Anantara Villa Padierna Palace Benahavís Marbella Resort — Hotel in Benahavís

Great people, stil unfortunately just not good enough for a five star

Summary: people hotel, service, location, bed/bath very good. Comfort and food: at its best mediocre. Sound-isolation: bad. Trouble shooting: varying. We stayed 14 days as we booked prior. We should have left early. For a hotel that asks rates from 340 up to 560 euro/night for a junior suite this was just not good enough.

In more detail:

The good things: Breakfast: food, people hotel, the service. Desk and concierges. Bed, bath etc. + cleaning. People+service Party New Year's Eve: people hotel, service, music and surrounding (atmosphere). Christmas Eve: atmosphere, people hotel and service. Location. Bar (people and service) and food bar. Beach club: people, service and food. The arrival: The hotel created a great Tapas table in our suite as asked by me prior in order to surprise my wife. The fact that I nearly forgot, arriving really tired after a long journey from the Netherlands to Spain, was excellently and very diplomatic handled without my wife noticing there was a surprise coming up. Excellent!

The not so good things: problem-solving takes a long time. Two weeks there were problems with the TV. It would just stop more than once in an evening, and of course always in the middle of exciting parts of a movie. So, you can't relax. It creates irritation, a not so good atmosphere. The first week we were told we were the only ones with this problem. Only the second week, something was done. And I was told the day we left that this issue was long known.

not good sound isolation. Our room was in the same building as the ballroom for events. The sound when a party was going prevents relaxing, let alone sleep. The hotel gave us another room for the night of the 31th (also the most expensive night to stay). However, in the afternoon we couldn't relax in our room due to the strong (bas)sounds, even after phoning three times, and in the middle of the night we had to change rooms.

very limited room service. Salad, burger, fries, bolognese, soup and such. No decent food. Also the quality is not very good. We didnt eat most of it and stopped ordering.

in general the kitchen of the hotel as we experienced it was not impressive. The food on Christmas Eve was at its best mediocre. Same for the food at New Years Eve (345 euro pp). The Japanese restaurant was OK, not exciting and therefore, relative to other Japanese restaurants we know, just too expensive. In the Beach club and in the Bar the food was excellent.

All in all: we booked 14 days in order to relax in comfort with good service and food, which in retrospect was too long. It was just not worth the money we payed.

The hotel did offer us a discount of 15% (of which 10% was used in the final calculation we saw later) and one night for free. One of the persons from the hotel told me that she thought this was more than enough to live up to our discomfort. Which illustrates that one just doesn't understand why you are willing to pay so much money in the first place. I really would have rather paid the whole bill without discounts etc if the issues and the related talks and negative energy not would have been there. This hotel was a huge disappointment for us, in spite of the fantastic people and their service. They are...

So after email communications with the hotel directly (always better?) a grande suite was booked with wrap around terrace as outside space was the priority which came with the promise of a better view… we hoped of the surrounding golf course. It was after all a special birthday holiday. |On arrival late the first evening hotel was full (wedding in full swing) but we’d been upgraded! A 2 floor 1 bedroom villa how promising… uhm … with no terrace looking at a wall downstairs and a carpark from first floor. It also logistically didn’t work for 3. |Back next morning to negotiate with reception. Ultimately after several conversations we were given a very lovely spacious 2 bedroom suite … with a small terrace overlooking the road. What we’d booked wasn’t available (but they’d accepted the booking!) and what we’d got was an upgrade so that was that. A view was available in next category but that would be even more money. Moral of story don’t over invest in your room or take the hotels word for it even when booking direct .. with hindsight we would have been just as happy in our normal junior suite and saved a lot(!) of money. We feel very aggrieved with how this was handled and resolved … sharp practise on the hotels part. |The hotel is like 2 very different worlds. When there isn’t a wedding it’s very calm and sedate.However it is wedding venue central … 2 during the week we were there … multi day affairs with another one rocking up as we left. In wedding mode the hotel becomes very busy, loud, drinking from early morning around the pool, service to non wedding guests is definitely compromised (not just room allocation!) and the wedding disco can be enjoyed by all at dinner as well as the hotel background music! Great if you are part of the celebrations less so if you are a listening observer.|Restaurants staff are lovely, very friendly and I would say overstretched. Service is definitely not 5 star. |We had difficulty with our room key daily and it was quite a hike back to reception … sometimes through wedding guests at the wedding service … we did feel a bit under dressed and I think they thought our passing presence was a bit odd too. |WiFi was also poor in our beautiful spacious room. |The hotel is near nothing .. with a minimum taxi fare €50 round trip to other restaurants. Hence hotel food is priced accordingly … more than 5* expensive .. eg açai bowl at pool €25 … eye watering. |The spa is a fab add on facility at the end of each day. |We enjoyed the golf another researched reason for selecting the hotel as the birthday boy was a golfer. |Our rate included extras which staff seemed unaware of … a signature 3course meal but which restaurant? … massages .. which only applied only to certain ones only identified afterwards … free soft drinks but you needed to ask for them. And guess what they were all on the first draft of the bill! .. very poor attention to detail. |In summary the hotel is very beautiful .. setting is absolutely stunning, luxurious rooms … but the main priority is on weddings. It fails significantly on providing effortless 5* service and in understanding guest...

True Luxury. The property is simply amazing, not only a hotel but an estate with beautiful gardens, artwork, and fresh flowers everywhere. Everything is so well executed and managed, from rooms, to food, to services and most importantly the staff and people. Right from arrival we were greeted, quick check in, welcome drink + sweet and escorted to the room which was the first great surprise. Classic style design with beautiful decor that is so well executed, beyond comfortable bedding, excellent amenities from premium niche author perfume brand. The SPA - everything spot on, I cannot add or take away anything, proper dry sauna and a cold plunge, but then you also have several steam baths, salt sauna and medium temperature rooms, so that means there is something for every taste, I know me and my wife we like different temperatures, and here you have it all. Most importantly my skin did not smell of chlorine after, despite being several hours , and believe me you cannot say that about many spas no matter the level. The chill out room, again, beautiful fresh flowers that fill the room with real aroma! The breakfast , everything delicious, can really notice the quality ingredients that are served, plenty of variety and choices both hot and cold as well as fruits and sweets, also have option to order from menu and be served. Last but not least, the service - everyone, and I mean everyone we interacted with was so pleasant and warming. I want to steal a phrase from another very famous luxury hotel chain which is "ladies and gentleman serving ladies and gentlemen" , and that is how I felt while being there. We had many interactions with Lucia, Carlotta and Juan from guest relations as well as Jose Diaz from concierge (and many more that I wish I could remember to name, for example the head gardener in charge of flowers and many more) - all very nice, calm, pleasant and extremely servicial. We also had the privilege to mee the General Manager Jorge and it quickly became obvious why this place is run so well - the management sets the tone of care and hospitality for rest of the staff in the hotel, and I could sense how Jorge sets the right "aura" for rest of the team. What more to say, looking forward for another stay...