1* family holiday, definitely not family friendly and they should make a point of this

5* disappointment, cold pools and very cold atmosphere, kids not welcome and a lot of fluff. It may be a nice place for a couple, but absolute no fun for families - just a lot of frustrating restrictions that have wasted a week of my summer. I just want to make a note that i have waited 5 months to write this review- I usually don't write reviews, never done a bad one, so I allowed my mind some time to just forget or reevaluate it. Sadly, I am as disappointed as 5 months ago. If someone would have written a review as mine, I wouldn't have chosen Botanico, so I hope this would come helpful for some of you. We have booked this hotel last minute trough Thomson's and we have discovered on our destination that this was mis-sold to us. We choose to give 1* to our experience due to how the hotel management had handled our complaint and how our whole experience has been affected by this and how much we have enjoyed our stay. It should be more of 0*, as i have not enjoyed our holiday at Botanico at all. We choose The Botanico as it was advertised to have TWO heated pools as well as an indoor pool, so we booked this place to have a swimming holiday for us as a family with a 4yo and a baby. As no children restrictions were mentioned anywhere on the package description we have planned a swimming holiday in a place that had it all under one roof. Having had one year off holidaying (with a difficult pregnancy and a complicated birth) combined with my husband's very busy working schedule, we were very exited in anticipation of our holiday ( first holiday as 4) planning to spend time together swimming and enjoying the hotel's facilities so highly advertised. With two kids to entertain and no energy to travel around the island with a young baby, the Botanico ticked all our boxes - the heated pools and indoor pool being the reason for our booking. due to health issues I can not swim in cold waters and having two children, one being a baby, the heated indoor pool was a must. So out of all our options we have chosen The Botanico, with it's inviting theremal pools and indoor pool planning for our daughter to improve her swimming skills, for the baby to have his first pool experience, for me to do some very enjoyable daily exercise ( after a long c section recovery) and for all of us to spend some quality time together. To our dissapointment, the next day after our arrival, we have discovered that we were not welcomed in the warm pools as a family because they were situated in the SPA and children were not allowed in the SPA garden. Not only we were miss informed, as no mention of children not being allowed was anywhere ( in fact the hotel had stationery all over inviting everyone to the spa facilities) and the reception did not mention anything when we checked in, on top of this we embarrassed as we were asked to leave as we tried to access the pools. Not to mention my daughter started crying and it was really difficult to explain to her that children were not allowed, after spending one week talking about and planning our play in the hot pools. So we were left to use only the main court pool and the kids splash pool that had temperatures between 24 and 27 degrees during our stay ( and this is really cold, especially for September, and especially for my particular health issues). We have addressed Thomson and the hotel manager on a daily basis. Only on one of the days they heated the paddling pool to 30 degrees, with the mention that this was illegal???? And the manager can go to prison?!!! How ridiculous was that. All i have heard for 7 days was "buy no one is complaining! You are the only one complaining!!". On our last day have have offered us a free lunch, or if i wanted a free massage!!! For the whole trouble we've been trough after spending £5000 for one week, €50 euros as a gesture of good will was just offensive! It clearly shows how much they actually understood and sympathised with our concerns. They had many chances to simply heat the main pool, so I could enjoy just a ONE swim (yes, I haven't had even one swim!), but refused to, coming with silly excuses. I simply feel the whole 5* propaganda is just plain fluff! As soon as things go wrong, there is no real help. Typically, we were asked to contact Thomson, who were just as useless not even answering our email. The hotel's Thomson rep had no idea of what was happening, although we asked to forward our complaint, she didn't as no one responded from her side either. The hotel manager Gustavo was well informed of all the above during our stay, and although he asked me to let him know how this is sorted with Thomson, as they should offer some compensation, otherwise he will, in the end he postponed us and waited for the time to pass and we leave. So, dear manager Gustavo, when you read this please make a note that is so uncool to blame someone else, like the tour operator, when your website and your hotel stationery miss-informs the guests and mentions NOTHING on kids restrictions in heated pools. This is only your fault, as you have provided Thomson all the details and it was your responsibility to make sure what they print about you is correct and accurate. The main pool we were allowed to be in was very cold 24 degrees, and no inflatable toys were allowed. The atmosphere was quite old around this pool- some nice teenagers came by with some lovely swans to play, they were escorted out immediately as guests have complained!!! C'mon!!! Where is a child allowed to blow some steam and have some fun??? Why do you sell holidays to families? And why don't you tell them there is no access to fun?? Very upsetting experience , even now, 6 months later! I feel ripped off of my family holiday and i am still very disappointed on Botanico's manager and Thomson. Take some responsibility, it will really make your guests feel better. So 1* for the experience - cold pools, running lizards everywhere ( all day, every day) , not pleasant being trapped in a place with nothing to do as a family 3* for food- a lot of pretended fluff!! Really disappointing in the Spanish and Italian, but nice in Thai and by the pool (lunch). They like to put flowers on every plate- which could be nice if they were edible amd properly grown, but really not appealing to see the waiter pick up a flower from the pots surrounding the bar ( they look like standard potted plans, not edible, and obviously with dust and flies being on them all day!) 4* for breakfast - nice food selection but disappointing coffee 3* for the rooms- outdated, horribly old bathrooms, comfy beds, lovely cleaning ladies 1* for the kids pool- cold water and mouldy corners, no toys allowed!!! 24 degrees water in September is way too cold, my daughter had some fun in it but didn't feel safe for the baby. Lizards running around scaring my daughter, so all together not a good experience 1* for the spa. The spa looked great. I have organised one hour for myself one morning ( really boring going on your own and stressful keeping an eye on the phone in case the baby needs you!) Been to sauna that looks great; two men dressed in uniforms (builders) came into my cubicle while i was in there, on my own, having a conversation about fixings needed done!!! The indoor pool was closed and some other men were fixing some tiles and doing some maintenance work- really upsetting, so all together, from my experience, as what i was allowed to enjoy, i can only give 1*, with deep regret and frustration 5* for the kids club- if your child is 4+ and comfortable to go without you, they run some trips to a local animal park. My daughter loved it- went there one day with Lisa and Adrian who were fantastic! Thank you guys! But sadly we didn't go to Tenerife to spend time apart from our children, we went there to swim and relax by the pools! Below are images of the mouldy kids pool and 1* bathroom details- definitely not up to standards of a 5* place