Barcelo Marbella

We booked this hotel for my birthday for 5 nights as we wanted an All Inclusive hotel not too far from Marbella. The travel time from the airport was nearly an hour in a taxi and costly - something to consider as well when booking as we didn’t. On arrival we had a very warm and sincere greeting from the Receptionist she handed us opening times of the amenities and what was included in our package. Along with a wristband we were handed our room key and the direction of our room which was ready. We went up to our room which was a Superior with Pool View - this had a balcony which I had requested and checked this with Reception on arrival. Room was lovely! Very clean and spacious. Bathroom had both a bath and shower which was pleasing. Excellent air-conditioning. The only room issue we had is you can hear every sound from the corridor - I am assuming this is due to the stone flooring in the hotel. There was an incident at 3:30am in the corridor on the 2nd morning of 2 female guests screaming and arguing - the hotel apologised for this and advised the guests had left - we had no further incidents just the noises from guests walking and a few guests playing music each side of us which again you can hear everything clearly. Pool was very nice, clean and calm even with children it was nice and peaceful as a very large area. The Tuc Tuc was unmanned most of the time on our first day - I complained to the manager and after this it was manned at all times. I wanted to mention the lady serving on the Tuc Tuc was excellent and a credit to the team, along with the life guard helping her as her English wasn’t the best. They were the best staff we encountered and made the time by the pool very pleasant - this can be used as part of the all inclusive for drinks and water. The buffet is of a very low quality - the breakfast was as to be expected abroad however lunch and dinner was really not great at all. The 2nd day I decided to use the pool bar for lunch as the quality of the buffet was awful - I was told I could not use ‘Breeze’ (Pool Bar) for food during buffet times. As I had not eaten much for the last 24 hours due to the buffet quality - I then when to speak to Laura the Guest Relations Manager - she gave us full access to the pool bar at whatever times we needed within opening hours - this should be a standard for all inclusive as no restrictions were advised on the form given with the amenities. I also had difficulty ordering drinks in the buffet even though this said All inclusive on the menu so I still do not understand why I couldn’t have the drinks I wanted? Laura sent a bottle of Prosecco and chocolates to our room for my birthday which was well received and appreciated. We decided to eat out for dinner each night after the 1st evening - Buffet Breakfast, Pool Bar Lunch, Eat out on the evening. The Bar on the evening was nice for a drink when we came back as well. The gentleman serving was very attentive and was able to answer questions for us about the all inclusive which was very nice. We were also told by the lifeguard that we needed to hand our towel cards back to Reception on departure as we may be charged 20 or 30 euros - we didn’t know this previously so was grateful to know! The housekeeping team were excellent. Our rooms cleaned every day with no issues! The atmosphere in the hotel was overall calm and nice. Gym facilities were okay as well which was great for us as a couple - very small so if more than 3 of you. There is too many people - We walked to the beach and back one morning and was about 1 hour and 15 round trip on foot. Overall, we had a pleasant stay - after talking to Laura our issues seemed to dissipate however, dining out on the evening really helped as well. I would advise not to book all inclusive unless you are a big drinker and aren’t a fussy eater - I think we would have been better off having breakfast only and eating elsewhere. I would say value for money was average we paid around €1700 for 5 nights all inclusive - I wouldn’t say about €300 a night was worth it for what we had but as a family with children I could see this being of benefit. The buffet was a real let down but managed by Laura in our case and the overall stay was pleasant. Thank you to all the kind staff we encountered and to Laura for supporting with our issues.

I have stayed at this hotel 3 times, the rooms are spotless, the breakfast is stunning, I love the orange water at reception, the pool is great you are supplied towels, beds are so comfy, the only thing I would ask for is a few more English channels on the tv but can't fault this hotel