We stayed here previoulsy in 2006 so more or less knew what to expect. Big plus is that rooms are now air conditioned. Apparently you could hire a control from reception but we didn't find it necessary. Rooms are equipped with basic kitchen essentials such as kettle, microwave and a slightly tempermental toaster! Bedroom was spacious with plenty of cupboard / draw space and the children (age 11 and 9) managed adequately on the sofa bed and pull out. TV had BBC1,2,3 plus CBBC and rather strangely ITV 3!
Pool area OK. Some days there was the usual reserving of sun-beds by 10am that we have become accustomed to despite requests not to do so. However a better idea was to go to the beach in the morning and return to the pool at around 4pm when it was quieter and more pleasant. Games area and machines around the pool although the little supermarket that was there in 2006 seems to have disappeared. We didn't eat in the hotel but people we talked to seemed satisfied with the food and service provided. Entertainment didn 't seem as good as previous. More 'in house' based although some visiting entertainers such as Irish dancers and magic shows.
Generally though we were as happy with the hotel as we have been before and would certainloy be happy to go again. One suggestion: Why not provide a mini bus service to and (more importantly!) back from the beach at a nominal price say 1 euro. It would I think make a profit and provide a good service especially as the only other form of transport (the road train) now has a flat fare of 6 euros.

Just returned from a two week holiday to Confortel Anabel. We read reviews thoroughly before booking this hotel and were hard pushed to find anything negative. Except, perhaps, the hill. I am happy to say it's really nothng to worry about - I was dreading it but could not really see what all the fuss was about. But, if you have a double buggy and a blow up boat it might be a bit much.

The Hotel is spotlessly clean in all communal areas, the gardens are well kept and pretty but you cannot use any grassy areas. There are a lot of ants around the complex but never saw any in the apartment and did not cause a problem. There are lots of trees around the apartments and the dawn chorus from the birds is very loud - it didn't cause us a problem but if you are a particularly light sleeper you might be up early.

The staff go that extra mile, all of them. Friendly, professional and always smiling.

The Rep service was excellent. I've never seen the rep at any hotel previous so much and there are two of them plus the three girls in the kids clubs. They put notes through your door once a week incase they haven't seen you to check you are ok etc.

Kids club was excellent. There was only one time I could not get my daughter in and there was never the mad rush at night to book in. They have one big room so do mix the age groups and do the same activities. They even let my 10 year old in if there was room left at the end of bookings and made him feel very welcome and tried to adjust activities to suit him. like quizzes etc. All 3 girls went over and above my expectations, I really could not fault them.

The pool itself was lovely, best pool i've ever seen for children. It would hjave been nice to have some grassy/shady areas around it but there was wlways a place to put your bed and very rarely did the beds run out. The beds themselves had seen better days and were very uncomfortable and more umbrellas were needed. As we were leaving an order had been places apparently. A lifeguard was on duty 10-6 and they were friendly and helpful and helped out carrying your beds etc.

The restaurant was efficient and the staff friendly and helpful. I got a look at the kitchen and it seemed to be spotless too. The food was good although a bit more variety would have been good. I have a very fussy 4 yr old and this was a problem for us as there was rarely plain food, everything had a sauce on it - even the vegetables. So, after 2 weeks i'm kind of craving a nice old roast. Salad was cleaned in bottled water so no worries about eating that though.

The apartments were fine, the living room a tad small maybe but the balcony and bedroom very big and air con in both rooms. One thing to consider here though - my kids won't share a room so I had to sleep in the living room with one of them. The beds here are not suitable for an adult, or even a heavy child really. Very thin mattresses so we had to lug a big bed out of the bedroom which halved our living space for the duration. Not a big thing but a minor inconvenience nonetheless. You have a dining table, fridge, 2 rings, toaster and kettle. We only made tea/coffee in the room though.

All in all I was impressed, its probably one of the best 3 star self catering places we have stayed and would return for a week but not two.

Nice hotel and great pool. Rooms pretty small. Hotel food basic buffet style. Beds and bedding are a bit "youth hostel'ish".

Bad bits: too many Brits, noisy kids club, a bit of a trek to the beach.

Would I go again.....no.

