We visited the Holiday Village Viva in September 2005.

This was our first holiday with our son aged 15 months. Staff very friendly helpful, hotel very well laid out with push chairs and wheel chairs in mind.

Good choice of activities througout the day. Children's clubs were great our toddler loved it. Give us a welcome break and time to recharge our batteries.

The buffet reasturant was O.K but as always a little repetetive. The so called Italian reasturant was more Spanish than Italian. The grill was good. Need to make sure you book in advance only one trip to each per weekly stay.

Very relaxing holiday with great splash park for kids.

Only a short 10 minute walk to centre with strip of bars, resturants along the way. Good holiday for parents with young children.

Not suitable for couples or older teenagers. The rooms were clean and had everything you needed.

Well want can I say that already hasn't been said about this place. I have to agree with it. very clean, lovely apartments, great pool. Only problem is the ongoing sunbed saga, but it really isn't that bad, 8am is a lovely time of day and there are no kids around pool!

We went self catering although we had several breakfasts and a couple of evening meals in the hotel. The breakfasts are lovely and well worth 8 euros per adult and 4 per child and you can eat as much as possible. The evening meal we thought was very rushed and we never sat as a family as you keep getting up to get more food, if you all leave table at once they clear it very quickly and it is all over by 8.30. If you go into town you can sit and linger for longer which makes it much more enjoyable, but that is my personal opinion.

We only watched the entertainment a couple of times and it was ok. we saw the end of a few more shows and they to were ok but nothing very special. We preferred birdies bar in town.

I would recommend this hotel to those of you with smaller kids, teenagers need to make their own entertainment. We had a great holiday and made some lovely new friends.

Everybody pretty much covered everything.

Rooms very spacious, maids 5 x week.

Grounds are lovely. Just need to watch little ones by all water features and pond between block 3 & 4.

Army of cleaners always on.

Cinema 1.30pm for family film great idea to get out of hottest part of day. 5.30pm for older kids.

Buffet food great and we found Italian + Caribbean also excellent no problems though did hear others complaining. Sandwiches available from main bar after 8.30pm found this out of fellow holidaymaker.

Hayley and Steve of Swim kids Great! Would recommend it.

Entertainment majority very good but evening shows start at 10pm.

Lady doing nails (sorry forgot name) Had a great manicure for 15 euro. Also massages available.

First Choice reps very helpful and reception staff extremely helpful when needed to call Dr out for my son.

Went on marineland and aqualand trip - both great places but didn't get very much time at either, may be they should do separate and people wouldn't complain so much. Was disappointing considering what we paid.

I cannot really add anymore to what other people have said.

This really is a great hotel, with lots going on both day and night.

Food - very good, lots of choice. Our kids enjoyed the pancakes with chocolate sauce!

Location - a bit too far to walk to the beach in the heat of the day but a pleasant stroll in the evening. Look out for the 'statue' in the town, give her some coins and she will grant you a wish.

Staff - absolutely excellent. Both hotel staff and FC Reps were great.

Entertainmnet - the kids mini disco was good (already had the CD on at home). Some of the more 'professional' entertainment wasn't up to much. The Reps tried hard with their contributions!

Kids Clubs are a must, didn't queue for long and they always got in.

We would certainly go to another Viva Village (we don't often go to the same place twice). It was a very relaxing holiday. We are AI converts!

I think of our family as package tour veterans (kids of 11 and 7) and have to say that we found this one of the best-designed places we have been to. It really benefits from being new, and clearly a huge amount of thought has gone into the set-up. Most of what I would say has been said in other reviews, but I'll let you have a few relections anyway :

Complex - new looking, immaculately (can't stress this enough) clean (rooms and public areas - seems to be a permanent army of cleaners on site), beautiful gardens/grass areas and very safe (away from main roads too). Rooms are excellent (4th bed is almost 6ft long, so don't get to worried about the "small child suitability" comments), although we were AI so didn't use the kitchen other than the fridge.

Kids Club rooms are purpose built and as a result perfect (soft floors, big, slightly away from main pool area, very well equipped, separate sign-in area etc).

Restaurant is big and can be a bit noisy, but the staff/service is excellent (army of staff once again), the food is perfectly good (not unduly repetitive despite 2 weeks in AI) and any kids particularly will be very happy with the choices. The house red wine is, however, very ropey (so stick to the San Miguel - you can help yourself to either plus all the other stuff on offer).

Evening entertainment is heavily reliant on the rep team on site (3 nights out of 4 ?) but they all work very hard and are talented. At the time of our visit two key entertainers had left, putting huge pressure on those left - so massive credit to Stu, Jenny, Natalie and KT, plus the co-opted stagecoach reps Charlotte and Amy for stepping in to help the rest of the team. Powder Blue aren't anywhere near as bad as some of the reports on this site intimate - good singalong stuff well performed I would say. KT is an excellent singer by the way......

