Alanda Marbella Hotel

Located centrally in southern Spain, near beaches and attractions, this accommodation is lauded for its attentive staff and exceptional cleanliness. Guests appreciate the variety and deliciousness of the breakfast.

This is not a five star hotel, nowhere near. Two positives. The breakfast and the sleep quality, and I will expand on these shortly. Our experience……… It all started before I arrived. I booked the hotel using their website and as we were attending a wedding there was a special discount code to enter. This gave us €500 discount. The website confirmed my booking with price and booking number. I took a screenshot to be on the safe side. I then received an email confirming the booking but the price had gone back to the original higher price! On arrival, I had a tough job convincing them that they should honour the screenshot price, which they eventually did. I had asked for a quiet room when booking and were given a room on the top floor (out of three) overlooking a very busy main road! The room was completely characterless, a rectangular shape, which reminded me of a cabin on a cruise liner. The quality of the fit was very poor, especially the bathroom door which wouldn’t close as the base of the doorpost had swollen, probably damaged from water ingress. We called reception and they would send someone straight away. Three reminder calls and nothing. I am still waiting and this was weeks ago. I insisted they give us another room. They moved us next door. This was OK, but the laminate was coming away off the bathroom wall. The toilet seat wasn’t fixed properly and kept sliding when sat on it. The bed was very comfy and we managed to sleep very well. There was a coffee machine and kettle in the room, together with iron and ironing board. There was a magnifying mirror attached to the main bathroom mirror but this was too low and couldn’t be moved so it proved useless. On our first day the room hadn’t been cleaned by 15.00 so I called reception to be told that we hadn’t mentioned we wanted it cleaning! Another issue. They left coffee pods for the machine and one teabag. I was told to call room service to ask for more. I’m still waiting. The swimming pool, again characterless, and devoid of atmosphere, had this DJ playing very loud, booming music. I had to tell him to turn it down. The pool, annoyingly, didn’t open till 11.00. The gym was tiny and we noticed someone took some of the bar bells to their room. The bar by the pool reached prices I’ve not experienced before. Two slush drinks and two ice lollies = €24! The breakfast was nice and the ability to sit in the garden was lovely. There’s a chef on sight who will make whatever eggs you wish. Good selection of meats, cheeses, breads, drinks etc. The staff were ok, though their English was weak. The hotel is about 200 yards from the beach front and the promenade there was really extremely pleasant. We walked to the Old Town one day and Porto Bonus the next and there’s an efficient cheap bus service (€1.30) that takes you straight back. There must be nicer hotels to stay. This one won’t get our future business.