My experience at FERGUS Carema Splash: a deeply disappointing stay.

Why we chose an all-inclusive stay

We booked a week on all-inclusive terms while travelling with young children. I chose this type of stay because I expected it to make meals, snacks and the daily routine simpler for the family.

My assessment is based on that expectation and on what happened during our own stay.

Slopes, stairs and our room location

Much of the accommodation and facilities are arranged across slopes and different levels. Reaching our room and moving between areas involved repeated hills and stairs. With a pushchair and young children, I found those journeys tiring and inconvenient.

Room location can change this experience, so this describes the route assigned to us rather than every unit at the hotel.

Food and the between-meal snack service

The main buffet offered more choice than the snack service. Between meals, the choices I personally saw were fountain drinks, ice cream served from tubs, hot dogs and chips. I did not see fresh fruit among the snack-bar options available to us.

This is not a claim that fruit was unavailable elsewhere at the hotel.

Meal times as I experienced them

At dinner, I observed food being cleared at around 21:30. Breakfast was presented to us as available until 10:30, but I saw clearing begin at about 10:15. With young children, I found those margins stressful rather than convenient.

These times are my recollection of what we experienced and may not represent the hotel’s current or year-round schedule.

Crowding and finding space

At busy times, the pool and dining areas felt crowded to us. We sometimes struggled to find loungers and seats together at meals. Queues and competition for space reduced the sense of ease I expected from an all-inclusive family holiday.

Occupancy changes, so other stays may be different.

Damp smell and light in our room

During our stay, I noticed a persistent damp smell in our room. This describes what I personally perceived; it is not a technical finding about its cause.

The curtains also did not block the light completely and we were unable to make the room properly dark. This mattered to us because we were travelling with young children and needed them to sleep.

Rooms appear to differ; this observation relates only to the room assigned to us.

What I photographed around the slides

During the stay I photographed the condition of parts of the water-play structures. The images below show visible rust-coloured corrosion on railings, posts, brackets and fixings; worn coatings; exposed or protruding metal pieces; dark deposits; staining; and material apparently secured with plastic cable ties.

I am describing what is visible, not making an engineering assessment or alleging a breach of a particular safety standard.

Other conditions I photographed in shared areas

Elsewhere during the stay, I photographed a tube-slide opening closed with barrier tape, heavy condensation on the glass of a food cabinet, used reusable cups collected in an open box, worn and darkened artificial turf beside a pool, a broken outdoor receptacle containing cigarette ends, and weathered timber with a protruding metal fastener.

These images document only what was visible when I took them. I do not know why the slide was closed, and I am not drawing a technical or hygiene conclusion from the photographs alone.