SBH Monica Beach

We stayed at SBH Monica Beach Resort for one week from 15 August 2026. After reading all the reviews before our holiday, we didn’t arrive with particularly high expectations and, to be honest, we were even a little worried about the reports of theft.

We were pleasantly surprised.

We arrived at around midnight. Check-in was fairly quick and the reception staff were friendly and helpful. They explained everything to us, although for less experienced travellers it can be a little confusing at first because the resort is absolutely huge. We hired a safe for a €20 deposit and also rented a kettle for another €20 deposit, both of which were returned to us at the end of our stay. There was also some food available in the restaurant when we arrived, which was a nice touch after travelling.

We saw two cockroaches near reception when we arrived — and those were the first and last ones we saw during the entire week.

Our room was number 179. It was clean, tidy and smelled fresh when we arrived. The beds were comfortable and the room was cleaned every day. Personally, I didn’t feel the need to walk around on all fours checking every corner for problems, as some reviews seem to suggest! 😄 We were also very conveniently located, with everything we needed within easy reach.

🍽️ Food

I honestly don’t understand some of the very negative reviews about the food.

Yes, breakfast was fairly similar every day, but there was a huge choice and more than enough variety for us. The same applies to lunch and dinner. I am quite a picky eater, but every single day I found something I enjoyed, and the food was genuinely tasty.

The staff in the restaurant work incredibly hard and were always friendly.

If anything, the bigger problem was some guests taking enormous amounts of food and then leaving most of it behind, creating unnecessary mess. That is certainly not the hotel's fault.

🏊 Pools & resort

The pools were clean and warm. We always managed to find sun loungers, even around 9am.

The resort is very large and there were a lot of guests, but surprisingly we never experienced long queues for food or felt overwhelmed by the number of people.

We often saw staff working early in the morning, cleaning and preparing everything for the day. They were always friendly and greeted guests with a smile.

The toilets around the resort were also clean and smelled fresh.

There are plenty of activities during the day and in the evening, and the kids' mini disco was a big hit with our child.

🍹 The bars

The bar staff were friendly and always smiling. The cocktails were tasty, freshly made and, importantly, actually had some alcohol in them! 😂

A special mention to the two bartenders who are both called Sebastian , you guys are the best! You can genuinely see that they enjoy their jobs and they made the experience even better.

🏖️ The beach

The beach is the cherry on top.

Easy access, absolutely beautiful and, in our opinion, one of the nicest beaches in the whole area. It is huge, the water is crystal clear and it was one of our favourite parts of the holiday.

Early in the morning, the beach is especially beautiful. Watching the sunrise over the ocean was absolutely breathtaking and definitely worth getting up early for🌅 At night, the beach is also an amazing place to sit and look at the stars.

🔐 Security & theft

This is the one area where I think it is important to be completely honest.

We saw security staff walking around the resort and personally felt safe throughout our stay. We kept all our valuables in the safe and made sure our room was always secure.

However, we unfortunately witnessed the aftermath of two families who had been robbed from their rooms during our stay.

According to the police who dealt with the incidents, there is a gang operating in the area using so-called master key cards to gain access to hotel rooms and steal from them. What concerned us most was that they apparently knew exactly which rooms to target.

The affected rooms were further away from the main areas of the resort. There are CCTV cameras around the resort, but personally I felt there could be more security cameras and stronger control over access to the rooms.

Thankfully, nothing was stolen from us. We kept our valuables in the safe and didn't leave anything valuable on display. We felt safe overall, but after seeing what happened to other guests, I would strongly recommend doing the same.

This did not ruin our holiday, but it is something future guests should be aware of. Better to take sensible precautions than to regret it later.

🌴 Costa Calma & things to do

There are shops, bars and plenty of places to explore around the area, as well as the beautiful palm grove.

We also rented a car and explored the island, which I highly recommend.

