Barceló Jerez Montecastillo & Convention Center

Andrew W3 years ago

This is the third year running I and 3 friends have attended on an all inclusive golf holiday basis, and the first time we feel we have been let down by the hotel.||The first issue we had was when we were informed we couldn't access our room until 16:00hrs.|We informed the receptionist we were due to tee off at 14:00hrs and required to change.|We were pointed to a communal toilet in the corridor facing the reception desk and told that was all that was available, so 4 of us were forced to change there.|We were also informed at reception that our all inclusive time in the bar would finish at 23:00hrs instead of Midnight as it had on previous years.||Once we were given out rooms we were again disappointed.|The view from the rooms was of derelict and unfinished buildings, not of the magnificent course we were there to play.|Meanwhile guests who were there working and doing testing on the motor circuit had a view of the course but never really saw it.|What a waste.||We also found out that meal timings had changed and that the evening meal would now start at 20:00hrs and run until 22:30hrs.|This is ludicrous, who sits down to eat an evening meal at 20:00hrs?|It was worse for those guests with young children who would normally be in bed around that time.|Our personal opinion was that this was to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed, by people who normally have a drink after their meal.||On our third day we decided we didn't want to attend the restaurant and would instead have a bar meal instead.|When we went to place our order, we were told this was not part of the all inclusive package and that we would have to pay.|I pointed out that on previous years we had done this without issue and asked what in fact was included in the all inclusive.|The answer was "not very much".|You get your 3 meals a day, drinks until 23:00hrs even though the bar still remains open until Midnight and use of the gym and that's about it.|Why bother going all inclusive, especially as we didn't drink a great deal or use the gym/Spa facilities?||This is the only hotel I have ever visited that does not have bar snacks as part of its all inclusive package.||The final disappointment came when we were booking out and were informed we had a bill to pay for water we had drunk from the room minibar.|We pointed out that the bottled water in the hotel was free and assumed that as it was the same bottled water then it was free. We also pointed out that we had left more in the fridge on departure than we had drunk while there but this made no difference.||The staff in the hotel were excellent (except maybe the receptionist upon our arrival) and were extremely helpful.|The dining staff were attentive, professional and interacted with guests very well.|The bar staff again were excellent. They were very friendly, attentive, learning what you liked to drink very quickly and interacted well with guests.||The golf course was fantastic as usual and the ladies in the pro shop were excellent, friendly and a joy to deal with.||We have come here for the past 3 years because the whole package was fantastic, now however we have agreed that it is time to try another venue due to the hotel changes.||We all felt the hotel had made these changes in order to regain some of the money they have lost due to the Covid pandemic and all it has done is lost them 4 regular customers (who may be increasing to 8).|That's a shame really because we all love the hotel staffs professionalism, the course and Sherry course which is a short distance away.||||