We booked this hotel before reading the many bad reports about it on this web site. We contacted Orchid Travel expressing our concerns and were offered 4 alternative hotels but as we wanted the area of Mijas Costa we stuck with our original choice. We need not have worried - we asked for a high floor and got 5th out of 6. The request for extra pillows was sorted with the minimum of delay.

The food in the hotel was towards the Spanish taste rather than the British - but the hotel is in Spain isn't it.

The hotel was kept clean and tidy with maids working throughout the day.

The staff were all very good with the stars being the restaurant and bar staff where the service given was second to none.

The entertainment gave us a cabaret spot at 9.30 each evening and for Spain the standard was varied and good.

Although we travelled with Orchid we chatted with the charming and knowledgable Saga male rep who was quite happy to give us the benefit of his experience and amongst the bits of info he gave us was that the hotel management had recently changed and things were on the up. With this in mind perhaps recent reports should be considered rather than those prior to Oct 2004.

We would give it an 8 out of 10.

We had a week half board, which did not entitle us to any sort of drink with our evening meal, including water.

We did find the hotel to be reasonably clean.

Food was always luke warm and of a very average standard.There appeared to be no means of keeping food hot once it was placed on display.

As we went in the first week of November there was not a lot to do in Mijas and we spent everyday travelling on the bus, not ideal for children especially in the evening.

We found the staff to be pleasant and the chambermaid was excellent and kept our room spotless.

We spent most of the day out of the hotel but the evening 'entertainment' was awful.

In summary this hotel should never be a 4* and we would not recommend anyone to take a holiday there.

We stayed in the hotel for 10 nights all inclusive and found the hotel nice and clean and food to be good.
Drinks in the bar good choice and now that pint glasses have been introduced had no probelms with plastic ones.You pay extra for certain cocktails but some were included on all inclusive.
Now the downsides the entertainment was pretty poor most nights Bingo,Quizzes and crap shows with two people in dancing about on stage!. The comedian Franky Brown was good for one night best bit of entertainment we saw.

The room was nice had two probelms on the first night my 2 year old son was having his bath let the water out when we had finished and water came up the drain and flooded the bathroom with a nice sewerage smell with it. Then the next night water was dripping through a small hole in the ceiling above the bath assume from the room above, But i have to say all small maintenace probelms and the staff we good and sorted it out within 24hrs. The chambermaids we good when they did clean the room but for two days are room was left un-cleaned probaly because my son was having his nap in the afternoon when they wanted to come in but no explaination or a knock at the door to say we will come back later.

The sandy beach was lovely and nice clear blue water if you do use the sun loungers be prepared to pay for them 6 euros for the day with matresses.

We had a good holiday and even with these small probelms would go again and i would give the hotel an 8/10.

After reading some of the previous reports we were a bit concerned on what we would find at this hotel.

The hotel was very clean the food was good quality and varied.

The location of the hotel was good with good local transport only a few minutes walk away

We found the staff friendly and helpful the entertainment was average if you could stand the smokey lounge area

There was no problem getting all inclusive drinks at any bar

I could not fault anything about our holiday. The staff were excellent, the food was varied and of good quality and the drinks on the all inclusive were freely available. I loved the fish and the salad dishes were delicious. I did hear guests who complained about the food and saw that they lived on chip butties the whole time I was there but I assume they lived like that at home. I had read previous reports about this hotel and this did not match what I found at all.

On speaking to one of the local restaurant owners, he did say that the hotel had gone through 'teething problems' but he stated these had all been resolved as far as he knew. We certainly had no complaints.

Our room was beautiful and very comfortable. Only thing to watch out for is opening the patio door at night as mosquitos get into the room. My wife was badly bitten several times.

On arrival at this hotel, my room was filthy and looked like it hadn't been cleaned since the last occupants left. The ventilation in the bathroom didn't work, and my toilet seat was in two pieces. We informed the hotel, who said they would sort the problems. I never actually got to see the toilet seat fixed.