We stayed self catering, in the apartment we had a fridge, microwave, toaster and two electric rings. This was ideal as we eat out most evenings. I didn't feel the need to cook a full roast meal!! Our apartment was spotless! Never saw an ant or even a fly. This was probably helped by the fact we had air conditioning, which was very welcome as it got quite hot in the evening with the sun direct onto our balcony. I can't comment on the food in the restaurant as we didn't dine there, although another guest advised me one evening when i was looking at the menu to 'eat out'.All the staff were excellent, the maids came a couple of times a week and clean bedding and towels were always available.
The evening entertainment was good. There was a Robbie tribute one night, a Disney songs another. Great!

The Anabel is a First Choice exclusive hotel, which means that the vast majority of guests are all British. Now if this isn't your cup of tea, the the Anabel isn't for you.

However if you're travelling with family and are looking for some home comforts then read on.

The Anabel consists of a low rise complex based around an inner walk way, with a large pool at the bottom of the complex. The pool, which was large enough to cater for the school holiday crowd, was split between a shallow young kids/ baby pool and s deeper swimming pool. The photos in the brochure don't really give the appearence of size of the pool, it was larger than appears in the brochures (2008).

We stayed in a 2 bedroom apartment called a kids den. The cooking facilities were pretty basic, 2 electric rings, kettle,fridge, toaster, grill microwave BUT as stayed half board it was a bonus. I do feel you'd be pretty hard pressed to produce anything more than a basic microwave meal. The "kids den" consisted of an extra bedroom which was brighly decorated with a couple of bean bags, 2 single beds/ camp beds, Ikea style kids furniture plus an extra portable telly. Oh and the PS2 supplied by the reception (free, deposit being your passports). If you're staying in these kind of room and the PS2 is important then take your UK games/ DVD's. The hotel only had 3 titles and all of them were in Spanish only. ( I believe they were the freebies when they bought the PS2's).

Food? Simple 3 * Spanish food. Breakfast had the normal bacon, eggs, sausage (spanish frankfuter), cereals, fruits, pastries, toast, jams, tea/ coffee and fruit juice. Dinner was a little more varied. Nice range of salads, "tid bits", a potato, meat, fish, vegetable dish (with a leaning towards fish) plus chips every night. Dessert was a selection of cakes, fruit, ice cream. Drink orders were taken by the head waiter/ manager and you were charged the bar prices.

Staff? Well to put it simply the staff were EXCELLENT. I've never stayed somewhere before when you can't fault anybody. The First Choice staff worked hard and made the real effort to make your holiday special. The hotel staff also did their best to make your holiday the best it could be. Solie the hotel entertainer was very friendly and had a great energy.

Entertainment? Our youngest went to the First Choice Kids Club and loved it. The 3 kids reps worked hard and made the kids club a great experience for my youngest. The kids club ran 6 days per week and you got at least 4 hours clubs most days. As there were 3 reps, the 24 kids that could go every club, meant that they were rarely full - given we went in the summer holidays was exceptional. Evening entertainment was either a show, some of them were pretty good, or a quiz style show. Mini Disco every night either by the hard working Solie or the equally hard working Kids Club reps (where do they get their energy from?)

We went in the first summer school holidays and we expected queues, overcrowding and we simply didn't get it. We queued twice for dinner, around a 5 min wait and twice for breakfast (both Sunday mornings - 9.30 being a popular time).

The negatives? Well in reality you do need to be picky to find them. Bar prices for drinks & Ice Creams were expensive. 2 Euros for a small glass of Cola or a scoop if Ice Cream was a little steep (not helped by the strong Euro). The hotel IS located at the top of a fairly steep hill. Not impossible to walk up BUT does make you think do you need to go down into town? Perhaps with it's location and expensive prices First Choice should consider this as an all inclusive property? There were a number of ants around the property (it IS a hot country) but we had only a very few in our room. People we spoke to weren't so lucky BUT the hotel gave them some ant spray and sent the maid to clean up. Oh and the last "negative" was the daily scrum at 8.45 when the sun beds were unlocked. Now don't forget this is a First Choice exclusive hotel - so can't blame the Germans. This was the British tourist and there best! Getting a sun bed after 9.00 was virtually impossible, which was a shame as there was more space, a few more beds maybe?

In summary, a great hotel with a definite UK family based leaning, helped by a hard working staff of both local hotel and tour operator staff.

