Arenas Del Mar Hotel

This was our fourth visit to this hotel, and we have always loved it in previous years. The staff at the bar, restaurant and reception were all lovely, friendly and helpful, and they deserve credit for making us feel welcome. Unfortunately, this visit was very disappointing, and we feel the hotel is now in desperate need of refurbishment and maintenance. The main issues we experienced were: Air conditioning: The air conditioning is now operated by sensors and simply did not work properly. We tried three different rooms, all with the same issue. In previous years, the rooms have always been lovely and cool. Sun loungers: Around 70% or more appeared to be broken or unusable, making it difficult to find suitable loungers around the pool. In addition the pool area wasn’t cleaned. The AI drinks have deteriorated significantly and the food was very hit and miss. The pool was closed for one full day during our stay. Room cleaning was particularly disappointing. Despite being out of our room from around 9am and leaving dirty towels on the floor, we had to visit reception on three separate days to request fresh towels. The bed was only changed after we stripped the bed ourselves. There was no bin provided in the room and tubbish that we had neatly piled up was left for three days. The plug socks were falling off the walls and even a window screwed shut by the bed, particularly impactful due to the terrible aircon and a risk should there be a fire. The spa area looked tired, with paint peeling from the ceiling and falling into the pool. Around half of the restaurant was cordoned off for the entire ten days of our stay, with tape. Not really a look expected.

Also beware booking car hire in the reception, we have done this every year so when we recieved a quote double what we where expecting my partner checked online, they advised the online price showing pay now and pay on pick up where both due. This wasn’t the case, paid online £150 compared to the £320 quoted. It is a real shame to write this review because we have stayed here four times and genuinely loved the hotel in the past. The staff are still lovely, but the overall standard has declined considerably. For us, this will sadly be our last visit. The hotel is now in desperate need of a refurbishment and significant improvements to maintenance and housekeeping. It certainly no longer feels like the hotel we experienced on our previous visits.

This hotel has a lot of potential, rooms are spacious and comfortable, communal areas are well kept and food is OK for an all inclusive buffet. It is also a short walk into a small town with lovely restaurants and an entertainment square. However they should not advertise themselves as having air con- the system they have does not cool the rooms sufficiently, and all guests across the hotel said the same. We complained and were told it was working. The biggest issue is the petty rules they have- no all inclusive drinks after 11, bars shutting early, they wouldn’t give a member of our group water because she didn’t have a euro for a cup etc. Bring your own water bottles and plastic/metal cups to drink from. The all inclusive cocktails are largely dire, with the classics you would expect being an extra charge. There is also no snack bar aside from a few pastries available mid afternoon, and most sunbeds around the pool are broken. It’s a shame as this could be a lovely hotel.