We have just returned from an excellent holiday in Costa Calma. The second 8 nights were spent at the Rio Calma hotel and we had a fantastic time!
On a previous visit to the resort my wife and I had walked to Rio Calma and had both been amazed at the spectacular views and quality of the building. The hotel is not featured in any UK travel brochure ( no tour operators appear to go there) but I found their website earlier this year. I found their website and then a UK site called MedHotels - their rates were good as was the service and they were better priced than booking direct with Rio Calma.
So we had high expectations! We had our two teenage daughters with us and went for the full board option with two rooms with sea view balconies.
The whole building is breath taking - from the moment you enter reception. Rooms good - a little chintzy for my taste but comfortable beds, good bathroom with bidet and min bar. You can get connecting rooms, with a single "front door", which we would ask for on our next visit.
We had not expected many Brits but were surprised to be the ONLY Brits staying - the rest were German, Spanish or Italian. This could be a problem for some people I guess, but we were happy. Staff speak English well enough and the quality of customer service, quality of catering, amount of staff keeping everywhere spotless is possibly due to the demands of our mainland European customers!
Buffet catering isn't always the ideal way to enjoy meals but the Rio Calma proved that theory wrong! No allocated meal sittings or tables; you can eat indoors or if you prefer out in the garden area and we never felt rushed at all, Food is very very good - we liked the small touches at Breakfast such as chilled Cava and a Chef dedicated to making fresh fruit smoothies! Choice of salads and cold food was excellent as was the daily show cooking of meat, fish and several times king prawns. Previously in the Canaries we have felt puddings to be poor - lots of fluff and decorated sponge cakes. Here things had much more taste and substance.
There is no all inclusive option and so you need to budget for all drinks and snacks -
Entertainment was not good in the evenings - a dedicated room but with poor stage and for some reason bad lighting and sound system - and lack luster performers one group who appeared more than 4 times in 8 days! Not a major problem for us but something that one would expect the management to address?
Pools are wonderful- to be honest the photographs fail to do them justice nor the amazing flowers and shrubs that fill the gardens. Plenty of sunbeds and I have to say, few reserved in advance which was great!
The Gym, squash courts and aerobic space are all good and we all enjoyed a few hours at the Spa.
All in all we think this is the best hotel we have stayed in and honestly recommend that more Brits take the plunge and go stay. We will certainly be back there very soon.