Sunset Beach Club — Hotel in Benalmádena

I suppose the biggest question I'd ask myself after a hotel stay is: Would I stay here again? Unfortunately, in this case... It's a no.

It's a frustrating one... Because there are elements of excellent marred by things that were awful. I have given four stars because the hotel made every effort to sort things for us.

Hotel itself - Rooms were small. On average smaller than we'd have expected. Bathroom in particular was tiny. Everything was clean though, in fact... The cleaners were brilliant throughout the stay. The rooms were well kitted out. The kitchen was small but functional. Included two hobs. Plenty of cupboard space. An oven and a full size under the counter fridge which was a godsend! Mop, brush, dustpan, clothes airer, iron and ironing board, pots, pans, utensils, plates, bowls and just about anything you're likely to need. The layout was a small bedroom containing two single beds, separated by two sliding wooden slatted doors from the lounge area. The lounge has a very large sofa which pulls apart very easily to become a king size (when together) or comes completely apart to give you another 2 single beds. I'm 6'3" and 20 stone and honestly, it was plenty big and sturdy enough for me. I also had genuinely good sleep on it. Very comfortable. Can't comment much on the actual beds however, but I'm told they were good also.

We had issues with a slow draining shower on day one. A call to reception and this was fixed within the hour. Very good.

The hotel had a gym, hair salon, nail parlour, souvenir shop and a surprisingly well stocked (if expensive) mini supermarket covering essentials from suncream to drinks, bread, frozen and chilled foods, pool toys etc etc. Very convenient... But there's also a Dia supermarket directly opposite and a Mercadona about 4-5 mins drive away. You could comfortably self-cater here if you wanted to.

Some of the bad points.

Carparking. It's a nightmare everywhere in general. But if you choose to use the hotels parking which is great to be fair... It's €18 per day! Which is a bit steep but almost essential if you've got a hire car. You cannot book this in advance and can only secure it on arrival IF there is availability. Trying to park without it is an absolute nightmate. So it's a need.

Lifts. 3 small elevators for a hotel this size is plain daft. They're always crammed and not the biggest or fastest. There were a few occasions where one or two of them were out of order too... But this was quickly rectified in fairness. But not fit for purpose.

Entertainment. The kids entertainments were lacking compared to other hotels we've stayed in. And the main shows didn't start until 2200... Bit late in my opinion... Especially if you plan to get up early-ish and make the most of your days in Spain.

Pool area. Yeah, the sunbed warriors are out in force. They're actually queuing down there at 0700 in their droves. Absolute madness. But expecting to just go down to the pool and casually find a couple of beds is a non-starter. On occasions, EVERY SINGLE lounger was claimed with towels of bags... Yet most of them wernt actually being used. There must be 400+ loungers out there and only half that in humans!! Yet the beds were claimed. Ridiculously sad people out there. The hotel had tried to combat this and a sunbed supervisor was actually employed to investigate beds that were being unfairly claimed and removing towels etc. But should they have to go to those lengths??

The NOISE. This is awful and the single main reason we wouldn't return. Again, in fairness to the hotel... They actually moved us after 3 nights of complaining. We were being disturbed right up to 1-3 in the morning by the drunkards and then again from 0600 by the gym goers and sunbed warriors. Not to mention feral children running, screaming, stomping and shouting around the corridors all night. Parents nowhere to be seen but likely in the bars. Everywhere is marble/tiles so you can hear heavy walking and people talking at full volume all the way down the corridors. Noise was...

On our initial booking, we requested a high floor (hotel has 14 floors), they gave us the 3rd floor. We requested a quiet room, they gave us a room overlooking where the deliveries are made. We requested a double bed, they gave us a twin. All in all 3 requests and none received. We did complain and got moved to the 6th floor. We booked our holiday for when all the schools had gone back so that they were be a minimum amount of children there (being a family hotel). We expected toddlers. How wrong we were. Full of kids of all ages! The rooms are awful. The bed is basically stuck in a cupboard with no window. If you close the "bedroom doors", then you are in a small room that is claustrophic. If you leave the doors open, then you have the safety light from the step into the bedroom shining in your eyes all night, which is quite bright. Can't win, whatever you do. Bathroom is tiny. You have to basically try not to stand on the toilet when you get out of the shower. In the kitchen, all the sockets are in one place - hidden behind the microwave. Not easy, when you are trying to use the kettle and toaster and have no room to use both at the same time. Location is ok. Top of a hill. Bus stops nearby. Was extremely disappointed by the beach. Not sandy at all. Full of broken shells. Got a few cuts on my feet from it especially trying to get in and out of the sea. One day was enough. Stuck to the pool. The hotel is extremely keen on weddings. Oh yes, a wedding nearly every day that we were there. Not a problem with this but the guests are something else. Extremely noisy on returning to their rooms in the early hours of the morning. Twice, the bell to our room was rung as they went past trying to walk. Another occasion, they actually knocked. The walls to all the rooms are extremely thin and you can hear everything. You can hear them below you, above you and outside the room. Will definitely not be attending this hotel again, no matter how desperate I am for a holiday. Just a note, if you are a book reader, there is a library on the 5th floor. I noticed that people who had left books, that the hotel is very quick at saying they are the property of the Sunset Beach Club Hotel. They are not. They did not purchase them they were donated. Do not feel obliged to return the book if you have not finished reading it. All in all, if you are looking for a quiet, relaxing, restful holiday, then please do not book this hotel as you will not get it. I cannot comment on the food as we went self catering. Plenty of lovely places to eat out especially the Spanish places along the seafront that cater for...

So we only arrived here yesterday and to say we are unimpressed is an understatement. We are already looking at flights to go home early.||We have a 1 bedroom prime sea view apartment l which is so tight you can hardly get the stroller in the bedroom door and we had to rearrange furniture to make space for the few bags we had never mind the musty smell that hit us when entered the room. The rooms are old and dated with some furniture such as a chest of drawers hidden in the storage closet. The bedroom is only separated from the living area with sliding shutters which in my eyes is hardly acceptable as a 1 bedroom apartment.||The bathroom follows an even tighter layout than the bedroom (again with only a sliding shutter as speciation) which is some achievement coupled with no hot water this morning, not exactly what you would expect after paying €1500 for 7 nights. Next is the kitchenette which nearly caused a serious incident with our 2 year old shortly after we arrived. There is no mains switch on the wall for the oven so our son like any 2 year old was pressing the buttons on the over and actually turned it on without us noticing leading to him almost scolding his hands on the hot oven door which is surely not compliant with health and safety given the heat from it.||The WiFi is almost non existent with us constantly moving around to try and find 1 bar of coverage. ||Further to our above experience the noise levels at night time is severe with very little sleep been got before 1pm due to moving furniture and heavy footsteps from the apartment above along with the music a noise from weddings (which seems to be a daily occurrence). I don’t understand how a family advertised hotel caters for this.||The lift service is painful. To say it’s quicker take your toddlers up 14 flights of stairs is no where near exaggerating, this coupled with the slippery and over congested pool area where I saw at least 6 children fall and crack there heads off the ground is extremely concerning and it’s still only May.||Service in the pool bar is slow. We waited close to an hour today for a bowl of nachos. This coupled with an expensive trip to the ice cream stand where we paid €18 for two kids scoops of ice cream and two cold coffees. ||Disappointed and disgusted we wasted our hard earned money on...