The hotel food was very poor being cold and not having a very big selection. I didn't stay in this hotel long and so don't know if it would of got any better. Although first impressions were poor.

The location of the hotel is nice, its right on the beach front and is a lovely quiet area.

The hotel staff on reception were absolutely useless. When I reported that one of my party had cut his hand in the pool, the basically didn't care. We informed them that small children where playing in the pool, but they didn't even check it out, or close the pool. Everyone else was nice to you, especially the man at the pool bar.

I never actually saw any entertainment in this hotel so cant comment, so thats why it gets a three. Although not actually sure whether there was entertainment of not.

I would not return to this hotel, as it had too many problems.

Hotel I thought was not very clean. The bar area in particular was dirty. When things were spilled they were not cleaned up immediately or efficiently.

The food was dire to say the least. It was lukewarm and half cooked with much the same everyday. When you came down for lunch and dinner you baulked with the smell of the restaurant.

If I was spending

Too much to put down - Please please take heed of the reviews for this hotel if I had read them before I booked then I would have been somewhere miles away from the Gran Hotel Costa Del Sol.

What can I say, well excrement on loos for several days, dead fly in my water, raw food and not so nice staff.

The all inclusive is a joke and there is meant to be storm drainage at the back of hotel which we had a nice view of but this was in reality a sewer. So needless to say we never had a nice quiet night sitting on our balcony.

Do not go here even for free as you will only regret it and wish you had spent your money elsewhere.

Just got back from a week all inclusive at this hotel with my wife.

The hotel was continually being cleaned from 7.30 in the morning until late in the day. Rooms were left immaculate after the daily clean. Toilets within the hotel though left a lot to be desired at times but, as I saw cleaners regularly go to them I think the onus should be put on the disgusting way some guests leave them.

Not keen on the small plastic cups that were given out by the poolside bar, each glass seemed to hold less than half a pint. Although no comment was made to anyone about how many times you went for another drink. Also some ashtrays on the tables outside would have been nice as some guests seem to think it is acceptable to put their cigarettes out on the floor.

Hotel food was adequate, I have stayed in many 4* hotels and had far worse, various meat, fish and vegetarian dishes were on offer during lunch and evening meal. Not once was any dish duplicated during the week. My only complaint was that the food could have been hotter. I have paid good money in restaurants abroad and had far worse.

I felt the location was ideal for our needs, in the morning we would visit neighbouring resorts and in the afternoon lay on the beach. Mijas is ideally situated between Malaga and Marbella and an excellent bus service is approx. 5 mins. Walk from the hotel.

The hotel staff were very friendly and helped us with our every need, ringing for taxis before we discovered the bus route, giving us 2 bottles of wine with our evening meal if requested. Always available to answer questions on best ways to get around / where to go.

Entertainment seemed to be on offer throughout most of the day but we never participated/stayed up for the evening show so I cannot really comment further.

One point that is worth mentioning is that on the 4th day our bathroom floor started to fill up with water when both taps were on, I rang reception and 10 mins later the maintenance guy came and sorted the problem, he rang the cleaning staff who immediately came and recleaned the bathroom - good service in my opinion.

We travel away approx. 10 times a year so I feel I have good comparisons to make against other places we have stayed. I would give this hotel a good 7 out of 10 and will return next year.

I thought the hotel was good value for money. I have stayed in other 4 star establishments which have been worse. Food good and plenty of choice.

Staff very friendly and very helpful. No restriction on number of drinks issued and at meal times often asked if we required more.

Pool area quite good with plenty of free loungers, plus own section of beach with loungers.

Entertainment a bit poor though, expected better.

Very Spanish and hotel did seem to favour the Spanish.

Bedrooms very clean and hotel generally quite clean.

Cannot understand where those people were staying who have complained because I saw nothing like that. I have traveled extensively both socially and on business and always stay 4 star or better, and this was not bad.