db San Antonio Hotel and Spa

I am currently staying at the db San Antonio Hotel + Spa for 10 nights with a large wedding party (checking out on July 16th), and unfortunately, it is not living up to its 4-star rating. While there are a few positives, the negatives heavily outweigh them.The Rooms & AccommodationThe Good: I am staying in room 277, which is a large room with comfortable beds. The room fridge works well.The Bad: I paid to upgrade my three children to family rooms, but their rooms are absolutely tiny—barely fit for a family of mice. The rooms across the board are very outdated.The Extras: Despite paying for an all-inclusive package, the working fridge is completely empty. You do not even get a complimentary bottle of water upon arrival.Food & DrinkFood: The buffet food is average. It is nothing special, but there is usually always something worth eating.Drinks: The all-inclusive drinks are rubbish. The lager, wine, and cocktails are awful. I drink cider, but there is no cider available at all.Facilities, Comfort & Hidden FeesAir Conditioning: The AC is incredibly poor throughout the entire hotel. Most indoor areas are roasting hot. The main canteen/buffet area is so unbearably hot that you have to eat and dash.Room Maintenance: I complained about my room AC; it is okay at best, but it only works if left on 24/7 flat out. To make matters worse, my ceiling fan has completely stopped working, and another one looks like it is about to fall down.Pools: The pools themselves are nice.Hidden Costs: This does not feel like a true all-inclusive resort. You are forced to pay a €2 deposit to rent a plastic cup for your drinks and a €10 deposit for pool towels.Staff & Entertainment staff: The staff are friendly, though some of them seem poorly trained and look like they have no idea what they are doing.Entertainment: The entertainment is tailored for young children only; there is nothing engaging for adults or older kids.VerdictI expected much more from a 4-star all-inclusive hotel. Between the tiny upgraded rooms, the unbearable heat indoors, poor drinks, and constant nickel-and-diming for cups and towels, I would not recommend this hotel for a premium holiday experience.

Just returned from a 2 week holiday at the DB San Antonio hotel and i must say that we have been left a little disappointed.

For the last 2 years we have been to Turkey but this year, we paid a little more but got a lot less for our money.

To start, we arrived at 12pm but could not check in until 3pm so were made to wait. This in itself is not an issue; however, when we got to our room, the key cards would not work. Back down to reception we went and they re-programed the cards. Went back to the room….still not working. Third time lucky and we were in. When we got into the room, we were taken back by the toilet and cleanliness of the bathroom or lack of! The toilet was situated right against the wall so it was almost impossible to sit down. We went to reception and to give them their credit, they did change rooms for us.

The lifts…… These will be the bain of your life. Essentially, without your room key card you have 3 options, roof top, floor 1 or floor 0. Upon scanning your room key, it then gives the option to go to your floor only. This in itself works but there are 5 lifts for a hotel with over 500 rooms. We must have easily spent several hours waiting for the lifts over the 2 weeks we were there.

In addition, the roof top pool does not open until 9 therefore, you are unable to go up to there in the lift until 9. So every morning, you had to wait by the lifts until the “roof top” option appeared on the screen. Problem is, everyone else wants to go at the same time.

The food was repetitive but reasonable.

There is no waiter service which i have not experienced in an all inclusive before so there is a lot of standing and waiting at the bar to be served. Additionally, when you arrive you have to pay a 2€ deposit for a token which you exchange for a drink. You then get your token back when you take the glass back. In itself it sounds reasonable but it means standing in a queue at the bar when your finished just to hand your glass in!

Overall, it was an enjoyable holiday but for the money we paid, we could have got a much better hotel. My advice would be to give this hotel a miss if your used to real all inclusive holidays.