Hotel Suites Albayzin del Mar

Prior to staying at the hotel we had high hopes of luxury based off the pictures, descriptions & cost to stay. We presumed the negative reviews were somewhat harsh as taste & value for money are subjective, but we feel the criticisms are fair. On arrival we were taken back by how dark the lobby area was due to the lack of any natural light, something that also held true for other communal areas of the hotel. However, what really set the tone for our stay was the downright rude manner of the man on reception. We brushed it off on arrival thinking he was having a bad day, but he remained cold throughout our stay & then was spoke to us with a rude tone again on departure (unprovoked). He seems to be in the wrong job as he is a public representative for the hotel & being surly shows the hotel in a bad light. One of the rugs on the ground floor corridor leading to reception sticks up along one side, which is a huge tripping hazard & it's only a question of time until someone falls & hurts themselves. The lifts in the hotel are very small, slow & temperamental. It took an age for them to arrive & it often took several attempts to get the doors to close when inside them. When we first arrived we were thrown when the doors of the lift opened on our floor & we were confronted with a white (board) instead of a landing as expected. We thought we had done something wrong, but please note that there is a white, wooden looking door that you have to push open when the lift doors open. The 3 bedroom apartment was ok, but smaller than expected. The beds in the bedrooms were comfortable, but there was a lack of space in all except the master bedroom. Additionally, the second bathroom had a tiny shower cubicle with only a rainfall shower head & it was impossible to have a shower without water leaking into the floor. It was also difficult to wash properly because the shower cubicle was so small. The hotel pool is well designed & big, however, 3 members of our party developed ear infections after a few days of swimming in it. Whilst we can't definitely say the pool was the source of the infection, it was the only common factor & it did make us question its cleanliness. There were other niggles throughout our stay, but we are aware that this is a long review. Overall, if the hotel were a lot cheaper & the staff were friendly a lot of our complaints would be forgiven. However, at the price point set, standards should be much better & the staff welcoming. We wouldn't choose to stay again if we were in the are

We have just got back from 8 days here and wish we could have stayed 8 more. The hotel is wonderful and exactly like the photos. It is beautiful, the pool area, gardens, bar, rooms all of it- everywhere you looked there is something to see. The location is perfect, you are not a far walk to the beaches (we walked to many) and you are near to the beautiful town centre of Almuñécar. Where there is so much history, including the castle, the old town streets, Roman ruins and gardens and many more things to see. Every corner you walk round you will find something beautiful and unique in Almunecar and it is one of my favourite places we have stayed hotel and town wise in Spain. The hotel is also walking distance to the Friday market. Also worth a visit is the tourist centre, the garden is stunning and the view from the castle is also a must. The hotel was also so clean, the staff were wonderful and helpful, the breakfast was perfect. We ate lunch in our suite most days which was fully equipped for self catering should you choose, also had a washing machine which was an added bonus. Genuinely cannot understand the negative reviews we had a wonderful time and it was truly beautiful. The only negative I have is the parking price and think 10 euros a day would be fairer - if using a car you do need to use the hotel car park as street parking isn’t really an option. However, I would stay again. Thank you so much for a wonderful stay and being our base while we explored Almunecar.

On arrival to the hotel approx 2pm we were told by the reception staff that our room wasn’t ready and that they were unsure when the room would be available. Meanwhile we were told to enjoy the lunch as a form of compensation for the wait - (myself and husband questioned if this was okay as we were half board and were only entitled to breakfast and evening meal) the lady said most definitely! Fab news for 3 hungry children and ourselves. 630pm we finally got our room after my husband kept checking with reception. Room was beautiful and very spacious. (3 bed apartment) large balcony- unpacked and then went down for evening meal around 830pm ish . To be confronted by a waiter saying we shouldn’t be eating there as we had lunch so therefore would have to pay for our evening meal. We explained what reception had said and he insisted we still had to pay. Meanwhile the waiter was talking amongst other waiters and we were getting stared at most the time ( leaving my 12 year old daughter uncomfortable and in tears thinking she was as doing wrong eating) we all left and headed to clear this up at reception. The lady we spoke to was no longer there we had a gentleman who laughed us off and said we have to pay. At this point we were quite annoyed as we questioned this on arrival to be told it was it was fine. The rest of our stay here we went out and brought breakfast and tea as we felt too uncomfortable in the restaurant area as we were still getting uncomfortable looks. Last day came and we handed our key cards into reception where we were told to pay the €75 for the meal charged to the room we had we told the lady who seemed to have been the manager what had happened and she was really upset and fuming and agreed with us that the gentleman on reception was quite rude and told us we didn’t need to pay the euros and couldn’t apologise enough she was shocked that we had to go out and buy our own food and didn’t eat in the restaurant for the rest of the week after paying half board. Apart from that the pool was amazing. Won’t be returning.

The staff were friendly and tried their best.

Hotel was clean and great pool area. We never had no issue finding sunbeds. The apartment was basic with no kettle, toaster, grill or cooker and with only a couple of pans so limited what you can cook in the apartment. Staff were always very friendly and helpful. We booked a 3 bedroom suite because the kids don’t like to share but were told we had to have a 2 bedroom suite because there were only 4 of us - they did give us a pool/sea view to make up for this. Breakfast was good with a lot of choice but can get very busy between 0930 and 1030 with long queues for the coffee machine! The hotel deco is a bit dated and not to my liking - far too many mirrors and chrome and some bits looking quite tired now - could do with a bit of a makeover but that didn’t affect our stay. Parking around the hotel is difficult and beware of the €20 a night charge to use the underground hotel car park which I think is far too expensive and I wasn’t aware of this when booking the hotel “with parking”. The area was quiet and it was about a 10-15 min walk to the seafront where there are loads of restaurants. The beach here is grey gravel/pebbles.