Iberostar Selection Sábila — Hotel in Adeje

I’m incredibly disappointed to be writing this review, especially given the reputation Iberostar has — a brand my family has trusted, with my brother having stayed at four Iberostar properties and consistently praising the quality. Unfortunately, my experience at Iberostar Selection Sábila on our final night was not only poor, but unnecessarily stressful and mishandled in a way that reflects serious issues in staff training and guest care.

At around 18:00, I reported a leaking toilet and foul smell in our room. I was told maintenance would arrive within 20 minutes — but over an hour passed with no sign of help. I called again and was met with dismissiveness, as though my concern was a nuisance. I went out to dinner expecting the issue would be handled in our absence, but when we returned, nothing had been done. The room remained unclean, the smell worse, and the toilet still leaking.

I returned to reception, and rather than fixing the room or offering a comparable alternative, we were moved into an accessible room — a clear downgrade from the double room we had paid for. We accepted it out of exhaustion and the lack of options being offered.

Later that night, at around 12:00am, I tried again to resolve the situation — and that’s when things escalated unacceptably. I spoke to the only staff member on duty, who identified himself as the only person managing the entire hotel at the time. He quickly became aggressive, dismissive, and hostile. He told me I was “stressing him out” because he had other things to deal with, and even went so far as to say that cockroaches were normal in Tenerife and that I should just accept it. This is not an acceptable response in any standard of hospitality, let alone a 4-star hotel.

He then attempted to move us to another accessible room, stating that this was the only category available to us — again, not what we had paid for. His tone became increasingly confrontational, at one point screaming at me and exhibiting aggressive behavior that left me shocked and deeply uncomfortable. After over an hour of trying to find a solution, we gave up and remained in the original accessible room.

In the morning, I asked to speak to the manager. Her response was more composed, and she offered to move us to a new room. But by that point, our flight was only a few hours away, and we had spent the night sleepless, distressed, and deeply unsatisfied. The gesture, while appreciated, came too late to rectify the situation or undo the exhaustion and emotional strain caused by the previous night’s events.

I genuinely expected more from Iberostar — and had chosen this hotel in part because of strong recommendations from my brother, who has had great experiences with the brand. But this experience was anything but “premium.” Between the unresolved maintenance, the downgraded room, the cockroach, and the hostile treatment from staff, our last night was ruined.

I sincerely hope Iberostar addresses these issues — particularly the urgent need for training in respectful, solution-focused customer service, and the importance of delivering on the quality promised. No guest should be treated the way we were, especially not in a hotel of this caliber.

Update following hotel’s response: The hotel later tried to suggest that the accessible room was within the same category as what we paid for — a claim I strongly dispute, especially given its condition. At no point were we told that a “Standard Double Room” could be an accessible room by default, and this lack of transparency is unacceptable.

I responded to the hotel with these points in detail, but their final message simply thanked me for my feedback and closed the conversation, offering no meaningful resolution or accountability.

While the hotel may offer luxury to some, the way they handle complaints and treat guests in distress is deeply disappointing. My review stands, and I urge others to be cautious — particularly if booking a standard room, as you may not get...

Bittersweet experience that I will try to go through here. Starting at the start of our time there. The service, that is by far the best of our experience. From check-in to check-out everyone is friendly, polite and very attentive. Every person in the hotel at all times wished you good morning, a good day... And tried to make sure you were comfortable there, cleaning service, bartender, chefs... The location, you need to know where you are going. Costa Adeje is not a relax place, is a town catered to the tourist that is coming to drink, sunbathe, party and eat in the most touristy restaurants that can exist. This was clearly a mistake from our side as we wanted to relax and enjoy our time at the coast. However, if you understand that you are coming for that, Iberostar selection sabila is a great place. Located 5 minutes walking from the beach and relatively easy access by car. Very close to restaurants, beach bars... Definitely a very good location in the area. Breakfast, here is where the bittersweet experience starts, and with bitter I will start on the coffee. It is unbelievable that a 5 star hotel has such a bad coffee. I was very disappointed with it. The buffet in itself, has everything but it feels as if everything is mass produced. There are some nice touches like grilled veggies, fresh omelette, poached eggs... but being in such a big hotel, everything is produced, and you feel it, even the fruit was quite tasteless and felt canned. You have some healthy options, but it was striking that from the cereal bar, except the oatmeal, everything was sugary. In general, it felt catered for British tourist (it's target population) with not a lot of care for local products. It was really a pity because it was good, just not what you expect from a 5 star hotel. The amenities, the swimming pool is a relaxing swimming pool, no place to swim and low depth. But in general it is decent size and not very busy. The bar is nice and you have plenty of options to order. the gym was quite small, a very standard hotel gym. The towel service was very nice and worked really good. But again I need to highlight a very negative aspect, the seats around the swimming pool. It made the whole relaxing and spending the day at the hotel experience stressing and very bad. From very early in the morning (around 8) people went down to 'book' their seats at the swimming pool. Which is fine if they want to, what is not fine is that after having breakfast, relaxing at our room, we went down to the swimming pool to read and sunbath a bit, and our surprise was, not only that all the seats were busy, but the fact that from all of the busy seats, counting together the people at the swimming pool + the seats with people laying, probably occupancy was on the 50-60%. No control was made over the empty spots, after waiting and eventually being able to take 2 seats that were left free, I saw seats next to us, with towels on them that were not used for over 2 hours... When someone came to sit on them. If real control would be made on that, everyone, throughout the day, that would want to take a seat would be able to, however, the fact no control is done promotes people to 'book' seats as otherwise they know they will not have a spot free because everyone is doing it. Sleep, unfortunately, as said above... This is catered for a certain tourist. There is a live show in the hotel and even worst, a big live show at the hotel in front. It lasts until 11 with loud music afterwards at least during the weekend. So if you are planning to read and sleep early, this is not an option. Really a pity.

