Gran Melia Palacio de Isora Accessibility Review — My Jet2 Holiday Experience

My family and I booked an accessible Jet2 holiday to Tenerife and stayed at the Gran Melia Palacio de Isora! Honestly, it was my first time booking a package holiday and I had a few reservations. In the past, booking package holidays were not always a viable option because travel agents would have very little information about the accessibility of their resorts. I also travel with an electric wheelchair and I have already done a whole post about why I think airports and airlines need to do a lot better to make it a less stressful experience for those with a disability. Therefore, is fair to say that I was fully prepared for things to go wrong and be problematic so imagine my surprise when we heard the most relaxing journey and comfortable trip. Let me tell you why.

Jet2 Special Assistance: How It Worked for Me

The Jet2 special assistance team are bloody brilliant.

This is not an exaggeration. They did an amazing job. We booked our holiday over the telephone through their special assistance team and both members of staff that we spoke to were extremely helpful. We had already done some prior research online so we knew which resort we wanted to book but what I appreciated was that they wanted to confirm the resort was accessible before booking. It did take a few days but it meant that I felt confident that when we arrived I wouldn't be greeted with a towering staircase and no lift for me to access the building or a bath tub when I expected a level access shower. There were a few minor issues with the bedroom itself but I will get to that later. For now, I want to commend Jet2 for having the information available in the first place so that I could make an informed decision rather than it being a stab in the dark.

Who would know I've been up since 5am?

The same goes for when I got to the airport. I have never had such a smooth and quick check-in experience. When we were booking, we were immediately transferred to the team that specialises in the airport assistance. This meant that we weren't chasing down Jet2 in order to confirm they knew my wheelchair, dimensions and battery type – they asked me immediately after booking to give them information so they could have it on file. Usually, I will spend ages on the phone and get to the airport have to repeat the entire process all over again. However, once I gave them my details at the check-in desk in London Stansted, they had a printout of everything that I had already told them and they just wanted to confirm that everything is still correct. It literally took 15 minutes. They even let me put fragile stickers on my wheelchair because I was terrified that they could damage it during unloading/offloading.

Literally, the only slight issue that we came across was when we were sorting out the storage of my spare batteries. We had placed them in our check-in luggage which (for obvious reasons) had flagged on the scanners and they kindly asked if we could put the spare batteries in our cabin bags instead. That was it. They were apologising profusely throughout the entire exchange because they didn't want it to seem that they were being problematic or difficult but we were perfectly okay with moving the batteries around. There was a genuine sense that they were trying to make our journey with Jet2 simple and straightforward regardless of our extra assistance requirements.

The in-flight assistance was also fantastic. I was boarded and off boarded in a timely manner, I was not manhandled by any of the assistant staff and because we were seated at the back in our outgoing flight, they boarded me at the back of the plane so that I wouldn't have to go through 30 rows of people on the very tiny aisle wheelchair. I mean, of course, the toilets are too small and so I very carefully manage my liquids to ensure that I would not need to use it but that is a broader airplane design issue which I cannot hold against a specific company/airline.

Without a doubt, Jet2 special assistance customer service was beyond brilliant and I commend the company and staff are doing such an amazing job.

Accessible Room Features at Gran Melia Palacio de Isora

The deluxe accessible room at the Gran Melia Palacio De Isora has some features that are very well done and a few that need changing.

The room is an extremely decent size. You enter and the doorways are relatively wide and opens up into a bedroom where there is more than enough space to turn a wheelchair. The bed is lowered so it sets a similar height to most standard dining chairs (see photos). There is a very cute breakfast table in the far end of the room that overlooked one of the smaller swimming pools. I appreciated that they had a small ramp section so that I could get to the balcony and there was a two-seater garden chair on the balcony which was easy to transfer onto but had seen better days. The room was definitely designed to be light and breezy and I loved all the dark wooden features. It was definitely a Deluxe room.

The problem I found was with the bathroom. I would find it difficult to call it an accessible bathroom. Firstly, the sinks are too high. This is a common issue of finding hotels that are fancy – the sinks are huge and beautiful granite/marble countertops but it means a bit difficult to reach and the taps especially are out of reach. This may not be an issue for someone who is wheelchair is higher off the ground and they are more mobile with their upper limbs, but I would think the majority will choose is that I know may have some issues with the sinks. Secondly, the shower cubicle is too small. I expect a level access shower to simply be a drain on the floor with a shower curtain around it. It sounds basic (and a bit naff, I know) but it means that there is sufficient space for a wheelchair user to transfer onto a shower chair and have enough space for a carer to help them if needed. The shower at the Gran Melia was too small and so we were squeezing ourselves in to avoid water spreading everywhere. Finally, the bathroom didn't have a fixed shower chair but they did offer me a shower chair with wheels. This was a pleasant surprise as I've never seen hotel offer me an actual shower chair that we can move around the room and use as a commode. However, I have big hips so it felt a little bit snug and a little bit too hard to transfer onto plus the wheels were in pretty bad condition so it did not feel super stable.

