When we arrived we were given a cell (room) in the basement with a great veiw of a 12 foot high wall with barbed wire on top. We went straight back to reception to ask for another room and were told that the hotel was full for the next 3 days, (it was, about 150 young footballers) and could be change rooms then.

The next room was on the top floor and about 10 times better than the cell.

The hotel was very clean and room cleaned every day, any fault was fixed quickly.

The road up to reception can be difficult for elderly people as it is quite steep.

We did not go into the bar as all the entertaiment was for the Spanish people who have bought apartments in the hotel, ands also the drinks were about double the price of the local bars and restaurants.

We have stayed in 6 different hotels in the area and will be going back to the Sunset Harbour/Pueblo Torviscas in September as it is very much better than The Santa Maria.

We stayed in a private apartment and this is our fourth time in five years.

We love the location of the Santa Maria, close to beach and bars and supermarkets.

The hotel staff are very accommodating and friendly.

The hotel, pool and bar areas are kept spotless.

The only downside is that the entertainment is limited to a fashion show, a parrot show and a solo organist and this year we missed the paella demo but then again there are other bars nearby with entertainment on.

This hotel was excellent for a 3 star. We had a room on the 5th floor with pool and sea views.

Staff were very friendly and helpful. We went for my daughters 18th birthday she was given a card, a bottle of champagne and a basket of fruit on her birthday which was 5 days into our holdiay, this was totally unexpected and I thought it was really nice that they had taken the trouble to do this on her actual birthday rather than on arrival.

We could not fault this hotel at all and will definitely be returning.

Don't let them fob you off with one of the basement studio apartments with a balcony view of a wall and the sound of roadworks above. We got given one of those but on complaining, we got moved, albeit a day later, to a lovely fourth floor studio with a seaview and miles better decor than the original one.

Reception staff were very helpful. There seemed to be a good mixture of British and other nationalities. Pool area is very basic and not as nice as it looks in the pictures.

Hotel seemed to be fairly clean throughout and the only problem we had was the water going off all day through the whole hotel one day, but they let us shower in a spare apartment.

Five minutes walk up a hill from Puerto Colon harbour and beach and supermarket right outside hotel (where all the timeshare touts also prey on British people coming in and out - they're described as discount tickets or scratchcards but everybody wins a prize and if you're gullible enough, you'll be taken to a sales office and subjected to 2-3 hours pressured sales pitch where you'll be asked to part with thousands of

We have stayed here twice now and both times have been excellent.
The group that runs the hotel are Hovima nad they also have 4-5 other hotels near by.

The rooms have always been clean and well decorated
The location is quite good and there are plenty of Brit style pubs etc if you fancy that sort of thing

I would definatley stay here again (Try and shop around of going independently as prices vary)

Stayed here before, but booked this time with private owner. Very clean apartment well looked after as were the others in previous years.

The hotel was very clean all over and the maid service was very regular although pool bar had basic menu basically just snacks, but what more do you want through the day. The service was very slow we had to be patient but still very friendly staff.

Steep hill up to the hotel and has just been re tiled up the hill which is very slippy if wet (bit of rain while we was there)be careful. However, very close to the beach about 5 mins walk also close to the harbour and restaraunts etc.

Entertainment reps do their best but do not get much response from the punters, so about average.

Would certainly go back again and we are doing in June.

Just superb.Went with my disabled brother as we have never had the chance to have time together since we were kids.

The staff were just out of this world , Recommending restauraunts , ordering Taxis. The cleaners were brilliant as well.

Yes this complex is on a steep incline for the last 100 yards but if someone with a false leg can make it ( yes with difficulty ) it should not be a problem for most.
Taxis are dirt cheap anyway so save yourself the hassle & get one back each evening (& day as we did).

I travel due to my work & have been in 5* hotels who need to send their staff to this place for a lesson.

forwhat we paid for the holiday it has to be one of the best value trios I have had.

I may be looking through rose tinted glasses becuae of the time I had with my brother but I don't think so having spoken to others that were on holiday at the same time.

There was only one group that we talked to that had any complaints but these were the sort that were rude to begin with & wanted all the luxuries without paying for them.(A little tip from them.

If you are polite & extend courtesy you may find you you are repaid 10 times over !

Having read a number of bad reviews was worried about going. The roadwork's out side were worrying as we had to be dropped at the bottom of the hill and walk up with our ten cases. The incline to the hotel was a problem for my parents who are in their 70's would have been nice to have been warned about this before.

On arriving in our rooms, we had booked three, the two bedroom apartment had fans and very much needed, the two one bedroom apartments did not have fans and you had no chance of sleeping without, I would recommend the first thing you did was hire fans. The rooms were well equipped with kettle, toaster and hair dryer, the fridge had a good size freezer great for freezing down bottle water. We were on the fifth floor and over looked the pool, nice view but no sun on balcony. The evening/night noise was not a problem after about 1am.

The pool area was nice, and you could not get out for a sun bed before 9 am, but if you wanted to be around the pool you needed to be ready for a sunbed run when they opened the doors, plenty of sunbeds for away from the pool, and only a couple of days did all the beds get used. Plenty of Parasols available and they brought more in on our second week. The pool bar served food and drink at reasonable prices but the service was very slow, so pay for your ice-cream before you get it out the freezer or it will be melted. Life guard on duty from 10am till 6pm but was over the top on what you could and could not do, one day you could play ball the next it was a no no.

Entertainments, the first week no real entertainment was offered in the evening, the second week something was on each night in the pool bar, but apart from the snake show never more than a couple of tables taken.

Location. Great location only a couple of minutes walk to the beach, harbour and all bars and restaurants. TJ's great place to have your lunch, looking out to see with good food and service.

I would return, once the road works were finished, but would make sure my room had a few fans.

Few tips, high floor is a must to avoid night noise from bars around. TV remote 20 euros but you get this back when you go, we had one between us and you could change channels with out, English channels were 24 and 25 Bbc and Itv1. If you want a pool sunbed make sure you are ready to go when the porter opens the door at 9.

Very clean and tidy staff were friendly.

Say a bit about the children's entertainment has there was none at all. Kids disco consisted of three kids and one CD and a couple of balloons that's it. Kids at the age of three and two six year olds don't know who Black Lace are. If I was taking children there I would forget it. It's only based on adults.

We went on this holiday in 2005 and it was great, were going again this year in July and I can't wait, super!

The entertainment was great, the disco was Fantastic.

It had clean rooms, and lovely staff.