Paradisus by Meliá Salinas Lanzarote – All Inclusive – Adults Only

We always struggle to find a hotel that meets our expectations after staying at Ikos resorts across the summer. Last year we stayed in the reserve at Paradisus Gran Canaria so I will be comparing both resorts. The resort itself is cleverly designed in a traditional Lanzarote style with an open to the elements centerpiece surrounded by waterfalls and many different cactus plants. Staying in Reserve meant our own dedicated reception desk, separate pool/bar luncheon area and most importantly for me padded sunbeds. The non reserve beds looked awfully uncomfortable and for this reason alone I had to choose Reserve. We chose a Junior suite ocean view with whirlpool tub and spent many happy evenings having the full sun on our balcony sharing a glass of bubbles listening to the various entertainment coming from the beach bar. There are 3 speciality restaurants - La Graciosa ( Tapas at lunch and Canarian set menu of fish/meat/veggie) in the evening. Capella - Italian and Samira - Middle Eastern. These restaurants can only be booked when you check into your room - being in reserve the first three nights our concierge did this for us but you can also book via the app. Included in the reserve concept was a choice of two free organized trips with transport. We chose the El Grifo vineyard tour - the guide was most informative en route and even showed us local sights including a photo opportunity at Timanfayo. My only real gripe was the Reserve pool - this was much bigger than the Gran Canaria reserve pool but oh my it was bracing, I do love a dip but fairly sure I turned blue on entering! The Gran Canaria reserve pool was beautifully heated. At this point I must mention a very special member of staff named Jonathan who works in the reserve pool bar. His attention to detail and overall enthusiasm for his job shone through. He is an absolute credit to the Melia group. I would like to steal him to work at Ikos Resorts! All of the staff appeared happy and welcoming. Thank you for Chandrini in reserve for booking us in. Evenings were spent in the Ginger bar watching the entertainment and sipping cocktails / playing cards. I did notice that this was the only bar open in the evening unlike Gran Canaria which also had the Sports bar. This would have been more suited to those guests who didn’t particularly want to enjoy the evening entertainment and wanted to chat loudly through a candlelit piano performance. Food quality in the buffet is in front of The Gran Canaria resort with piping hot plates and food at the correct temperature. We had an issue with cold food in the buffet at Gran Canaria but could see they have made an effort here. We loved the Tapas lunch specials in La Graviousa, the reserve pool restaurant was delightful and we also ate lunch in the buffet. We tried all of the restaurants and had a fantastic meal at La Graciosa both opting for the meat option however on returning a few nights later the veggie option was quite poor .

Excellent hotel. We stayed in a reserve room and enjoyed the little extras, like the separate pool, lounge area and breakfast room. The food was excellent and we had no problems booking the restaurants on the app. Great location too. Our room was lovely and all the service we had was great.

We’ve previously stayed at Melia Salinas in the Presidential Villa before the refurbishment and rebrand to Paradisus Salinas, and initially had some doubts about returning since the change to an all-inclusive resort. Our preferred Villa was not available on our short notice travel dates, however there was a Garden Villa available for the duration of our stay. I’m pleased to say the quality of the offering from the hotel has not suffered since the switch to all-inclusive, and we had another excellent stay here. We don’t enjoy buffets so I can’t comment on the current quality of the buffet restaurant. We alternated our evenings between the a la carte restaurants at the hotel and local restaurants nearby. We were pleased with all of our dinners at the hotel, especially at La Graciosa. Breakfasts we had delivered each morning as room service, so again I cannot comment on the restaurant breakfasts. One thing which I feel is important to note is that both the swimming pools are salt water. Some guests we spoke to had specifically chosen the hotel for this reason, however for me personally I found the pool to be incredibly salty and impossible to enjoy a proper swim, The gym area can be confusing, as only part of what appears to be the whole gym is actually for hotel guests as it is all privately operated. A female member of the gym staff was incredibly rude to me when I was in the non-hotel part of the gym, despite there being no signs to indicate which part was for hotel guests. A simple sign would rectify this matter. It was very clear from her attitude that she was not a member of hotel staff, as they were all great and would absolutely not treat a guest in that manner. I would particularly like to call out the excellent customer service provided by Carina on The Reserve desk. We will certainly return to Paradisus Salinas in the future.