Entertainment moves from the stage to the sports bar at 11pm - a great idea, as the sports bar is in a basement area away from the centre of the hotel, meaning no noise can be heard in the apartments (unlike most other places we have visited where music can keep the kids awake until the early hours). At other times the soprts bar is a haven for henpecked dads wantimga few minutes peace and footie/cricket etc on the high quality screens.

Entertainment follows a set format (as usual) - kids disco (7.45), certificate presentation, bingo (up to EUR 500 prize money), "pre cabaret", then 10pm show till 11pm. No problem getting seats - though if you really want to sit near the front the you'll need to eat early (or send one of your kids out to grab a table !). If weather looks dodgy, will all be held inside (not as good - not a good building acoustically - huge din all the time from anyone talking and not watching the show).

Pool - fabulous for kids (and consequently parents). Lower pool is huge and has an even 1m depth, higher pool 1.5m even depth. Plenty of room around both. Very small toddler pool though.

Sunbeds - ah, that old problem. Let's get this straight - this is always an issue, and I would say this place has sorted it better than anywhere we have been before. Simply this - sunbeds can't be reserved before 9am UNLESS YOU STAY WITH YOUR TOWELS. Basically, this means someone going down before 9am with a book and a cuppa (and a few towels) and waiting until 9am. When ? Most days, sunbeds were available until at least 8.30, although if you do want a brolley as well, or a particular spot, you'll probably need to be in situ by 7.45. I often got up for an early morning run and noticed people by the pool at 6.30am - really unnecessary I think, but this might have led to some of the comments on this site. Anyway, it is way better than getting up at 4.30 to throw towels over a sunbed and going back to bed in my view - don't let this spoil your holiday. Warning - if you "reserve" towels before 9am and the desert them , they will be taken away by Pepe - he usually gets a round of applause when he gathers up a pile.

The beach is a 10-15 min stroll away. I read a commemt that you have to cross "the M25" to get to it - rubbish, frankly. Yes it is a main road you have to cross, but it isn't that bad. Think of a typical A-road, but with an island in the middle. Cars will always stop if you are ON the crossing (Spanish Highway Code I think). The sea does get roughish when windy (East coast not west remember - this to be expected), but is very clean, sandy, amply covered with sunbeds and safe for swimming etc. Loads of bars and restaurants nearby, all much of a muchness.

To summarise - Onsite supermarket is perfectly adequate and gets a good supply of UK papers daily. Snack bar is good, bars are excellent. Complex is spacious. Pool is fab. Food (AI) is good. Staff are wonderful. Place is spotlessly clean throughout. Entertainment is well done by a committed team(non-rep acts are also very good) and there are heaps of daytime activities. Kids clubs are excellent and staffed by great reps. Good location, quiet but close enough to the beach to not be a problem. Go there, you won't regret it - for a package holiday, it represents a fine choice and good vlue for money.

Spotlessly clean, even the paths were washed daily. Never saw anything floating in the pool, not even a leaf! Watch out for the sticky plants in the flowerbeds around the complex, my little one pushed her big sister into one and it took ages to get all the sticky bits out of her hair!

Three of us are vegetarian but always found something to eat, we particularly enjoyed freshly cooked pancakes for breakfast. Didn't use the pool bar much as we preferred the fresh fruit and veg available in the restaurant.

Hotel is near enough to town to go to shops or use internet cafe which is much cheaper than on site, beach about 10 mins walk and although roads are a bit challenging to cross they're not that bad. We didn't go on any excursions, got the impression that there isn't much to see.

Staff are excellent, always helpful and polite and even made hot chocolate for the girls before they went to bed!

Entertainment a bit samey, especially the quiz - 3 out of 5 we had done last year in Sun Tropical Lanzarote! Come on First Choice, bring them up to date! A change from bingo would have been nice. Also had to complain about sketch where they took turns to spit water in each others faces as a 'practical joke', we thought it was disgusting last year when we saw it in Lanzarote and were very disappointed to see it all over again.

Only gripe apart from the spitting was booking for kids club - we had to fetch one child from soccer school at 7pm so by the time she was washed and changed it was at least 7.30 before we got into dinner. We had to book 2.30 session to get our 5 and 7 year olds in the same group without clashing with soccer school, so this meant being near the head of the queue. We were not impressed with having to take turns to leave a meal half-eaten in order to stand in the booking queue at 7.55, or earlier on some nights.

Just returned from the Viva after 2 weeks .
We had a party of 14 including 4 young children aged under 10 and 2 teenagers (16 & 17 ).

