Seaside Sandy Beach

We stayed at Seaside Sandy Beach for our honeymoon and honestly had a fantastic time. A few minor niggles here and there, but overall we'd happily give it 5 stars!

First off, the staff were brilliant. We arrived quite late in the evening and Shirley on reception was absolutely lovely, really friendly, welcoming and just gave us a great first impression straight away. We even managed to squeeze in some dinner despite arriving late and being completely underdressed! We'd read a few reviews complaining about the evening dress code (trousers and shirts for men), but despite us turning up in our travelling clothes nobody batted an eyelid. The service was great and we didn't feel uncomfortable at all.

We were there for our honeymoon, we're a same-sex male couple, and I have to say we felt genuinely welcome throughout the stay. There was a slightly funny moment one morning when reception referred to my husband as my wife, but it was an innocent mistake and really not a big deal.

The hotel also made a lovely effort for our honeymoon. We had chocolate-coated strawberries and a candlelit dinner out on the balcony, which was a really nice touch. Florian served us that evening and was absolutely fantastic, as he was throughout the rest of our stay.

Actually, while I'm on the subject of staff, everyone we dealt with was lovely, but three people really stood out. Shirley on reception, Florian in the restaurant and Adrian at the bar. All three were genuinely friendly, welcoming and made us feel that little bit more special. They're a real credit to the hotel and I hope management passes that on to them!

The food was really good too. Plenty of variety, good quality and we never struggled to find something we fancied. There was one evening when we turned up quite late and one of the dishes was cold, but to be fair we were there pretty close to the restaurant closing, so I wouldn't really count that against them.

The hotel itself was generally very clean inside. We'd seen loads of reviews mentioning that the decor was dated, and yeah, I can see why people say that, but we actually quite liked it! It's got a bit of character and atmosphere about it. Not everything needs to be modern and shiny to be nice.

The clientele was a bit of a mix, mostly older guests from what we could see, and not many kids around. That was a plus for us personally as whilst it's not an adults only hotel, it felt like it most of the time! It was a nice, relaxed atmosphere and exactly what we were after.

The pool area was lovely too, and we never really struggled to get a sun lounger. The hotel doesn't allow people to reserve loungers until after 8:45am, which I thought was a pretty sensible rule. Obviously people still headed down to claim their spots as soon as they were allowed to, but it never really caused us any problems.

And the location is brilliant! You're only about a five-minute walk from the beach, so we never felt like we were stuck at the hotel or had to spend every day around the pool. It was really easy to wander down to the beach whenever we fancied, which was another big plus for us.

Now, the gym... probably the one area that could really do with some attention. The equipment was pretty old, some of it wasn't working properly and some of the weights were actually rusting. It could definitely use a bit of investment. That said, it's a holiday hotel and I doubt most people are travelling to Gran Canaria for the gym, so we weren't exactly expecting a state-of-the-art fitness centre. Similarly the jacuzzi's were not available during our stay due to being broken which was slightly disappointing but in the grand scheme of our stay was a minimal inconvenience.

I think that's pretty much everything!

All in all, we had a genuinely lovely honeymoon here. Is the hotel perfect? No, of course not. The gym needs work, the decor might not be to everyone's taste and there are a few little things that could be improved, but none of that really affected how much we enjoyed ourselves.

For us, the biggest thing was how welcome and comfortable we felt, and the staff absolutely nailed that. The little honeymoon extras were lovely, the food was great, the location was fantastic and we came away with some really happy memories.

One last shout-out to Shirley, Florian and Adrian. You three really did make a difference to our holiday, so thank you!

We had such an amazing stay at Sandy Beach Hotel! The staff were lovely and so friendly, and the customer service was excellent. We had a room on a high floor with a beautiful sea view, which was absolutely stunning. The food was also really tasty and we enjoyed every part of our stay. We’ve stayed in many hotels before, but Sandy Beach is definitely one of the best we’ve experienced. We also had so much fun at the Tourifest, the party was amazing and such a great atmosphere! It was definitely one of the highlights of our stay.We will definitely be coming back next year! Thank you to all the staff for making our stay so enjoyable. We can’t wait to come back! ❤️

So the target clientelle for this hotel and therefore the majority are German guests aged 50-75yrs and my guess is that it suits them very well. After all, it is a German hotel chain. The are some very good points - reception and cleaning staff were excellent. The waiters/waitresses worked hard. The hotel is clean and our room had some lovely touches upon our arrival late evening - complimentary water, fruit, wine and a snack. Beds were comfortable and generally the aircon worked well. Though there are some limited facilities for children, I dont think this would be described as a family hotel. The outdoor areas are relatively small given the size of the hotel. The pool is quite small but was big enough for the use it got. The breakfast food was good. And most of the time, the Wifi worked.

We have been twice. A year ago, the sun terraces on floors 10 and 11 ( including the jacuzzi) were closed for building work. A year later no change. Still closed!

We go bed and breakfast. There is a great supermarket just outside the back door and plenty of evening food and entertainment at the beach and nearby Yumbo Centre. One serious flaw with the hotel, compared to other 4 star hotels we have been to in the Canaries was the entertainment. There is no room for outdoor entertainment or a stage. Consequently, you have to go to the indoor salon bar which on the few times we visisted was souless with no atmosphere. It felt like a posh village hall. One serving staff member there was not polite but the male staff that served me were fine. I think if I was all inclusive, I would have been very dissappointed.

I agree with the earlier comments about the pool bar. Sometimes long queues and there is limited seating. Some staff were great, some may benefit from customer care retraining. Some of the very low bucket seats are so low, some guests needed help getting up, and those seats take up a lot of room. I understand management read these reviews which is to their credit. So one easy thing to change- when the entertainment lad is doing his daily aqua aerobics with his own PA, turn off the PA in the pool bar next to him. The two competing sounded a right mess.