I will clarify that we didn't raise any complaints at the time and we just managed to them might have been a different solution to the shower chair, but I do think there needs to be a second look at how the bathroom itself has been built and adapted. Overall, the bedroom is manageable but I might struggle to return to this particular resort because of the room.

Navigating the Resort: Mobility & Distance Challenges

The resort is massive. I stayed at a Disney World resort and I'm pretty sure it was not as big as the Gran Melia. This meant there were a lot of things on property – multiple swimming pools, spa, gym, a huge open roof Plaza and four different restaurants. However, it does mean that there is a lot of walking you must do to get from place to place. It's not a bad thing but I do think it's something you should be aware of. If you are using a wheelchair, there are multiple lifts throughout the entire resort, you just need to know which route is the quickest. I found from my bedroom on the third floor that it was quicker to take the lift down to the car park level, walk through the car park and exit out by the Oasis bar in order to get to the swimming pool. Thankfully, the staff was super helpful and will navigate you to where you need to go. There are signs and they do give your map but honestly it's easier just ask because it's very easy to get lost – we ended up on the other side of the resort by accident on the very first day!

The lobby was stunning!

Facilities for Disabled Guests: Pools, Restaurants & Paths

The facilities at the Gran Melia Palacio de Isora are pretty good for wheelchair users. They have put a lot of thought into making the resort itself accessible and enjoyable for all. The main swimming pool is a 400 m salt water pool and I was happy to discover that they do have a pool hoist. It is battery-powered and mobile which means (in theory) it could be used on any side of the pool that is the right depth and the staff knew how to use it. I know that sounds like a weird thing to be happy about where you will be surprised how many times equipment is available but the staff have not been trained on how to operate it… Thankfully, the entire poolside staff were ready and available to help me get into the pool and they even directed me to the sun loungers reserved for disabled guests. The poor manager that we met on the first day even gave us pool floats that we could use for the duration of our stay (at no extra cost) because we had not even thought to pack our own.

This same thoughtfulness was found with the staff at the restaurants in the resort. The main buffets called Pangea and there is a whole host of different cuisines that you can try. They had chefs freshly grilling fish, meats and breakfast they were frying eggs and making custom omelettes. Pangea is over two floors, with their food being on the upper floor and a good portion of seating being on the lower floor. The staff were really good at making sure that we were seated on the upper tables so that it was easy for me to go back and forth. The only gripe I have with buffets in general is that the food is not always easy to reach but that might just be because of how my upper limbs are restricted. The other restaurants are also fully accessible – I only ate at Nami which is the Asian style restaurant. The only part that might be difficult will be where they have placed the teppanyaki table. That was up three steps but because I was interested I never asked if there was alternative access. There might be but I would confirm with the resort if this accessible if this is why you are specifically going to the Gran Melia.

There were a number of daytime and nighttime activities that you could attend at the resort. The ones that I saw during the day were activities they were doing in the pool – paddle boarding, pool Pilates or a spin class in the water. Not very mobility friendly but honestly I was happy to just sit poolside with the book and then take a nap! In the evening, they had a show every night and that lots of seating outdoors and the bar staff approach everyone to collect drink orders so you don't have to go to the bar itself. There is not a lot to do but that's okay if you're purely going for some rest and relaxation.

The pathing is also super smooth throughout the resort itself. A lot of the flooring is either marble or hardwood with a few grassy patches by the sun loungers. There is some cobbled paving walking around the main infinity pool and this same cobbles follow you as you take the very snazzy spiral ramp towards the promenade. It's nowhere near as cobbly as an old English city like Cambridge but I would suggest not driving your power wheelchair at full speed down it on a full stomach! It's also really easy to access the beach from the resort. You can literally get waterside in your wheelchair and that was a nice surprise because usually the promenade is so far from the water. A few of the beaches had boarded planks so that you could ride your wheelchair across some of the sand and then transfer onto a sun lounger. It's nice that there is an accessible beach as you do not get many in the UK.

Would I book this holiday again?

Yes and no. I will 100% book another holiday with Jet2. Their customer service was above standard and I would feel confident that my journey would be smooth and hasslefree. However I will probably wouldn't book to stay at the Gran Melia Palacio de Isora again. The result is definitely deluxe and beautifully built but the accessible bathroom is a big thing for me and we found it really difficult to manage. Saying that, if you are more ambulant and independent, then the facilities will be perfectly fine! I think another holiday to Tenerife would be lovely as a family but honestly, I feel ready for another Disney trip… (shh, don't judge).

Have you been to Tenerife? Or have you booked a holiday with Jet2 before? Let me know your experiences (or tips) in the comments below!

Lots of love

Mary xx