Marconfort Costa del Sol

I haven’t written a review for several years but felt I had to after our recent experience here. We have just returned from our stay at the Ibersol Torremolinos Beach Hotel and, overall, we did have a good holiday. The hotel itself has many positives, the location is excellent, the rooms were simple and comfortable, and most of the staff we encountered were friendly and hardworking. We were even lucky enough to be there alongside the Spanish during their World Cup victory which added to the atmosphere and excitement of our holiday to come. Unfortunately, our stay was overshadowed by something that future guests need to know about.

Before travelling, I noticed a number of Tripadvisor reviews mentioning a sickness bug at the hotel. As many of those reviews were a few years old, I assumed whatever the issue had been it would have since been resolved, especially considering the hotel was the subject of a report on Spanish TV because of the scale of the sickness. Sadly, that wasn't our experience. On our very first day, I walked through the men's toilets to the pool area and found one of the sinks splashed with projectile vomit. At the time I thought (and hoped) it was an isolated incident, but over the course of our stay, three out of the four members of our family became seriously ill with stomach-related symptoms, with me going down first! We were half board during our stay and I was quick to blame some Sardines from a nearby restaurant on the front for poisoning me, but as my son & daughter also became unwell over the next day who hadn’t eaten the fish with me it was obvious this was something else. My wife has since fallen ill upon returning to England. When we spoke to other guests around the hotel, it became clear that we were far from alone. One family told us that seven of the eight people in their party had also become ill, while several other guests mentioned similar experiences. When we reported our illness to reception, we were told that nobody else had reported being sick. Based on the number of conversations we had with other guests during our stay, we personally found that very difficult to believe. I'm not in a position to say exactly what caused the illness, and it would be wrong to speculate whether it was food-related, a viral infection or something else entirely. However, when you combine our own experience with the number of guests we personally spoke to, together with the many similar reviews that continue to appear on Tripadvisor over several years, it does raise concerns that simply can't be ignored. A new recent review was uploaded mentioning sickness whilst we were there. This is particularly disappointing because holidays like this cost families thousands of pounds. People save all year for them, and they should be able to relax without worrying about becoming ill. I spent a full day in the hotel bed and so did my daughter the day after me. It genuinely saddens me to write this because there is so much to like about the hotel, and without the illness this would have been a very different review. I sincerely hope the management take these recurring reports seriously and thoroughly investigate them. There is obviously an underlying issue that must be properly resolved or there could be another repeat of the huge incident from a couple of years ago.

I want to end on a positive note despite our sickness. The absolute standout of the holiday was Frank who leads the entertainment team. He is an absolute credit to the hotel. His energy, enthusiasm and genuine friendliness made a huge difference to our holiday. He works tirelessly from morning until night, getting everyone involved without ever being overbearing. He always had a smile on his face and made the children (especially my son) and the adults feel equally welcome. He seemed genuinely concerned about us becoming ill during our holiday. He is exactly the sort of person every hotel wishes they had, and he deserves recognition for the fantastic job he does. Ohh La La Frank!

I haven't written this review to discourage people from visiting. I've written it because I believe future guests deserve to have all the information before making their decision and if they want to risk potentially becoming unwell. I also really hope the hotel uses feedback like this constructively, because with the issues addressed, this could be an excellent place to stay.

We had a fantastic holiday at Ibersol Torremolinos Beach. The hotel is in a great location, the staff were always friendly and helpful, and everything was kept spotlessly clean throughout our stay. Our room was lovely, with a beautiful sea view that made the holiday even more special.

A huge thank you to Frank from the animation team, who was absolutely brilliant at his job. He worked incredibly hard from morning until night, always encouraging everyone to join in with the activities and making sure people of all ages felt included. Thanks to him, we met so many lovely people from different countries and had such a great time taking part in the daytime games and activities.

The evening entertainment was just as enjoyable. The game shows were so much fun, especially the singing competition and the dancing games, with plenty of laughs and a fantastic atmosphere. Frank’s enthusiasm and ability to get everyone involved really made the evenings memorable.

Overall, we had an amazing holiday and would happily recommend Ibersol Torremolinos Beach to anyone looking for a fun, friendly, and relaxing place to stay. We can’t wait to return!