What dates are you going?

hi guys,we are flying out on the 18th

Awwww we will be back by then we come home on the 11th - shame about that

I'm looking at holidays for 2100 (early I know)

I am getting on the Thomsons website Polynesia hotel, but it looks like the First Choice Holiday Village.

Is this the same place?

Helen

No, it is next door and shares the Beach Club. We came back a few days ago and visited the Polynesia and all I can say is WOW!
I think it is more expensive to stay there but I can see why. FANTASTIC!
Also the Palace and the new boutique Hydros (which opens in May/June?) are all under the name 'Holiday World' I would recommend any of them as their standards are very high. We were so impressed with the large rooms at the Holiday Village and I think the Polynesia's rooms are similar. We couldn't visit the Palace or the Hydros as they were not open then but the Hydros will be a really top class hotel - just 24 suites and 4 penthouse suites, all with outdoor jacuzzi's on the terrace and a luxury decor.
I know I sould like a Travel Agent but I am reading from the brochure we brought home with us!!!!
If you decide to visit any of these hotels in the Complex, all I hope is that you enjoy it as much as we did - we will be returning very soon!

helen1985 wrote:

I'm looking at holidays for 2100 (early I know)

Helen

Early? Just 90 years early!!

luci

I went to Holiday Village the first day it opened in May 2004 for 2 weeks but it shouldnt have really opened 'cos it wasnt ready ... Beach Club wasnt anywhere completed so wasnt open, there were no pavements on the main road outside so we couldnt walk anywhere .... I could go on & on really about the complaints we had. Well anyway I am thinking of trying it again self catering this August but just had a few questions for anyone thats been recently:

1. If you are self catering can you buy breakfast and dinner in the restaurant & any idea how much it is per adult/child?

2. It says on the Holiday World website the Beach Club is free for all inclusive guests .... how much is it to go there per adult/child for self catering guests?

3. Did they ever actually build a beach by the Beach Club 'cos they were originally going to .... if not how far is it to walk to the nearest beach & what is this beach like?

4. I presume there's pavements now all the way to Fuengirola as they started to lay them when we were there in May 2004. Anyone know how far/how long it actually takes to walk to Fuengirola? I assume all the buses are packed in August that have come from Benalmadena travelling towards Marbella?

5. For self catering guests do you get a 1 bed apartment with a separate bedroom & lounge with sofa bed and kitchenette? Is the apartment a fair size or cramped?

Thanks to anyone that can answer any of my questions

SC

Hi,
We went there in April of this year as self-catering and being quite honest you really need to go all-inclusive as it is very expensive. The first night we were there we went down to the restuarant and we were told that to eat there it would be 22 euros a head and the same for our child who is 4 years old and this is not including drinks. There is no way a 4 year old would eat 22 euros worth of food. So we said forget it and the next morning we upgraded to all inclusive. Saying that not everything was all inclusive - slush puppys and crisps and cappucino were payable and also the food over the bridge in the beach club was payable.

Hotel was nice but it was really just like a big shopping mall!! The room we had had one bedroom with 3 beds in it and the living room had a pull out sofa. The rooms were big with plenty of cupboard space but they were well used.
Shop in the hotel was very expensive 3.70 euros for bread and 2.20 euros for a creame egg lol.
We were miles away from anywhere - we walked for about 45 mins one night and got nowhere lol - it cost 14 euros for a taxi into fuengirola, and about 10 euros for a taxi into benalmadena.
Hope this helps.

I must admit, we were slightly concerned when we read the comments about prices in the shop but although
it is a bit dearer - 2.50 euros compared to 1.50 for 5 litres of water - all we had to do was pay for it, get in the lift
and walk in our room - no lugging it for miles and ending up with aching arms - 1 euro extra and well worth it!
Also, I don't think that amount of water would be included in the A/I option.
The rooms and large balconies are all the same whether self catering or A/I and most have a lovely view if on a higher floor.
When we return (and we will!!!) we would choose A/I just because we would feel more a part of the ambience.
When we went, most of the guests were A/I and we felt a bit envious at their ability to eat and drink whatever they
wished and we were paying 9 euros each time for our drinks!

In the day, the bus into Fuengirola cost us 2.30 euros and the taxi back was 16 euros. It would have been nice
to have visited Benalmadena's Marina in the evening but the taxi fare for just the two of us would have cost nearly
as much as a good meal - so again, I can see why people choose the A/I option.

The flea market/car boot on Saturday in Fuengirola was an experience - nothing like an 'market' in other resorts.
Would recommend it if you want a bargain and meet the locals (there was a lady selling asparagus and
strawberries from just her wheelbarrow!) but it is huge and very busy. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Thanks for your help ..... i'm still deciding!

Oh my I just noticed my typo, should be 2011.

Thanks for the info anyway.

Helen

hi thinking of going to the holiday village or the polynesia.any ideas which is better.
also dos anyone know how much it is to upgrade to ai in the hv when you arrive as first choice are looking for 1000e extra for ai than sc.
thanks in advance.

I'm sure it cost us nearly 800 euros to upgrade that was for a week and for 2 adults and 1 child.
We chose to upgrade when we got there because of the prices for food and drink
Hope this helps

hello we;ve stayed at both,the holiday village when it first opened and polynesia,last year,the polynesia has deffo got the wow factor ,and the rooms were lovely,but the night entertainment could of been better and a lot of spanish do use this hotel at the weekend,some people didnt like that but it didnt bother us.the holiday village did seem to have more to do for kids and it is now a few years older than the polynesia so it may have a tired look about it,you do need to go all inclusive or it gets very expensive,but to be honest both places were great,kids prefered the village,we the polynesia,so probably not a lot of help,sorry

hi, we are travelling 17th august to hv, all inclusive. anyone else going same time give us a shout. travelling with my husband and 2 children, boy 7, girl 2. was wondering read someones comments over not everything is included food wise. could aanyone tell me whats included and whats not. and any tips or advice.

