Although the grounds for this hotel were absolutely beautiful, we were very disappointed with the service and amenities and felt they were well below the standard expected of a five star hotel.

For a hotel that branded itself as a five star "Spa" hotel, we were quite surprised to learn that access to the spa was not actually included in our package. We had to pay separately for access, either for a day or for the duration of our stay. When we asked the spa employees for a tour of the facilities to decide whether it was worthwhile, we were told that tours were not permitted but we were invited to peer through the main door to get sight of the facilities. Once we had paid for access to the spa, we were told that access to lockers was not available and that we would simply have to leave our things on the lounge chairs in the spa area. Although the hotel's three pools and surrounding grounds were absolutely beautiful, not one of them was heated (despite being advertised as heated) which meant that they were completely unswimable. For those who wished to swim, a deposit was required for a pool towel. We also called reception three times to ask for robes for our room and were told three times that they would be sent straight up. They never arrived. The bedding in our rooms was cheap, unhygenic and inadequate given the time of year (and given the hotel's five star rating). The rooms seemed tired and poorly serviced - no robes, no slippers, no tea or coffee, insufficient towels, shampoo and soap and we had to remind housekeeping to come in to clean. The spa services were also a huge disappointment - I was given a massage by someone who had clearly had absolutely no proper training whatsoever on a dirty and rusty massage table.

The advantages of the hotel were the beautiful grounds, the extensive and varied buffet breakfast and the proximity to the lovely marina with a variety of restaurants and shops open late. Overall, our impression was of a hotel resting very much on the laurels of a one-time five star rating. We weren't sure whether the low quality of service was related to the fact that our stay was during the off season but our overall sense was that our reasonable requests to staff we were met with irritation and an unwillingness to help. Although we would strongly recommend a stay in Puerto Calero, we would not recommend the Hesperia Lanzerote.

We've just returned from a superb week at the Hesperia. I understand some people debate whether this is 5 or less stars but considering we booked using Tesco Vouchers through Cosmos the holiday was amazing value. Forget the stars you are getting an awesome hotel for little more than £70 per night for b&b.
Location - Quiet location in upmarket setting
Food - Breakfast is excellent - all tastes are catered for and all food is fresh and well cooked
Rooms - we asked for a room with a double bed and were immediately switched no problems. The room was well presented, clean and had everything we could need. We asked for extra pillows and they arrived within 5 minutes
Reception - Very helpful staff all round and Free WIFI !!
Bar - not much atmosphere could do with modernising
Hotel in general - All i can say was as the minibus stopped to dropp us off (1st stop) everyone went Wow!! what a posh looking hotel - They were right

Suggestions: The hotel could do with a small shop, similar to bigger hotels in Playa Blanca and Costa Teguise. There could be more events offered in the resort. The bar area needs updating.

This is one of the most geographically different islands I have ever been to. It is a volcanic island which is very barron and desolate with minimal plant life and an abundance of solidified black volcanic ash everywhere. Even people's houses do not have grass but they have a layer of volcanic ash instead. Quite amazing and well worth the visit to them excellent island.

The Hesperia at Lanzarote is a fantastic destination and one I would definitely come back to. Being from Australia, it was a rare event for Australians to go to this location as it is more well populated by UK, German and Spanish speaking visitors. There are no direct flights from Australia to Lanzrote so you will need to connect from any number of European destinations to get to Lanzarote which is part of the canary island group and is a small island group of 7 (soon to be 8 with another volcanic island that is growing just beneath the surface) about 160km to the left of the Sahara desert in Africa.

None-the-less, it was a marvelous adventure. It is a Spanish speaking country and most of the staff can speak "a little to advanced" English. Lanzarote only has 28 days rain a year so you can almost be assured you will have dry conditions for your stay. Rain is quite rare.

The hotel is about 15 minutes from the airport so transfers are pretty quick. the hotel has very good rates for rooms and is one of the cheapest I have ever been to in low peak periods. Unbelievable to say the least. It is well appointed with a very large and nice reception area. Very spacious and lots of things to do.

The rooms are equally as well appointed with a large bedroom area, plenty of cupboard storage, a large bathroom area with a bide. I've never been to a place with a bide before so this was an unusual treat.

The rooms in my deal had free wifi and reception gave you a password that lasted the entirety of your stay.

There was a desk and comfy seats in the basic room which again was a nice treat.

The hotel has a number of large pools - about 3 in all which shallow entries and deeper areas for swimming. They all are close to the bars and restaurants so is easy to get snacks or drinks as required.

There is a great bar at the foyer and a number of restaurants to go to.

The breakfast area is very well appointed and they serve a very wide array of cereals, fruit, eggs any way you want them, coffee, tea, meats, yoghurts and plenty of pastries. You will not be disappointed for breakfast

Meals from the restaurants lunch and dinner are well ranged and there are plenty of nice foods to choose between. They even have English subtitles on the menus so you can understand what you are ordering. Meals are reasonably priced.

Activities are wide and assorted. They have bikes you can hire, submarine adventures, winery tours, kids club, volcano tours, golf tours, TV room, spa, gym, walking trails and a short walk to the beach to swim at the ocean if you like.

There is an activities desk who can help you with whatever you want to do.

My only complaint:

They make you pay to use an iron or have a kettle on your room. I have never ever had to do this and found it an insult.

Have stayed here last March and very good hotel and staff. Tried to book this year using web site booking. Beware. Rate calendar showed that if we moved our holiday forward by a week we could get a big saving. We paid to change flights then tried to book on the web site. The quoted rate was €48/night Vs €100 a week later. Although Calendar continued to show these rates and in fact still shows these rates a week later as soon as we hit the book it button we were informed rate was double. hotel says it is a bug on web page. Customer service at NH hotels says too bad how sad. Will not honour rate and did not fix web page. So be careful site is misleading and spoils once taste for hotel.