Anyone stayed at the First Choice Holiday Village Viva?

[tigwig]

We may be going there next year (in Spring Bank school hols) and I would like any honest info anyone can give me about it please! The kids will then be 1 and 7. I have read some of the reviews on trip advisor but trust you lot more! TIA

[munchie63]

the viva in can picafort...stayed there last year.
2 adults and 2 kids, age 8 and 12. had a great time. very, very clean hotel, rooms ok, nice walk in shower, and nice pools.
first time AI for us, and they have it well sorted there. large restaurant, buffet style brekkie, dinner, lunch.
it's all self-service buffet, go up as often as you like. well oragnised. looks a bit chaotic at first, but you get used to it, and it's actually very well run.
brekkie's a choice of cereals, fruit, fry-up etc.
lunch there's the choice of salads, meats, fruit, snacks, or a full-on meal, or stay by the pool and order from the pool bar menu (salad, pizza, burgers etc).
dinners similar - a roast each night, pizza, burgers etc for the kids, fish, meats, a really good choice, and it's always being checked and replaced. the chef station in the middle will make you fresh omelletes, fajitas etc too.

daytime entmt's a bit full-on, musics quite loud round the pool - stay on the grass if you want to dodge it. evening entmt starts with the reps, then a guest each night. magicians, rod stewart tribute, dance acts etc. usual bingo and kids disco first. ends at 11pm.
bar staff are pretty fast - esp manuel (ring that bell). peak season we waited a few mins. the pool bar does lovely slushies.

[munchie63]

couldn't fault it for cleanliness, value for money, pleasant staff. kids clubs were good too. the kids spalsh pool's very good.
evening entmt could be better, but it's a nice chance to relax anyway, and it's what you expect really. the beach is a 10min walk away, and there's plenty of bars and shops to wander around.
usual madness when they unlock the sunbeds at 8am (why oh why do we do it ?) but lots to go round anyway.
we went to the lanzarote HV the year before and Viva's much better.
one word of warning, quite a few kids had ear infections. The pool was cleaned every day, but with all those people in and out theres always a risk. ear plugs would be good for the 7yr old if they'd use them ? there's a doc nearby who will visit quickly, but it's a 90 euro fee. ( the drops did clear up my boys painful ears inside 24hrs though).
any other Q's feel free to ask

[tigwig]

Thank you, its the sunbed thing that I hate! You just get obsessed with getting them don't you? I would love to get up and relax on a morning then make my way to the pool when I want to get one and not have a mad rush. Is there no way you get them if not? Also I think we may go SC as we don't like to be tied to one resort the whole time. Is there other bars/restaurants in the area?

[munchie63]

SC is an option. there's plenty of places to eat along the beach-front, certainly more than enough for a different place every day, with lots to spare. plus, if you like the look of the food at the viva, you should be able to upgrade on a daily or weekly basis. I'm pretty sure people did that - they certainly had notices about it by the restaurant.

if you can blag a ground floor room, they open onto the gardens, and you can just use your chairs to sit outside and relax. There are bucketloads of sunbeds - it's just we've beaten the germans to become No1 at getting up early to grab the best ones with the brollies. for one by the pools you'd need to go down at 8am when they're unlocked. up til 8:30-9am you can easily walk down and get one near the pool, but the best spots go. there's also a nice pool bar area, with plenty or tables and chairs.
the little one will love the splash pool area, and again, there's sunbeds there.