Hotel Balcón de Europa — Hotel in Nerja

We returned to Nerja having visited the place a couple of years ago. When we stayed in a hotel a little further away from the centre. We wanted accommodation that was nearer to the sea this time and a stay at the Hotel Balcon de Europa certainly ticks that box! |Our room was a junior sea view suite on the 1st floor. We were delighted with the views of the sea and small beach from the balcony they were simply phenomenal - this vista and the gentle sound of the waves that accompanied it, became the perfect base and soundtrack for our 10 day stay here. The room itself was spacious and immaculate. The bathroom, with a shower over bath, was basic but more than adequate. |Breakfast is served in the 4th floor restaurant from 7.30am. It’s a usual buffet style format - with an array a quality choices. Cereals, Fresh fruit, hot choices, continental meats and pastries, artisan breads ( or simple sandwich bread if that’s not your thing) and a chef providing fresh omelettes at an omelette station. All beautifully presented, plentiful and of a very high quality. Coffee can be brought by the staff or there’s access to a variety from self serve machines. The dining room is large suggesting it can get busy, but if we got there around 8am- before the rush (from 8.30am) as we liked to secure the tables at the front with the spectacular view. |The hotel facilities we used during our stay were the pool area and beach area. The pool area opens at 10am so there’s no awful sunbed towel reservations at sillyo’clock and whilst it’s not a big space (or pool) we never struggled to get beds. The pool requires walking up a good few steps so not appropriate for people who would struggle struggle with that. There’s no refreshment facility in this areas but you can phone down for drinks to be brought up… never saw anyone do this though! |The beach area ( not for exclusive hotel use) is again small and access to free foldable beds/parasols were available (hotel guests only) from 10am again. Plus there are a few pool type beds just off the beach for exclusive hotel guests…. These are popular and there were a few guests who liked a morning sprint to secure the ones they wanted (amusing to watch!)!the beach is serviced by a nice restaurant/ beach cafe here and we had several nice lunches here. Highly recommend the sangria!!! No waiter service to your sunbed but it’s literally 2 minutes from the beach. There are toilets for hotel guests only and a beach shower for everyone. It’s not big but we loved the beach area. |Service and staff at the hotel were efficient and mostly friendly. The stay overall was excellent. |To summarise- Hotel Balcon de Europa is not a flashily instagram- type modern hotel - although there are definitely instagram worthy views dotted about - it’s a classy, clean, efficient nook that does hoteling really well AND it’s literally in the BEST location of the town of Nerja. You step out of the hotel doors onto the Balcon de Europe |You are metres away from bars, shops restaurants a Catholic Church and the sea/beaches. |We will 100% return to Nerja and will 100% stay in this...

My wife and I spent a splendid 14 days at the Hotel Balcon de Europa in Nerja. The Hotel overlooks a small beach area. We had a Junior Suite which was quite large, had a small balcony overlooking the beach and was very clean and comfortable. Some noise from the beach during the day but quiet at night (apart from waves breaking on the nearby rocks). The public areas of the hotel were all clean and well looked after by very friendly and helpful staff, particularly the housekeepers and those in reception and restaurant areas. The food in the restaurant was varied, well presented and of very good quality. Although there was no entertainment actually in the Hotel, there was usually at least one musician, usually a guitarist or violinist, who performed in the town square just outside the Hotel. I have significant mobility problems, although I can walk slowly with the help of sticks, but found it quite easy to get around the Hotel as there are 3 lifts and very few stairs.|The centre of the town is pedestrianised which means a walk of (for me) about 10 minutes pushing our cases from the car park where the minibus from the airport dropped us on arrival, this being as close to the Hotel as it was allowed to park. Unfortunately this started the holiday on the wrong note for us as the driver simply got our bags from the van, put them on the floor and said (pointing down a street) "hotel down there"! |Thank you TUI for your customer support! |This set the tone for our dealings with TUI for the remainder of the holiday. There was no information at all from them on arrival at the hotel and it was the hotel reception staff who told us, after a couple of days, that there was a TUI rep. and where and when we might meet her.|Unfortunately TUI now seem to be obsessed with their mobile app. with very little contact with actual people once we left the aircraft. All the information we would normally expect to receive on arrival was on the app, as was information on our departure. Shame that TUI did not make that clear before we got there. Another minor inconvenience, because of my mobility problems, was that all excursions departed from a bus stop a considerable distance from the hotel which would have involved a walk of about 30 minutes from the hotel (I can only walk quite slowly). When we met the TUI lady to discuss possible excursions, she was helpful in trying to select those that I would not have too much difficulty with. Fortunately, having selected an interesting possibility, we decided to delay booking until we had determined whether or not I could get to the departure point without too much of a problem. We decided it was a bit too far and involved walking up and down hills, which I sometimes find difficult. In the end we spent a very relaxing few days looking around the town and soaking up the sunshine. There are many small shops, bars and restaurants in the town which gets quite busy in the evenings.|All things considered a very enjoyable and relaxing holiday in a lovely Hotel and resort in...

This hotel is in a really good location right in the center of all the action. It has direct access to a lovely little beach in front. The hotel itself is very dated. It really needs an injection of life now. It looks like it was a lovely hotel back in the 90s and nothing was invested since. They have very strict rules around towels, you can only get fresh beach towels between 10-12am , outside these hours it’s like asking them to move heaven and earth- questions have to be asked, reminders have to be given to you about the towel change hours and then managers have to be consulted, and unfortunately it was the same when I asked for our room towels to be replaced - we had used them that afternoon after coming back from the beach and naturally they were all sand and really wet etc so I asked for them to be changed out,,I was met with resistance and a confused look and I was questioned as to whether they had already been changed that day and why did I need more - I’m on holidays I’m paying enough to stay in this hotel for the week , I don’t want to be questioned about getting fresh towels- don’t be stingy just give people whatever towels they want when they want! The vibe in the hotel was basic and stingy. On our last day the housekeeping staff were hammering on the door at 12.01 as well as reception ringing the phone ..I understand check out on time is important as staff are really busy trying to get rooms ready for the next set of guest but give us a few mins grace. They came in on top of us when we opened the door.|The breakfast was plentiful and lots of choices, but basic. Nothing special. We skipped it two days as it was just like eating at home so we went to one of the nice local cafes instead for something freshly cooked and tasty. |If you’re looking for luxury this isn’t the hotel for you. If you want an ok standard basic hotel in a good location...