Zelia Resort & Spa

“В целом нормально”

Here's my honest review! Please read it in full for those planning to stay here for more than three days. The food is a whole other story. The prices are inflated, plus an extra €20 for delivery! The food is served at a specific time, and not a minute earlier, because the chefs open the restaurant… more

Here's my honest review! Please read it in full for those planning to stay here for more than three days. The food is a whole other story. The prices are inflated, plus an extra €20 for delivery! The food is served at a specific time, and not a minute earlier, because the chefs open the restaurant precisely on time! Little choice, and for lunch, pizza, a burger, or a cold sandwich that you can't even warm up, because the kitchen is completely unequipped?! One day, from lunchtime until late evening (12 midnight), the guests were noisy and laughing loudly and drunkenly. They hadn't even heard of social etiquette. The restaurant manager was politely understanding, but refused to help, saying there was nothing they could do. Cleaning: superficial. My hair was still all over the floor after cleaning, and the sheets weren't changed even once. The air conditioners need cleaning, and the walls need updating. The shower was leaking – they pretended not to notice. Thankfully, everything was in place. The private pools haven't been cleaned even once. The water is certainly cold. The water at the spa entrance is slippery, but there are signs. Breakfast is always the same, no variety. And the same staff were always in the restaurant, as if they never had a day off. If you don't set a Do Not Disturb sign, you'll be disturbed at the most inconvenient times, like 10:00 PM, when you're getting ready for bed. They'll ask, "Are you okay? Do you need water?"... Yes, it sounds like they're caring, but it's incredibly inopportune! Hidden fees in the form of a €15 tax per night, which you're notified about after you've paid for your nights. Is this really a 5-star hotel? I planned to stay here for two weeks, but ended up staying only six nights. On the positive side: everyone is smiling and eager to help in the restaurant and spa area. There's parking, and it's quite prominent. The food is delicious. The bed is a bit too soft. The lighting is varied, and the rooms are tastefully furnished. Food is generally served quickly. I recommend changing the music in the gym to something more appropriate, rather than relaxing; it's not a spa.

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“Swim up room, 1 week all inclusive stay”

Great view, staff are all lovely, nice sized room and really good food. Hotel is a little isolated which is the only drawback

“Relaxing stay in the middle of nowhere”

We have just returned from a 10 night stay at Zelia and enjoyed our stay. The hotel has a lovely aesthetic and is modern, clean and peaceful throughout. The bedroom has everything you could possibly need and we thought all the amenities were of good quality. The shower must be one of the most powe… more

We have just returned from a 10 night stay at Zelia and enjoyed our stay. The hotel has a lovely aesthetic and is modern, clean and peaceful throughout. The bedroom has everything you could possibly need and we thought all the amenities were of good quality. The shower must be one of the most powerful we have ever experienced. The pool areas are lovely, again spotless. We stayed down by the lower pool most days, and enjoyed sun lounger bar service. The hotel has a zero bed reservation policy, which I did see staff removing towels after a period of time. As most of the level 1 floors are swim up, there’s always sun loungers available. The bars have high quality spirits and soft drinks. We found the all inclusive bar menu to be one of the best we have experienced. The food is equally of high quality. We prefer a menu option for lunch and dinner, so this option suited us perfectly. One thing to note is if you have dietary requirements, you may feel the menu is restricted or repetitive. My husband has coeliac disease so needs to eat exclusively gluten free. We found the Mediterranean restaurant to have more options and the chef was more accommodating to adapt the menu. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for the Japanese restaurant. They have things on the menu (shrimp sushi and a noodle salad) which states it’s GF but actually they cannot provide these. There are also no appetisers and only one main dish for GF. Considering this is a five star hotel, we would have thought the chef would try to accommodate our dietary requirements (wouldn’t even make plain rice). This was disappointing and we notified guest relations. This is definitely somewhere the hotel needs to improve. Basic changes can easily accommodate more dietary requirements (such as rice noodles/plain rice). The hotel is located in the middle of nowhere. So if you want to pop to a shop or to a beach club you will need to hire a car. We didn’t enquire about taxis but did hire a car, which reception helped arrange. Unfortunately the food variety and options slightly let it down for us, but that does not take away from the high quality provided overall.

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“Not recommendable unfortunately :(”

The rooms and pools are clean and luxurious and the whole hotel complex is really calm and offers good opportunities to chillax. The view is beautiful and especially the yoga classes with Lucy, who was the instructor when we were there, in the morning were really good. The personnel is friendly. … more

The rooms and pools are clean and luxurious and the whole hotel complex is really calm and offers good opportunities to chillax. The view is beautiful and especially the yoga classes with Lucy, who was the instructor when we were there, in the morning were really good. The personnel is friendly. The service in general, though, was not adequate for a five star hotel, however. When, for instance, we asked at the reception whether we could get sparkling water in addition to the still water that was provided in small bottles in our room, we were offered “deal” (I quote the guy at the reception!): they offered us to give us “one bottle of sparkling water and remove two small bottles of the still water.” I wasn’t keen on making “deals” with a hotel, where I had booked an “all-inclusive package” for 10 days for a solid price. It also took them 6 whole days to provide Coke Zero in our room instead of regular coke. At first they said that this was “not possible” - without giving another reason besides that “we only offer Coke Zero in the hotel bars, not in the rooms.” (quote). After six days, however, the room service brought us Coke Zero. On the website e-bike tours are advertised. When we asked for that they recommended an external e-bike rental service at additional cost and offered to put us in contact with them. That was definitely not what we expected. The advertisement on the website leaves a different impression. Also on the website you can read about a “breakfast à la piscine” in “Private Pool Suites and Swim-Up Suites”, where they offer “a beautifully curated breakfast served directly to the guest’s pool, atop an elegant floating tray.” (quotes from the website) As we were staying in a Swim-up Suite we assumed we could have such a breakfast. Although we asked twice for it we never received such a breakfast. The food in general was ok but not great. There was not much choice and the buffet at breakfast was not special. For dinner (à la carte) there were even certain meals that were “not included” - not even for guests that booked an “all-inclusive package”. Apparently, in this hotel “all inclusive” means that SOME things are included - but not “all”. This also means, that “as part of your all-inclusive package, […] you are entitled to two dinners at Shizen […] which offers excite Japanese-Peruvian Nikkei cuisine.” The guests realise that when they read the welcome letter in their room. I had expected, as I had booked an “ALL-inclusive package”, that I’d be able to chose between the restaurants every evening and to chose IN the restaurants between everything that is offered. Obviously, at Zélia they define “all” differently than most people I know would. If you don’t have a car there is not much to do if you chose to stay here. The landscape around is really calm but far from exciting. It is a 90-minute walk to the next little village. If you like outdoor activities you won’t be happy here. Unfortunately not recommendable :(

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