Marinas de Nerja Beach & Spa Aparthotel — Hotel in Nerja

Stayed here as a family of 5, 3 teenage children for a week at the end of August. This was our second time here as we stayed here last year as well which is a first for me to return to the same place twice. I was a bit sceptical about this but it turned out even better than before. Not that there was much room for improvement but there was some really nice changes. The paper cups from last year were replaced by proper glasses in the evening in the main bar and a much better quality tumbler at the pool bar. The little beach bar is now open all day for drinks and snacks and is included in all inclusive. The main selling points of this hotel for us are the staff are brilliant from reception, bar, restaurant, cleaners, and even the grounds men, always polite and eager to please. Check in is very efficient. the hotel is spotless with cleaning on going all day in all the areas, they work so hard, and the cleaning ladies for the rooms are brilliant, even found my husbands glasses which we thought he lost on the beach. the food is wonderful with loads of choice for breakfast lunch and dinner, most of it cooked fresh in front of you, I’m not a fan of all inclusive buffets but really worth it here entertainment in the evening is ok but mainly Spanish based as the hotel caters for mostly Spanish visitors. no need to bring beach towels as receive a card from reception on check in which you give to the lifeguard to get your towel. Towels can be changed twice a week. rooms are spacious, we had a two bedroom apartment on the fifth floor overlooking the beach and the carpark and some houses up on the hills. Were on the other side last year 2nd floor where there is also a nice view of the mountains behind. Almost all rooms apart from ground floor I think would have some sort of sea view. A little dated but spotless and perfectly adequate which suited us perfectly. If you want a quiet room don’t ask for a pool view as that’s where all the entertainment goes on at night though by 12 o’clock it’s fairly quiet anyway. table service for drinks at lunchtime and dinner. the location is perfect for us just far enough but not too far from Nerja, nice stroll in along the beach. There’s a little place half way along the way alboran charters where you can hire a self drive boat without a licence for €270 for half a day. It’s a lovely experience to go along the coast and see things from a different angle, we spotted some dolphins the day we went out beachfront location is magical although pebbly but you can get sea shoes for those with more sensitive feet. Lifeguard on duty, gets deep pretty quickly. Sea is lovely and clear and it’s a lovely quiet beach. The fishermen are there during the night and it’s lovely just to go out and watch them. didn’t see any issue with sunbeds, even at 9.30 we had no issue getting 5 together. close enough to Frigliana, a beautiful little village up in the mountains about 8km away. Hotel reception can call you a taxi, costs about €16 and I think there is also a bus all in all a wonderful relaxing stay and thank you to all the staff and management at Ona Marina, hope we get to make a third trip there...

A Mixed Bag

First impressions were good. On arrival at the Hotel the entrance was nice and bright. The views of the beach from the rear and the surrounding hills from the front were impressive. We paid for 6 of us to stay for 4 nights on an all inclusive basis. It was quite costly (expected considering it included Christmas dinner) so I was very annoyed and disappointed when the grump behind the front desk outlined the "extras"........which I haven't come across in a hotel for years. First the key for the wall safe was €2 a day. An iron incurred a €10 deposit and beach towels incurred deposits too. This pill was all the harder to swallow considering it was given to us about 30 seconds after we'd paid over €2300.

Our room was disappointing. A welcome guest of a large dead roach put my wife on the edge. She absolutely hates crawlies so cue me on a insect hunt that would have put Sir David Attenborough to shame.

I'm very security conscious and the fact that the patio door didn't lock as the mechanism was so heavily rusted annoyed me. I would have insisted on a new room only for the fact that we were on the first floor.

The master bedroom was very cramped. The area between the end of the twin beds and the wall was no more than a foot. Impossible to walk and had to be shuffled. The chest of drawers in the wardrobe were made absolutely obsolete due to the bedside locker which stopped the wardrobe door from opening. There was NOWHERE else to put the bedside locker. The two single beds pushed together were not at the same level. A huge pain in the bum!

The bathroom was quite dated. The shower was run off the mixer tap (last seen in the 80's) however the pressure was fantastic. I had a great few showers but so too did every wall and surface in the room because of the spray. I've honestly used power hoses with less pressure.

The hotel did manage to turn a frown upside down once we got to the restaurant. The buffets for breakfast lunch and dinner were brilliant. The selections of food was impressive and made sure that even the pickiest of eaters left with a full and satisfied belly.

The bar was well staffed and the all inclusive option meant plenty of selection however bottled beers or top shelf options incurred a supplement.

The pool area was clean and to a good standard. There were plenty of sun loungers but thankfully the time of year meant no fighting over them.

The entire hotel and pool area is covered by fantastic quality high speed WiFi which allowed for uploads and streaming aplenty.

I didn't hate the Hotel, the bedroom really let the rest of the Hotel down. Charging deposits for items such a poor quality irons and basic hotel amenities like a safe was quite frankly offensive. I honestly wasn't going to travel all the way to Spain to steal a 5 year old iron. Honestly. I wouldn't say that I'd never go back but without a facelift or upgrade programme I'd certainly give the competition a...

Just back from a lovely week here, all-inclusive with the wife and kids (4 & 9). Overall we had a really great time, and if you’re considering booking, here are some things that might help you decide:||The pool area: The pool itself is big and great fun for the kids. It’s not heated, so probably a little chilly off-season, but we didn’t mind in the sunshine. The only downside was the floor/tiles around the pool and bar area - it was absolutely filthy! By the end of the day it was close to disgusting. They hose it down each morning, but it really needs a proper weekly scrub to keep it fresh. If they improved this, it would honestly make a huge difference.||Food: Fantastic! Varied, plentiful, and really excellent fish dishes. We were always able to find something we all enjoyed.||Drinks: All Inclusive drinks were a bit hit-and-miss. Beer option was Amstel only (not my favorite) and the cocktails were very sweet with sugary syrups. On the plus side, plenty of top shelf spirits with mixers like Coke and Sprite, which worked well.||Kids entertainment: The kids’ club and entertainment were good, though the focus seemed more on adults playing games around the pool (why adults want to play games around the pool is a mystery to me but different strokes and all that!). Our little lad would have loved to join in , but they kept it adults-only, which was disappointing. That said, the foam party on Saturday was brilliant — the kids absolutely loved it.||Staff: Most of the staff were really friendly and helpful, which made a big difference. There was one exception - blonde lady with heavy rimmed glasses at the bar who came across quite rude on a few occasions, clearly hates her job - but happily she wasn’t representative of the team as a whole.||Rooms: Exactly as expected, simple but spotlessly clean — but the noise from the AC was insane and we had to turn it off at night to get some sleep which wasnt ideal. ||Would we go back? Yes, but only if they give that pool/bar area the extra TLC it...