Conclusion, evaluate what do you want in your holidays, and if you know Costa Adeje is for you, then this hotel will be an amazing option. Unfortunately, it was not exactly for us. Still, kudos to all personnel, everyone...

It’s not a bad hotel but it’s definitely not 5 star. If it was advertised as 4 star with price adjusted to that rating, I’d give it maybe 4 stars in my review. I think they’re lacking staff, you can see the same people doing multiple jobs, running around and trying to save the day. It’s usually chaos by the bar, reception, buffet and during cleaning.

The food is not bad but unfortunately many things are frozen which is disappointment. I tried guacamole few times and each time I found a lump of frozen avocado inside. Food on the counter is usually dry or cold. Ingredients and allergens are not presented anywhere which makes it difficult for those with allergies. Even description of the food very often doesn’t match to what it is on the counter.

Policies in the hotel are not presented in a clear way. I didn’t know what was complimentary and what I had to pay for separately. In most 4-5 star hotels I’ve been to, first minibar supply was complimentary and I was charged only for the refresh. It’s not the case in Sabila, we were charged straight away for a bottle of coke. It’s not about the money, just about lack of clearly described rules. I still don’t know how to use spa… I thought sauna and jacuzzi were free to use but somebody told me they’re not. Would be nice to have terms and conditions in the app or simply on a board in front of facilities.

The staff is lacking attention to details as it’d be expected in 5 star hotel (hence again it’s more like 4 star). One of the guests had an accident by our room, we were told if be cleaned up thoroughly which it wasn’t. On the next day we wiped the door and floor ourselves (it was after the room was cleaned so the staff had a chance to do it themselves). Bathrooms in the rooms are not as private as they should be. Sliding door is almost transparent and leaves a gap to see and hear through.

The restaurant is too small for the amount of guests, we struggled many times to find a free table. Very often there were things missing like teaspoons or sugar. The staff was providing them when asked however again in 5 star hotel I’d expect those details to be noticed before allowing guests to sit at the table.

Check in process was quite long. We had to wait 30 minutes to be served. Good thing was a welcome drink while waiting.

The pool is not adjusted to swim lengths due to its shape, it looks nice but only if you want to dip your feet, walk through it or sit at the edge. There are not enough toilets by the pool and they’re always dirty or malfunctioning. malfuncioning expect something more luxurious.

The location seems to be not bad but there is a sports bar just below where people sell and smoke cannabis. The pool area stinks all day. I understand the staff can’t do anything about it, but at the same time I can’t rate it more for that reason.

The hotel is quite noisy. I understand it’s not up to staff when the guests want to have a party, but the management could at least make sure the door close quietly and the chairs have soft pads installed. Every night we were woken up by the room shaking when the next room door was slammed or somebody moved a chair above us.

Positives: We never had problems with the loungers. There was always something available. They’re also quite comfortable Excellent view to La Gomera and sunset from the pool area Most of the staff are very nice You’ve got everything you need, shop downstairs provides clothes, sunscreen etc Aqua and jewellery classes are brilliant, they should be run more often

Unfortunately I wouldn’t come back unless they change the rating to 4 star and...