Complex was well laid out but it seemed to us that their was alot of area wasted which could have been used for more pool area space .!!! Which brings me to the Sun Beds , A NIGHTMARE to say the least. We had to be at the beds by 7.30am to make sure we got the beds we wanted. Even being up at 7.30am there still were people on their beds asleep with blankets !!!!! Come on this is supposed to be a holiday for god sake. We complained to the reps but were told once at least one person stayed with the beds up to 8 am the towels would not be removed. We saw only 4 beds get their towels removed. Then there was the poolside entertainment which saw two verbal fights over stolen beds !!!!!!

Never ate at the hotel, went down the strip to eat at Monico's or The Parrot AND the Peking Duck.

Apartment cleaning not great, the rooms were barely touched and got a quick touch up, bed sheets not changed in the 2 weeks!!! Rubbish not taken every time!!

The Bar only served certain drinks for the adults and no cash was taken over the bar or Grill bar so we had to put money on our room key card !!

So we went to the Grand Vista Hotel for a great nights entertainment and a good selection of drinks with good bar staff.

So we can all confirm we will not return to the Holiday Village Viva.

The hotel is spotlessly clean , with manicured gardens. The room spacious with plenty of hanging space stayed s/c so no comment on food etc.

You had to be up at 7.00 to get the sunlougers with parasols , and to babysit your sunloungers , otherwise some little nasty man will come and take your towels away , that was up to 9.15 am.

The kids clubs where great my daughter of 7 years old went 4 times a day ,12.00 to 1.30/ 2.30 to 4.00pm /4.30 to 6.00/ and 9.00 to 11.00 pm , could only queue for 1 session and 1 eve session , but each other session there was normally places spare.

Have to say the reps where all youg but very helpful. The sad thing is my lad of 16 was bored stiff , nothing for him to do except footie twice a week and daily water polo.
I found that the hotel was really designed for kids from 5 to 11 years old.

The hotel shop is reasonasbly priced ,ice creams where cheaper than the local corner shops. Location of hotel about 10 min walk to the resort , going through a little park - were there no poop scoop ?

To end other people have said that snack bar and bars do not take cash , they do because I paid for snacks etc with cash , but reception tell you not.

We stayed here from 6-20 August all inclusive.

Initally we were a bit disappointed as the food was not as good as the Holiday Village Costa del Sol, where we stayed last year. However, the location was better and in the end I think we prefered it.

It is a lovely clean laid out complex. We had room 4111 which overlooked the pools and got late afternoon sun. Hire the towels don't bother bringing your own.

Our kids were very happy here and that in turn made us happy!the kids would go into the restaurant on their own have a table on their own and we would sit nearby! We definitely would return!

Returned on Tuesday from HVV party of 12, 6 children aged between 7 and 12 five girls one boy. Fantastic holiday had by all.

Rooms were cleaned 5 times a week as stated and complex was cleaned continually. We were located in block two which was located next to lower pool.

Food - Good selection no problems with children always something they would eat, fantastic selection at breakfast. Tried both the Italian and Carribean Grill and were very impressed. Particularly liked the idea of self service drinks in restaurant.

Pool - Kids loved lower pool, plenty of space never felt overcrowded. Hire the towels from reception. Thunder storms last Saturday reception changed all our wet towels even though it wasn't one of the normal days to change them.

Sunbeds - Yes you have to be up by 8ish for beds, but this is no different from anywhere else we have been in last few years. To be truthful us 3 Mums were at the pool by 7.30am every morning and agreed it was the best part of the day with the husbands and kids still in bed!

Hotel staff - Very helpful staff on reception especally Thomas and Lucy, one of the children in our party was poorly and was taken to hospital all the staff and reps were extremely helpful.

Entertainment - yes some nights better than others but the kids enjoyed the mini disco especially the Court of King Caracticus. Would have prefered hypnotist or even a Karaoke some nights. Loved the bingo especially when we won!! Stu was fantastic, felt the team struggled a little when he wasn't there. Highlights was Grease and Fogwell Flax.

Kids clubs and activities - Fantastic. We had no problems booking places for 6 children. They then took part in the come as you please sessions some days they were busy for upto 6 hours a day. The children took part in Archery, Sea Scooters, Raft building, Canoeing, and Snorkling. Five children attended the stage school and loved it and one attended the soccer school and swim kids both of which were fantastic. Hayley the swim kids teacher was brilliant. Their favourite activity had to be the high ropes they went to four sessions during our stay. Karen, John and Dave were brilliant our kids loved them. Cinema fantastic idea if kids wanted a break from the sun they went to the 1.30pm film.

Go to the pirate show may seem a little expensive but well worth the money.

Definitely recommend this to families with our age children. We thought about Holiday village Costa del Sol next year but having read mixed reviews we are returning to HVV next august.