SBH Royal Monica

Location is amazing, close to the sea, and only cheap taxi to playa blanca. Great snorkeling on the private beach. The swimming at the pool is a decent size and plenty if beds, entertainment team work hard to get people involved in games throughout the day and all we're approachable and uplifting. The food generally was pretty good but lunch at the pool could have more variety but the option to go to the main restaurant is there. Experience with the staff was mixed, entertainment team were all excellent and there were a couple of decent waiters. We stayed all inclusive the beer was fine (Amstel) but only one option, the wine was cheap, Sangria was nice, cocktails low alcohol and cheap. This could be improved greatly and the bar stopping for all inclusive at 2300 could be later.

We arrived at Royal Monica quite late, at around 11pm. The hotel had kindly left some food available for us, which was much appreciated after travelling. It was a cold buffet with a limited selection, which was completely understandable at that time of night, but it was perfectly fine and a thoughtful touch.

The check-in process was quick and easy. Our room was exactly what I would expect from a three-star hotel. Like many hotel rooms abroad, it was a fairly simple rectangular room with beds and a bathroom. Was I expecting anything more luxurious? No. Was it clean? Yes. Did it comfortably do the job for our week away? Absolutely.

The rooms are cleaned five days a week, which was more than enough for us and helped keep everything tidy throughout the stay.

One area where the hotel could improve is by giving certain parts a little more TLC. A lick of paint here and there would make a noticeable difference, although this did not have any real impact on our holiday.

I would also like to see a fridge provided in the rooms. Even when staying all-inclusive, it is still nice to have a cold bottle of water or a couple of beers available in the room. I had read about the lack of a fridge before travelling, so I took a small portable mini fridge with me. It was light enough to travel with and held around six small cans, so it proved very useful throughout the week.

The following morning, we went down for breakfast and the selection was very good. To be completely honest, I have stayed in five-star hotels where the breakfast offering was much the same. There was plenty to choose from, including cooked breakfast items, cereals, pastries, yoghurt, pancakes, fruit and different breads.

The pancakes are available at breakfast and again from the pool bar during the afternoon, which brings me to one tongue-in-cheek criticism: the enormous bowl of Nutella does my waistline absolutely no favours. Nutella is my biggest weakness when it comes to food, so having a massive bowl of it available for me to help myself to for around four hours a day is definitely not good for me—no matter how delicious it is!

The pool area opens at 10am. There are plenty of sunbeds and the swimming pool is large. The pool bar also opens at 10am, with food available throughout most of the day. During the morning, there are breads, pastries and meats. At lunchtime, burgers, pizzas and chips are available, followed by pancakes and cakes later in the afternoon. Alternatively, you can visit the main restaurant at lunchtime for a much wider selection.

Overall, the food was better than at several other all-inclusive hotels I have stayed in. There was plenty of choice, food was available for most of the day and the quality was generally very good.

As a single parent travelling with my five-year-old daughter, I was really happy with the hotel. The kids’ club is open from 11am until 1pm and again from 3pm until 5pm. It was an absolute lifesaver. My daughter really enjoyed it, which gave me up to four hours each day to relax and enjoy some time by the pool.

This is a great hotel to visit with young children, mainly because the kids’ club is so good. It gives children something enjoyable to do while also allowing parents some proper time to relax.

All the staff were great throughout our stay, and they were especially good with the children. They were friendly, welcoming and always made an effort to speak to my daughter and make her feel comfortable.

The animation team also worked extremely hard throughout the day, providing plenty of activities for adults. These included aqua boxing, aqua dance, sangria making, dance lessons and several other activities.

Of the six nights when we were able to watch the evening entertainment, four nights were organised in-house and two featured outside acts. The in-house entertainment included things such as bingo, music quizzes and family games.

Personally, quizzes and similar games are not really my thing, but that is purely down to personal choice. We did enjoy the two outsourced shows, which featured an acrobatics act and a magic act. I generally prefer singers, dancers and visiting performers, so I would have liked to see a little more entertainment of that type.

However, I certainly would not let the evening entertainment stop me from booking the hotel again. A holiday is still much more about the people you are with and what you do during the other 90% of the day. The daytime facilities, kids’ club, pool, food and location more than made up for the entertainment not always being completely to my taste.

The all-inclusive drinks were absolutely fine. The lager tasted like lager and certainly did the job. It did not taste watered down, which is always a bonus. There was also a selection of basic cocktails, spirits, long drinks and soft drinks. Soft drinks were self-service, and there were also tea and coffee machines available.

Food was available from breakfast at 7:30am right through until around 9:30pm, so there was very little chance of going hungry.

There is also a shop on site which is open from 9am until 1pm and then again from 5pm until 9pm. It sells bottled water, food, other drinks, clothing, suncream, toys and other useful holiday essentials. Alternatively, there is a small basic supermarket around a 15-minute walk down the road.

The hotel also has a gym and spa, but I did not use either of them during our stay, so I cannot fairly comment on their quality or facilities.

One of the most impressive things about this hotel is the private beach areas. They are beautiful, peaceful spaces where you can sunbathe with more privacy while looking out over the sea. There is also direct access to the sea, which makes the area feel even more special.

The sea around the hotel is also very good for snorkelling, with plenty of fish to see beneath the water. Outside the hotel, you can explore the rocks looking for crabs, and there are also places where people can go fishing. These small activities are particularly enjoyable when travelling with children and provide something different to do away from the pool.

Playa Blanca is also easy and cheap to reach. The bus costs just €1.40, with the bus stop around a 10-minute walk from the hotel. Flamingo Beach costs the same amount to reach by bus, or you can walk there directly along the seafront from the hotel in around 20 to 25 minutes.

It is also worth mentioning that the hotel attracts guests from all over Europe, so do not arrive expecting everyone to be English. At the beginning of our stay, the hotel seemed to be dominated by French guests, with English, German, Italian and Polish guests also staying there, along with visitors from many other countries.

However, the mix changed noticeably as the week went on, with an obvious increase in both English and German guests arriving later in our stay. We stayed from Monday to Monday, and by Friday I was hearing English spoken more than any other language. The mix of nationalities may therefore depend heavily on the time of year, arrival days and the different school holiday dates across Europe.

Did this affect our holiday? Absolutely not. As you would expect in a tourist hotel, the staff all speak English, and English is still commonly used as the neutral language between guests and staff. We had no communication problems at all.

One significant negative, however, is for football and sports fans. If you visit while the football season is underway, you are unlikely to be able to watch the matches at the hotel. Luckily, I visited after the World Cup had finished and before the new football season started, so there was no sport that I particularly needed to watch anyway. However, this is worth knowing before booking if watching live football is an important part of your holiday.

Overall, I would happily recommend Royal Monica based on our stay. It is not a luxury five-star resort, but it does not claim to be. For a three-star all-inclusive hotel, it offers clean accommodation, good food, a large pool area, excellent facilities for children, friendly staff, useful on-site amenities, affordable transport links and beautiful sea views.

A little more maintenance, a fridge in the rooms and a wider range of evening entertainment would improve it further, but none of these issues would prevent me from staying here again.