Costa Tropical Hotel and Resort, Costa Antigua, Fuerteventura

Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands is a popular holiday destination and tourism is the island’s main industry. The Costa Antigua area on the east coast of the island is a settlement of buildings and shops just south of the airport and about 2km north of the town of Castillo, also known as Caleta de Fuste.

One of the main hotels and resorts in Costa Antigua is the Costa Tropical (part of the Globales chain), which – as with many hotels in the area – combines good and bad points. For those who like nothing better than sitting by the pool sipping a cool drink all day, then it is fine. For those who expect the comforts of a top hotel, then the experience may be less than desired.

Bedrooms

Two bedrooms were tried in this visit in September 2014 and both were spacious with separate living room, bathroom and bedroom. There were basic cooking facilities for self caterers, and these included stove, microwave and kettle. Some rooms are all on one level and some are separate chalets with the bedroom and bathroom upstairs. Oddly, the two-floor chalets are referred to as bungalows.

The big drawback is that the rooms are not air conditioned, which is a bit of a shock given the hot climate. An electric fan can be hired from the hotel for €22 a week plus a €20 refundable deposit.

The rooms also have flat-screen televisions, but they cannot be operated without the remote control, and this is available from reception for a €10 deposit.

The rooms themselves are a little bit scruffy and could do with updating. There was rust visible in several places in the bathroom. Cleaning is carried out daily apart from Sundays and Wednesdays, and the towels are replaced but the free soap, shampoo and bath gel that was there on day one was not topped up at all during our week’s stay.

The bath could only be filled up from the shower (no taps) and it was difficult to get enough hot water to make this worthwhile. The water also had a brown tint, which was a bit off-putting. The cistern for the toilet was set to fill only to about a quarter capacity; water is scarce on the island so that is sort of understandable, but it did mean that loo flushing was not always as effective as it should have been.

All inclusive

We went for the all-inclusive package, and we discovered that the word “all” is a bit misleading. For example, at breakfast fresh orange juice is €1.20 extra as is the better coffee; if you want both, the special offer is €2. There was a similar problem for lunch and dinner where wine and beer were free but the posh wine incurred an extra charge.

There is a Tuesday night barbecue by the pool, which is half-price for those on an all-inclusive package – €5 as opposed to €10. The hotel also has a pizza restaurant, which is not covered in the all-inclusive package.

Some of the drinks at the bar are not included. For example, they do six cocktails, of which three are included and three have to be paid for. There are actually two bars, an indoor one and a poolside one, which is open during the day and often has free hotdogs and burgers to eat by the pool. The beer choice is a bit thin, with only San Miguel available. There is also normally only one person serving, which can make it a bit slow during busy times.

Meals

The meals themselves are OK. The breakfast has a mixture of English and continental options. There are chips with all the meals and there is a reasonable selection of hot and cold food for lunch and dinner. The only real bad mark was the day we had cold chips and undercooked chicken, but there were other options.

For those who are going to be out during the day, the hotel will prepare a packed lunch, but this needs to be ordered the day before and comprises sandwiches, biscuits, fresh fruit and bottled water.

Other facilities

There are two shops selling groceries, souvenirs, newspapers and the like There is also a gym, which includes a Jacuzzi, which can be hired for €10 per hour per apartment, and a sauna at €18.50 per hour per apartment. There are pay to use washing machines.

The main pool is large with a bridge over it and there is a separate children’s pool. There are ample sunbeds around the pool but only a limited number of parasols, which get reserved very early. The tables round the pool only seemed to be cleaned overnight and thus sometimes became a bit manky during the day. The water in the pool was also a little murky.

The free Wifi is only accessible in the hotel reception. Paid-for Wifi is €25 a week but the signal strength is variable and is doesn’t reach every room.

Outside the hotel

There is a zigzag road to the coast from the hotel and this has a number of small bars and restaurants – the Crazy Goat is nice. The coast is rocky – no beach at this point – but good to look at while feeding the chipmunks.

The walk to Castillo is about 2km over a barren wasteland. There is though a free bus at various times during the day and a taxi costs between €4 and €5. The journey is worth it, as there is an indoor shopping centre, plus lots of outdoor shops. There is also quite a range of bars and restaurants. Gambrinus was our favourite. And there are two splendid beaches for sunbathing and swimming.

For those who fancy a day trip, there are tours to the waterpark and other places on the island. There are even day trips to Lanzarote and the small island of Lobos.

Conclusion

There are many good things about this hotel, and the staff were incredibly friendly and helpful. Sadly though they let themselves down on two main points. First, the air conditioning. While it is probably beyond their mean to install this throughout the bedrooms, it is almost insulting to charge for hiring a fan to make the bedrooms bearable. The second problem is the amount of things that should be included in all-inclusive and are not, and for that there is no excuse.

So, we have a hotel that will suit some who are prepared to put up with a few shortcomings but one that has the potential to be really good with a bit more effort.