Patrick Williams
I stayed at the villas for 3 nights. The villas are part of a very large complex that includes a hotel and several restaurants.
What went well:
The villas are outstandingly beautiful. The pictures don’t do credit to the experience. We asked for privacy and the staff accommodated us by giving us a villa towards the outer edge, no noise, no children and a private pool.
We had a bottle champagne waiting for us as we walked in and they left a letter noting how I had been to other grand hotels (brand).
We rented a car to drive from the airport and go to activities around the island, it’s a big island and taxis and Ubers are hard to come by. If you intend to do anything outside the resort area, I recommend getting a car. It is quite likely a car will have a manual transmission.
The villas are managed during the day by a person in a separate reception area from the hotel itself. Rafaella is outstanding. I feel a bit bad for whoever is manning this reception because they are the 1 stop shop for all things. Need a buggy to get from one end of the resort to the other? Call. Room service? Call. anything going on? Call. And Rafaella is responsive. The staff overall are super friendly.
The buggies are a nice way to get within the complex if you’re tired or tipsy. There are multiple restaurants and swimming pools.
Throughout the day and evening are different free activities you can participate in, they are child friendly, like exercise events, magic shows, music shoes etc. Every evening you will receive a list of the events and weather report for the next day.
Every day has tea time 4-6pm and champagne after 6pm, included in resort fees.
The breakfast a la carte in the villas reception is quite good and better than room service. Some room service options leave to be desired, some are excellent (chocolate soufflé!).
Kensei is a very good restaurant. Many restaurants are outside the main area, you will leave a gate by the main hotel if you walk down to the beach. These areas are much more crowded and serve the local hotels.
If you want to go other pools, there are regular pools and a large salt water pool near the ocean and at the base of the main hotel. They’re very nice.
Areas for improvement:
The entrance is not obvious. You will come off the high way, go down a beautiful road, have to do a u turn in a weird spot, get to a gate without clear signs. You can’t drive around the resort, but parking is available in a small structure right inside the gate.
Service loses a star because of the following:
Whoever isn’t Rafaella managing the villas. We received coffee cups from the resort to take home, one was broken. We called, the person at the other end couldn’t have cared less. He was the one person on staff who didn’t go out of their way to surpass expectations.
Communication regarding events outside the resort. Arnaud was responsive and did an excellent job organizing events in nearby towns (jet ski, fly board, paddle surfing, horse riding). He did a GREAT job connecting us with all the services and arranging payments. We showed up to the villa reception as instructed for our ride, 30 mins in advance for our pick up to the beach where we would paddle board, we had paid for 2hrs with a coach. We had to go to the club house in main hotel to sign documents (1-could have been done at villa reception when we checked in); we signed the documents, were told to wait outside the hotel. We waited, then asked for help. We were told to return to villas entrance. We saw people waiting and asked if they were for our paddle board event. No. We went to the villa reception, waited for the ride as instructed. We then asked for help, frustrated. We were quite late. Someone from the resort offered to drive us (remember the taxi and Uber situation is not ideal. He drove us to the gate in the buggy, spoke with people in Spanish, it turned out the van was for us and others. We lost 45mins of our 2hr event. (2- sign documents early, communicate clearly where to go for what and expectations on who is picking you up and where).
King K9
I was going to give two stars however google categorises 2 stars as ok and one star as poor and our experience was definitely the latter.
Accommodation is meant to be part of leading hotels of the world programme however as other reviewers have noted, it certainly isn't.
I was asked to send my long card number and expiry date via email, I should have had alarm
bells ringing here, as this does not seem secure.
Arrived nobody was available to greet us. We did not know where to go.
When receptionist did arrive, she had to deal with another guest complaining. Then she was
able to check us in but wrote my credit card number down on a piece of paper giving me
serious concerns over their privacy policy and GDPR.
They wanted paying upfront for the stay rather than at checkout, now I know why.
The villa boasted a private heated pool which was far too cold to use, again as other guests have mentioned.
The large bath was another facility in the villa that was broken and not fixed until day 4 of our stay.