We stayed in the anabel and absoulutley loved it and the apartment was just how we had seen it in the brochure. Our room overlooked the pool what a great sight it was beautifull and clean if oooh a little cold. We where self catering but used the restaurant for breakfast which was fantastic, their was a great choice and for only 7 euros you could eat as much as you wanted. The staff and reps where great they made us feel welcome and couldnt do enough. We ate out every night, so only used the entertainment in the hotel once but it was still very good. All in all we had a great time and i would recommend this to anyone who was thinking of going....we would.

Fantastic location - the hill to the beach easy to walk. Beach very crowded but worth finding a space, lovely soft sand, clear blue water - shallow & safe for little ones. Rent a Pedelo with giant slide great fun, float around watching the fish swim by. Buy or take your own parasol save money hire costs expensive.
Very clean hotel, happy friendly staff. Excellent pool for kids. Entertainment not great but kids enjoyed!!! We paid for breakfast & evening meal few times basic but well presented & fresh.

The hotel was very clean with regular towel and bedding changes, there was, however, a small problem with ants (even the smallest crumb attracted them)and locusts! several people had them fly at their heads !The self catering facilities were very good and very clean and were sufficient for breakfasts and snacks. The hill IS very steep, going down was a breeze but getting back up took quite a while longer (but the weather was extremely hot which didnt help, there bis a train that runs from the bottom but the rep couldnt tell us how often, he just said it comes whenever. The sunbeds were chained up until 9am which was a great idea but there were some arguments when people couldnt get a bed after this time and started moving towels off beds. It was the umbrellas that were in short supply and these were reserved within 5 minutes. The life guard was constantly on the look-out but mainly for any inflatables in the pool which are not allowed, our mother is in her late 60's and a little unsteady on her feet so needed a rubber ring in the pool. but alas only allowed in the baby pool!, glasses, bottles etc are not allowed around the pool either and he seemed to spend most of his time enforcing these rules, it became a joke with everyone watching new arrivals dive in the pool with inflatables and then waiting for them to be 'told off' never been to a 'child friendly' hotel before where children are only allowed to 'play' in the pool that comes below the knee! The reps did pay more attention to selling the excursions than they did to the guests one lady we met asked for bus routes and was just told 'don't know' - well they should really! The daytime entertainment was almost non-existent one spanish girl doing aerobics on her own on the stage being totally ignored and another day teaching spanish words over a microphone - not up to the usual first choice standard, however the kids club did an excellent job but you didnt see the reps around the hotel. would we return ? maybe but to a hotel where 'fun' is allowed for the children.

Stayed at the Anabel for a week at the end of June. This is the second time we have visited this hotel (previously 2 years ago).

The hotel hasn't changed in two years, it was clean, the staff were very helpful (same staff as before). Food was good and there was plenty for our children to choose from at both breakfast and evening meal.

There were plenty of sunbeds by the pool, which didn't open untl 9.00am - always cleaned. There is a lifeguard on duty everyday and he does his job very well - doesn't just sit there all day but constantly walks around the pool which is reassuring when you have little children.

All in all a great holiday, would not hesitate to return here again.

It was our first package "med." holiday for some years and we were pleasantly surprised.

The accommodation was first class, we had a one bedroomed apartment with kitchen facilities, although we only used the fridge and kettle, as we were half board.

Our accommodation was at the very top of the resort which is built on a hill, and on the top flat, so the peace and quiet was perfect.

The food in our opinion was first class, better than we have experienced elsewhere, it was buffet style, so at times it could have been a little hotter, but that is usually the case with buffet style, the restaurant was air-conditioned as well which may have added to this.

The staff were first class and could not do enough for you The pool was spacious with plenty sun beds which were unchained at 9.00amish and there was plenty of them.

The Lifeguard kept a close eye on things and was constantly moving round the pool.

The guests were predominately young families, or older couples like ourselves, so there was none of the boorish types there that made us give up on the Med. years ago.

There were at least four kids reps there and they appeared to do a great job keeping the kids happy, The main rep Aiden did not seem so keen however, there was no usual "fact book" prepared that would give you all the local info. one needs, I only approached him twice, once to ask where to chage cash other than the hotel, the answer was "dont know" and where is the tobacconists, Same reply. His only interest appeared selling trips and apart from that was seldom seen As stated previously the hotel is up a hill but was not a problem to anyone reasonably fit.

There are superb walks to beaches both directions from the resort but you will have to check them out yourself as the rep certainly won't tell you about them.

All in all we found it a super hotel with good facilities and would return again and recommend it to anyone.