Melia Costa del Sol

Our experience at Meliá Costa del Sol was extremely disappointing and, in our opinion, nowhere near the standard we expected from a 4-star hotel and Melia brand.

We I arrived on Wednesday evening and checked into our room at around 8:00 pm. Initially everything seemed fine. However, shortly before going to bed, we discovered three cockroaches in our room. We immediately reported the problem to reception and were moved to another room on the 6th floor. Unfortunately, the replacement room was of a lower standard than our original room and, importantly, did not have the sea view we had booked and paid for.

We were told that this was the only room available and that we should return in the morning to see whether another room could be offered.

So, at approximately 8:00 am the following morning, we went back to the Level reception. Later that morning, we were finally offered another room on the 8th floor, which we accepted.

This meant that we had to pack, move, unpack, repack and move again — twice — because of a problem that was absolutely nothing to do with us.

What should have been the relaxing beginning of our holiday instead involved discovering cockroaches in our room, dealing with reception late at night, moving to an inferior room, getting up early the following morning to deal with the situation again, and moving rooms for a second time.

But what disappointed us almost as much as the cockroaches was the subsequent response from hotel management.

We raised our concerns with management and explained the considerable inconvenience and disruption this had caused. We were told, essentially, that the hotel had followed its procedure by moving us to another room.

That may be the hotel's procedure, but following an internal procedure does not undo the experience suffered by the guests.

We lost valuable holiday time, had to move our belongings twice and initially lost the standard of accommodation we had booked. We expected at the very least some acknowledgement of the inconvenience, a genuine apology from management and a meaningful goodwill gesture.

Instead, no compensation was offered.

We found the management response particularly disappointing because there appeared to be very little recognition of the impact this experience had on us as guests. We were left with the impression that once we had been moved to another room, the hotel considered the matter closed.

For us, it wasn't.

A 4-star hotel should be judged not only by its facilities and appearance but also by how it treats guests when something goes wrong. Unfortunately, our experience in this respect fell well below what we expected from Meliá.

We chose this hotel expecting a high standard of accommodation and service. Instead, our holiday began with three cockroaches, two room moves, lost holiday time and a management response that left us feeling that our experience simply wasn't important.

I have photographic evidence of the cockroach and have raised the matter formally with the hotel.

Potential guests should be aware of our experience before booking. Perhaps our experience was an isolated incident, but based on what happened to us and, particularly, how the situation was handled afterwards, we would not consider this to be the 4-star experience we expected and would not choose to stay here again.

Think carefully before booking if you expect a hotel that will go the extra mile when something goes wrong.

Our room had a lovely sea view and overlooking the pool, large room, enclosed balcony. Cleaned daily and towels changed. Didn’t use the pool as we prefer the beach, been nice if sunbeds had discount if you were staying at the hotel. Breakfast buffet was good mostly found the pancakes dry though and i do like them occasionally!, Bacon not as good as other hotels too. Staff good, evening entertainment most night good few not as good ! Location is good near the lift/steps for the town, promenade is opposite for walking miles too. Restaurants on your doorsteps too is you want a change.

Beautiful hotel in a beach side location . Breakfast buffet was varied and good quality . We enjoyed the ambience in the rooftop bar on an evening. All of the staff were attentive and professional . We used the hotel gym and it was fine. The reception staff were very friendly and helpful . Sea view room was excellent in terms of a comfortable bed , thank you to the housekeeping staff who kept the place spotless . There is night time entertainment - we enjoyed the traditional flamenco night very much! Thanks to all the staff for making our first visit to Torremolinos so enjoyable! Would love to come back. Salut!!