There were insects in the villa, cleanliness, maintenance and health and safety issues. See
pictures. Not in anyway covid compliant, all hand sanitizing stations in reception / bar area
of Las villas empty, all soap and moisturisers in toilets empty or broken, with a rise in covid
cases, this is unacceptable.
The hotel itself also had numerous slip and trip hazards.
We waited 15 minutes for a table for breakfast one morning and over an hour for breakfast to be served.
We had to ring reception three times or more in a row in order to get someone to answer and even then they didn't.
Rarely was there any one on the bar at Las Villas, if you wanted a drink or at reception.
The manager kept saying things had been fixed when they hadn’t. The manager was rude. I asked to speak to the general manager after I was getting nowhere with him. I received an email stating she would meet me at 10am.
Dear Mr
I talked to Mrs. and she will meet you tomorrow at 10:00 at Las Villas .
Thank you very much
Kind regards
I checked with reception the night before where they meant Las Villas was and they
confirmed so at 10am I arrived for the meeting, to be told by Jorge it had been cancelled because I didn’t reply to the above email. Really?
After 15 minutes of waiting around the GM eventually turned up and stated that she had been told the meeting was not taking place, by whom I have no idea because it certainly wasn't me.
Apparently it was company policy not to compensate even when they had admitted fault
and that the service was not up to their usual and facilities which had been paid for were broken. This made absolutely no sense in my opinion, how can you charge for something that is substandard or broken?
Several times I tried to make a formal complaint and asked for the companies complaints procedure however this was ignored on every occasion.
This place offers zero value for money and having to go through the ordeal of actually
complaining in the first place whilst supposedly on holiday and then to be treated with such
little respect at a 5 star establishment was shocking. I have never been treated this way in
any other 5 star property and it certainly did not live up to the expectation and service that
they claimed.
Staff are trying their absolute best, there is simply not enough of them. Management are seriously at fault and need some serious training on what 5 star service actually is and attention to detail. If you are going to book make sure you book via a travel agent / online travel agent so you have some recourse via a 3rd party as booking directly with this hotel should be avoided at all costs as they cannot care less about their guests and just want money money money.
We checked out and moved to Royal River Luxury Hotel and oh my god, the difference was incomparable. Do not stay at Las Villas Bahia Duque and be disappointed, stay here instead and you'll be utterly amazed.
Alex Heighes
What this place is;
It’s great fun with friendly helpful staff that delivers terrific family oriented holiday fun, pools, shows, variety of food, access to public beach (all Spanish beaches are public).
What this place isn’t;
Exclusive luxury for discerning international travellers who want to know they’re at the pinnacle of exclusivity.
If you’re after good quality services and amenities in a central location, managed by great people, you can’t go wrong here.
Alex English
Love this place! We go back every year. Very luxurious with great service. The Michelin starred restaurant Nub is a highlight.
Samar S
We have stayed at the hotel before but this time at the Villas. Last time we stayed at Casas Ducales and it was exceptional. The villas are extraordinary in all aspects. The villa itself is utterly gorgeous. And the patio with bed and lounge chairs, and with your own private pool were extraordinary. We had a villa overlooking the Villas pool. We loved every aspect of it. The furnishings were beautiful and the bath, the biggest I have ever seen, was luxurious. All your needs are catered for, just ask, and they are met with kindness and friendliness. Very, very much a can do attitude pervades the atmosphere at Las Villas. They have a sheet and pillow menu. We opted for the silk sheets - exquisite. Breakfast is flexible - 3 options! The main hotel’s buffet, a la carte at the villas restaurant, or in your villa. We stuck to the latter two as the service and food was exceptional. The bedroom is heavenly, spacious and opening up to the patio and little garden of the villa. The mattress in the bedroom, on the patio bed and on the lounge chairs were the best I have ever slept / laid / sat on. It felt quite expensive at first during booking, but during our stay, we quickly came to realise that value for money was definitely there. Don’t hesitate!! Stay here.
My Booking
