SBH Maxorata Resort

Arriving at the SBH Maxorata was effortless, checking in was swift and easy. I arrived at Midday so my room was not available till the earliest of 2pm. I expected this, and was given my AI band, so I could have food and a drink at the bar outside while I waited.

The atmosphere was good, clearly a very big place and was lively around one of the pools near the first pool bar. But you could clearly see people were having a good time. First thing I did notice was cues consistently at the bar, and this progressed throughout the 4 night break, I’ll touch more on this later.

Rooms: Back to reception at 2pm, given room and instructions on how to get there. The room I booked was a double sea view, however I believe I was given a much larger room than this. Located on ground floor, with a garden view, which actually was beautiful, but limited see view. Rooms were huge, big double twin beds in bedroom, large shower, large dining/lounge area and large balcony with table and four chairs. Beds were extremely comfy, rooms were clean on arrival. Although on the last 24hrs the rooms did suffer with an ant problem both in the bedroom and the balcony.

Food: Food was good at this hotel, plenty of variety at all meal times, solid breakfast choices loads of different milks, juices, coffee machines, cereals, bacon, eggs, grilled tomatoes, Spanish omelettes, and more. At dinner you could choose the snack bar which served hotdogs, burgers, chips, etc. Or visit the restaurant, again great choice of foods including duck, chicken, beef, rice dishes, stews, pastas, etc. Evening meals were much the same, with a good selection of food. Comfortable seating areas, loads of space, I particularly enjoyed taking my food to the outside seating areas, enjoying the scenery while enjoying my food.

Pool areas: 3 pools with different vibes, one for entertainment and the animation team, who involved everyone, clearly they loved there job, and did finally get me up once. Great selection of music, a good spot for the pool bar, shaded areas and open sunny areas for sunbathing. Pools 2 and 3 seemed more chilled.

Bars: 2 outside bars and two inside, this is what let this hotel down. During the day the bars were always busy, cues were always present with only one member of staff on each bar, for a hotel this size is simply not adequate. The bar staff were friendly, but clearly overwhelmed. The evening got worse, to the point that the cues were so big I left and went back to my room to have a beverage on my balcony, this happened on 3 of my four night stay, and I’m sure would have been a forth, if not packing for the following days flight home.

Hotel State: the hotel is clearly not a 4 star hotel, and if you check locally it has been given a 3 star rating. The entire area needs some refurbishment, many broken tiles in walkways, and a lick of plaster and paint in places are needed. Grounds looked kept, and was nicely laid round the hotel with palms, plants and gave a nice feel to the place. Cleaners were always out cleaning so can’t fault that, and pool areas were always clean and safe. Room was cleaned everyday, fresh towels, and bed made.

Staff: all in all very friendly and hard working, short staffing was clearly visible. But despite previous reviews, I did not find a rude member of staff during my stay, I found them all to be extremely busy, but professional and courteous.

Location: brilliant location for visiting Morro Jable and its town. You can take a walk along the beach or road. About 30 -40 mins steady walk. Long strip on the right hand side with shops, bars and restaurants. Plenty to do and see.

Overall: would I go again? Yes. Would I go all inclusive? Maybe as a family but not solo. Did I relax? Yes.

SBH Maxorata, is a good hotel. Good location on the south of the island, good food, good size rooms, great outdoor areas. Hotel repairs and lack of staffing is the biggest issues in my opinion.

Lovely location and views. The room was okay although the bed was a bit hard and gave me a sore back. Most of the staff are lovely apart from one of the African cleaners who was very rude for no reason which ruined the experience a bit for me. Food was a bit bland and they serve the same stuff everyday which got boring quickly. I thought it a bit overpriced for what it was but decent enough.

This was my first time going away on my own, as my wife was away on a trek, so it was a slightly different kind of holiday for me.

The hotel is in a great location, with fantastic views of the beach and sea. It’s also only around a 10-minute walk into town, and there are lifts providing easy access down towards the beach.

The atmosphere around the hotel was good. My only real disappointment was the infinity pool, as this was one of the main things that sold the hotel to me. I had imagined sitting by the pool looking out to sea, enjoying a relaxing swim with the view. However, this turned out to be the “party pool”, with music, aqua aerobics and activities going on.

That’s just not really my thing, but it’s a minor point. The pool was clearly well used and plenty of people were having a great time — just not my bag!

Instead, I spent my time around the pool near the restaurant, which was much quieter and more relaxing, with plenty of sunbeds. The pool itself was lovely, great to swim in and a good length if you fancy doing a few laps.

The hotel itself is tired in places and could definitely benefit from some basic refurbishment. In my opinion, it doesn’t quite feel like a four-star hotel. A fresh coat of paint would make a big difference, and I would replace the stained carpets on the landings with tiles, which would look better and be easier to keep clean.

The communal areas were absolutely fine. The main restaurant was a good size, as were the Asian and tapas restaurants.

My room was clean, comfortable and a good size, with the partial sea view I had booked. I did have an issue with the air conditioning, which rattled and initially kept me awake. Turning it off made the room too hot. I reported it and the staff did try to repair it, which improved things as long as I kept it running on a lower setting.

I was seldom in the room anyway, so it wasn’t a major problem.

One improvement I would suggest is having a few more English-language TV channels. The only English options I could find were CNN and Sky News, and I generally try to avoid bad news while I’m on holiday! The film channels were all in German.

Alternatively, having smart TVs that allow guests to log into their own Netflix or Amazon accounts would be a great addition. I’ve found this increasingly common in hotels and would happily have watched my own films in the evening.

I paid a good price for the holiday and, to be fair, for what I paid and what I wanted from the trip, it was absolutely fine. Most importantly, I got to relax.

The bars were fine, although the quality of the wine was pretty shocking! The Amstel beer, however, was exactly as expected.

The bars could perhaps benefit from a few more staff during busy periods, as the queues in the evening could get quite long. That said, the staff who were working did an excellent job and worked incredibly hard and quickly to serve everyone.

I found all the staff to be helpful and friendly. I tried to speak Spanish to them whenever I could, which nearly always brought a smile in return. Try a little and you often get a lot back. I certainly didn’t encounter any rude staff during my stay.

Overall, this holiday did exactly what I needed it to do. I relaxed, read my books and came home feeling refreshed.

Would I visit again? Probably not, but only because there is a big world out there and I enjoy travelling to different places. If that weren’t the case, then yes, I would happily return.

One thing to be aware of is that this is one of the hotels further away from the airport. My transfer took around two hours on the way to the hotel because we were dropping other guests off along the way. The return journey took around 90 minutes.

If you’re looking for somewhere with lots of nightlife and a real “party, party, party” atmosphere, other parts of the island would probably suit you better. That isn’t what I was looking for, though, and this area is much quieter.

For me, it was a relaxing break, which was exactly what I wanted.

Happy travels!