Penelope Beach Hotel Apts

We stayed at this hotel for one week as a family with small children. I’d like to share our impressions, starting with the positive points:
Pros:
1. Excellent location – close to the sea and with convenient road access, especially for those traveling by car.
2. Very quiet, which was extremely important for us as a family with kids.
3. Good daily selection of meat and fish.
4. Some staff members were genuinely friendly and always ready to help.
5. A nice all-inclusive offer: hearty snacks where you could choose pasta, salad, or a burger; drinks were also plentiful.
Cons:
1. We booked a renovated two-level room but were given a two-room unit with old furniture and an unpleasant smell.
2. Some of the furniture was broken, especially the sofas where the children had to sleep, which felt unsafe and uncomfortable.
3. Room cleaning needs serious improvement: some days there were not enough towels, the situation didn’t change until I went to reception, and on another day our room wasn’t cleaned at all. Even worse, staff sometimes entered the apartment without knocking, using their key, which was very uncomfortable and felt unsafe. For a 3★ hotel it might be acceptable, but still disappointing.
4. A few staff members laughed when I made a mistake in English or showed an annoyed expression. Not everyone, but enough to make ordering drinks uncomfortable.

Our original hotel sent us here because there was an issue with our room so my opinion is as neutral as it can be since we didn’t opt for this hotel for our trip.
Hotel: it’s very quiet and feels like a small village, I think it’s a great place for families with younger children. It’s very close to the beach.
Room: very hot, you can’t stay inside without the ac on during the day or with all of the windows open for ventilation during the night, the ac in the bedroom was leaking but they fixed it quickly after we mentioned it. It felt open and claustrophobic at the same time, there were ants downstairs, but the cleaning staff came every day, and the bedding and towels were clean. We didn’t have a hair drier or shampoo/shower gel in the bathroom so bring your own.
Food: not a lot of options and it sometimes felt repetitive, but the food was always tasty and there was something for everybody.
Staff: the front desk ladies were really nice, very welcoming, very helpful with directions. As for the rest of the staff, most felt like we were bothering them by being there so it didn’t really feel like a vacation. With the risk of sounding like a snob, don’t work in hospitality if you’re not going to be hospitable.
All things considered, we’re grateful for the accommodation given the circumstances we were in, but I can’t say we wish to come back.

Disappointing — I understand this is a 3 star hotel but having booked all inclusive as a family of five I wish we hadn’t. I expected the hotel to be quite basic, given the star rating, but what I didn’t expect was such poor quality food and to see cockroaches scuttling around. The facilities (pool/bar/rooms) were fine, basic but practical but the food was awful. We ended up eating out most nights. I would advise you only come and use the “self catered” or “breakfast only” option.