I am going self catering from 11-18 August & we are staying somewhere else the week before. Can anyone tell me what time check in is please?
Thanks

Me and my gf had a week off last september and went to the HV,she wanted to go partly coz she has family in Mijas and partly coz as a first choice employee we could have it really cheap!

we were pretty impressed with the place to be honest,the room was brilliant,massive for a couple to stay in,well equipped too with a great view down to the pool and out to sea. The staff were really friendly,even late at night as were the reps, we didn't try the entertainment as we were only SC so went out every night,plus with us both working in a holiday resort we've pretty much seen it all before,but others told us it was ok if you had kids with you. we didn't eat in the restaurant as like i say we were SC and one of the things holidays are all about is going out and about taking in the local flavours,plus the queues for the buffets that we saw,and the queue to get served at the AI bars would put me off,we were amused to see various arguments breaking out at the bar as the AI deadline approached .one thing i will say if you're SC is that the shop n the hotel is useless and VERY expensive,they charge about 3-4 euros for a tin of beans or a bottle of milk,best idea is to get on the bus to benalmadena from outside the hotel and get off when you see burger king,you'll see the kwik-save behind that and next door is a DIA supermarket also,theyre proper full sized supermarkets,very cheap and sell everything you could ever need,then get the bus back again,or a taxi is only 5 euros.

Entry to the rooms is via swipe card so is very secure,there's various lifts and staircases for getting up and down.we had the cleaners in daily with fresh towels and sheets etc,the bedroom consisted of 2 double beds pushed together,absolutely huge! good wardrobe space,digital safe etc,the kitchen has a microwave,decent hob,fridge,loads of utensils and all that,the bathroom....well what can i say,it was like an apartment on it's own,large marble counter with 2 deep bowl handbasins in front of a wall sized mirror,full size bath with shower attachment and curtain aswell as a seperate standalone shower cubicle big enough for 2 people! the living area consisted of a sofabed in front of a coffee table and TV with a few channels to keep you occupied while the missus is in the process of getting ready,full sized dining table with 4 chairs,more wardrobe space and various cabinets,both the living and bed rooms lead out to a massive balcony with furniture for 4,the way the hotel is built means no balconies are overlooked from either direction so it was very private and secluded,we faced the pool and were up on a high floor(room 423)so we had a lovely view right across the pool,the main hotel,the beach club,out to sea and along the coast to fuengirola,lovely to sit out there early evenings.

The pool area was really good in september but i'd hate to have been there peak season as there's not actually a lot of room around the beds etc,especially when you consider the hotel must hold a good 1000 people,similar over in the free beach club,there was plenty of room in sept but on the sunday loads of locals use it and it got crowded,plus all the other hotels on the complex were yet to open,in my opinion once theyre all up and running and it's peak season it will be complete madness over in the beach club,no way is it big enough even for 2 hotels let alone 5 or 6,plus locals etc.plus the wooden banisters into the pools were slippery and unsecure,the steps were VERY slippery and unmarked,the rocks in and around the pool areas are literally razor sharp and the wave pool is a complete minefield of sharp and slippery surfaces,my gf mentioned this to the resort manager from TUI but was told that as it's technically owned by a seperate company trading as HV there's not much you can do,in my opinion if it was in the UK it would never be allowed to open until these issues were addressed.

access to the nearest actual beach(carvajal) is out across the main road,along about 500 yards and down a 200 yard stepped pathway,it's a good 15 -20 minute walk even though it looks like it's right over the other side of the street,but it's pretty much worth the walk to escape the crowds of the pool and beach club areas,sunbeds were the usual 3 euros,there's toilets and the odd snack bar.

There's a bus stop outside for regular services to Benalmadena or Fuengirola,costs about 1.40 each and takes 10 minutes at the most,look out for conmen that pull up in flash cars telling you the bus is late and they'll give you a free lift,we were savvy enough to know this was a ploy to get you into their car for god knows what reason but were amazed how many people actually fell for it and ended up in some village being shown around a timeshare complex,only to be abandoned in the middle of nowhere when they said they weren't interested!

The train to torremolinos,malaga and the airport runs from carvajal station which is about a 15 minute walk away on the way towards fuengirola and again is VERY cheap and reliable.

Food a drink prices around benalmadena are extremely cheap,loads of places offer menu of the day for around 7 euros for starter,main and a drink,or a la carte is also very reasonable,drinks on the '24hour square' were also cheap with 2-4-1 on most things making a bottle of decent beer work out at about 2 euros.

If we ever go back to the costa del sol we'll stay here again not AI,the queues really did look huge and the menu in the lunchtime snack bars looked pretty poor,we'd probably use this hotel purely due to the standard of the rooms and the security of the place more than the facilites,but we only paid £200 each,would we pay brochure price for the same? no i don't think we would,not when you can get so much better elsewhere for a lot less,i'd hate to be stuck in the hotel all week in peak season and it is a long way out of town if you've got kids and pushchairs to think of. all said though we had a good holiday,that's what counts.

Thanks for the review.

It would be appreciated if you could copy and paste it into our Hotel Reviews site.

luci

Thanks for that Sambacasual, your review has now been added