magazines. We found all the staff to be very friendly and welcoming, even helping me with my attempts at ordering in Spanish. On the down side building work has started on the area where the crazy golf course used to be, which does mean periodic noise but they were doing the initial ground work during our stay so is probably not long term and there are a few patches of tiles missing on the infinity pool floor and curving infinity wall, however timing for any repair if in daily use throughout the year is probably the issue.