Seven days honestly wasn't enough! 😂

We are normally used to busy, active holidays, but this year we deliberately chose Costa Calma because we wanted somewhere more peaceful.

And honestly, you definitely won't be bored here unless you choose to be.

Your holiday is largely what you make it.

❤️ Would we come back?

We normally never visit the same place twice because there are so many places in the world we want to see.

But we absolutely fell in love with Costa Calma, so maybe this will be the exception.

Don't let the negative reviews put you off. Come with realistic expectations, take sensible precautions with your belongings, and enjoy the resort for what it is.

We had a great week and left with many more positives than negatives.

Thank you to all the hardworking staff at SBH Monica Beach Resort for making our stay enjoyable. ❤️

Please excuse my ramblings but these are a few observations that I made whist there. Firstly the hotel is in quite an elevated position so everywhere you want to get to is either downhill on the way out or uphill coming back. Even the hotel itself is not on the level most of the paths have an incline of some sort even in some cases quite a lot of quite steep steps. Yes Jet2 does say that this resort is not suitable for people with reduced mobility, and they are right, down to the beach especially steep. The only respite being the Africa bar nearly at the bottom. If you do venture out for a walk then to the right there are a few shops and a lovely little restaurant that does wonderful tapas, if you go left there is a spar with a bar behind it but if you walk a little further there is a larger spar which alongside is another bar but with television screens where we watched the grand prix and the Manchester derby. I mentioned tapas but only because we like to have a wander and sample some local culture. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the food in the restaurant, all nationalities catered for with always a varied menu at all meal times, always hot and mainly cooked to order. the pool snack bar is basically snacks for those that can't be bothered to leave their sunbeds, not as much variety but edible non the less. The area around the pool bar is sometimes littered with cups and napkins which have blown off the tables, mainly from lazy guests too idle to clear up after themselves. We have been to resorts where a 1 euro refundable charge is made on the cups, would be a simple solution in my opinion. It can be quite a trek from your room to the restaurant or bar. Towels are left on Sunbeds to reserve but then left unoccupied for most of the day. Several contributors have mentioned theft from the room, get a safe and be sensible and not leave anything out of any value. we hired a safe for 20euro which you get back and also a kettle for the same amount. Both sums are only deposits and not rental charges, you get your money back when you check out. we had a problem with one fan not working and our television saying no signal. We spoke with, not at reception and both problems were swiftly rectified. The pool bar does close for 30 minutes at 6 pm for 30 mins but the Turquesa bar open at 6. In the Turquesa bar you get your drinks in proper glasses which some guests went inside to get and then drank them by the pool, all very well until a glass gets broken and then barefooted guests happen to walk on a bit of glass. There is no Jet2 rep in this hotel. The room we had was a family room which was equipped for self catering at a guess with a microwave and a hob but no crockery or pans of any description. We borrowed a couple of cups from the restaurant and used the coffee sachets that were freely available by all of the drinks machines. Room cleaning was basic, wipe the bathroom, make the beds and mop the floors although some of the maids were quite creative in the way they left the towels on our bed. we hung up our towels, you don't have a fresh towel everyday at home but even then they were changed most days. we were there for a fortnight and never once saw a duster being used. The hotel boasts security guards but we only saw one and that was very infrequently mainly talking to the lifeguard. There is an on site shop but it is overpriced, have a walk to the Spar, 5 minutes away. We only saw 2 cockroaches which is good for the Canaries in my experience. Wi fi reaches most area of the resort and is free. On here some people have mentioned grumpy staff, they must of gone to a different hotel because all the staff we encountered were always cheerful enough. Are you always happy at your job, I doubt it. The bar closes promptly at 23.00 and unlike other hotels we have been to there didn't appear to have the option to buy drinks after time. Yes this a very quiet location, if you want lively then don't book here. Yes of course there is always a group of rowdy folk and there is always those guests who think they do not need to queue, don't let either bother you, we went for a quiet break and for the main that is what we got.