We were upgraded to this hotel, because the sister hotel had been closed for the season. The staff were on the whole ok, but at times they prefered to serve the paying customers first.

Our rooms were adequate cleaned everday. Nightlife was not that good catering for the older ones mainly (55 to 70 )no disco not that we are teenagers that is.

For the golfers among you there is a good and testing 9 hole course about 1/2 mile from the footbridge over the carriageway (pina flags flying)we paid 55 euros to rent clubs and 18 holes.

Don't do the Tangiers trip all beggars and on a set route to make you part with your cash, it's a long hot day starting at 7 O'clock in the morning getting back at 7 at night.

Read some of the reviews on this hotel and thought about cancelling.

However, we were pleasantly surprised on arrival. A lovely room in block 2 over looking 2 of the 4 pools you can use.

The pools are fantastic - especially for really little ones as they gradually slope towards the deep end - literally half way in and your still only up to your knees.

The room was fine, clean and quite large. Lovely marble effect bathroom with separate shower cubical and bath.
Food was varied. Breakfast had everything, hot and cold. Some evening food was very good, others not so.

However this is a very personal thing - at least it was hot and appeared to be fresh.

Entertainment was dreadful - same duet every night and then some sort of cabaret act - again a person thing. It obviously was popular as every night was busy (but seemed to suit the over 60 age group - lots of ballroom type dancing going on)- great for them!

Nothing around the Hotel, no bars restaurants.
We wanted a quite relaxing holiday, which this was. Would definitely go back.

We booked the sister hotel Costa Del Sol Princess which is on the same complex but because it closed early for winter we were transferred to this hotel....how lucky we were! We had a top floor room in Block 6 with a balcony overlooking the pools and the mountains. W

e too were concerned having read previous reviews but our fears were unfounded. We wanted a week's nice chill out in the sun and that's exactly what we got in a fantastic hotel.

We knew about the isolated location so that didn't worry us...there are regular public service buses and reception will book a taxi for you.

The room was lovely with wicker furniture and accessories and nice curtains....the bathroom finished in marble was superb. Linen changed regularly and clean towels every day whether requested or not....we don't get that at home!

The pools were superb and the surroundings kept very cleaned and hosed down every day; the pool bar and pool restaurant provided good refreshments.

As to the main restaurant....sometimes we had to queue to get in which we have never experienced before....however it was never for more than ten minutes so no problem really.

As for the food here....the only complaint was that there was too much of it and you were just not able to try it all! The hot dishes were 'hot' and the choice of meats, fish, cold and vegetarian was superb not to mention all the breads and cheeses and as for the full English breakfast....well! Did we find the food here repetitive? Absolutely not!

Don't know about the prices of drinks because we were all-inclusive but we did feel sorry for the guests that had to pay for every round!

As for trips out we recommend a visit to Rhonda up in the mountains. The trip up through the mountains is brilliant and when you get there you enjoy a few hours having a look around and taking a meal.

We would also say take the hotel courtesy bus to Puerto Banus....have a look round there for a while and then take the water ferry to Marbella which is about a 30 minute trip. A nice walk round Marbella and the ferry back and you still have time for a drink before catching the bus back to the hotel.

For beach lovers this is not the hotel for you as you could not call it glorious sands but we didn't go there for the beach....it just happened to be there and enabled us to have the sea view.

All in all we had a lovely holiday at this hotel which is well worthy of it's four star rating.

stayed end of may 2006 for 7 nights.
weather good.
flight good.
food indifferent some ok some very bad.
mostly cold and fatty.
hotel main areas clean and tidy.
room was dated and musty.
drains were a big problem, extremely smelly and made you retch.
location was poor nowhere to go nothing to see,
staff indifferent and most understood little english.
would not visit this hotel again and it does not deserve a 4 star + rating from thomsons, i would rate it 3 star only.

fawnie

This was our second visit to Esteppona having stayed at the Andalucia Sol, sister hotel in April this year. Both occupy the same site and share four beautifully clean pools and picturesque gardens and the hotel is only yards from the beach.

We went half board the firs time and all inclusive the second time. None of us could fault the food - there was loads to choose from and some wonderfully creative salads. Service was excellent and we found the staff very helpful and friendly.

The rooms were bright and fresh and cleaned every day, towels changed whenever. Beach towels provided for the pool. The only fault, if there is one, is the entertainment, but we didn't stay in the hotel at night anyway, peferring to get a taxi down into Puerto Banus.

We stayed at the Andalucia Princess - we had been here 2 years ago so knew what to expect. The hotel itself is in a beautiful setting, clean and tidy, but feel that they could tidy the stony beach up a little better.

We came back here as it was handy for Gibraltar, Cadiz and most other places around there, the only disappontment this time was the buffet syle meals in the evening, it was very repetitive, it did get quite boring after the first week, so we did not enjoy the food the 2nd week.

Also the location (which we knew about) is a bit isolated with nowhere to stroll in the evening only around the expensive apartments area being built next door.

On the whole it was excellent value for the money we paid we did enjoy it but I don't think we will be going back for a very long time.

We went to this hotel at the beginning of August 2005 with 2 other families.

On arrival we found out our rooms were not near our friends who we booked with, we were told to wait 4 hours for our new room with no apology.

Also when speaking to the staff they did not speak very good English. We found the staff in the hotel very sullen and not helpful at all.

Pool areas are fantastic and kept very clean. The only problem being not much in the way of shady areas. Couple of tiles missing (could cause an injury) when spoke to staff about it, they were very laid back, didn't really seem interested.

Food was ok, very repetitive, areas not cleaned very efficiently, by the 4th evening, we went out to eat!!!

Evening entertainment was a bit boring ending at 11.30pm and all lights out in all the bar areas at 12pm. Could not get coffee or drinks at all in our hotel or the sister hotel after midnight.

Definitely need a car as there is nowhere to eat/drink locally. Location of the hotel is very remote. very small supermarket 20 min walk away.

I have been to the Costa Del Sol at least 3 times a year for the last 18 years, and this is the first time I have stayed in Estepona in a hotel.

Our room was perfect, very clean, well maintained, superb views of the Med, Africa & Gibralta.

Unfortunately the food did not match the surroundings. The ingredients were very poor, ill prepared and badly presented. The restaurant was understaffed and the staff that were there had received little or no training - quite often it was necessary to remove our own plates and dishes etc when moving on to subsequent courses. There was no evidence of any supervisory structure within the restaurant. When dishes ran out there were often considerable delays before replenishments arrived. The soups were consistently boring, tasteless and highly diluted. It is to be hoped that all our fellow guests who expressed their dissatisfaction report their feelings as we have.

As far as location was concerned it was very remote, we would have been lost without a hire car. It was almost impossible to reach anywhere safely on foot.

The bar service was appalingly slow with the main preoccupation of the staff being to get you to pay by cash rather than booking drinks etc. to your room (we never did find out why).

Our opinion of this hotel was heavily biased by the fact that we had previously visited their sister hotel - Gran Canaria Princess where the food, service, entertainment & staff were all excellent. Our experience of the Gran Canaria Princess had raised our expectations but unfortunately this added to our disappointment as there was absolutely no comparison between the two hotels.

The Andalucian Princess does not deserve its 4* Rating

Location way out. Nothing around no shops etc.

Found hotel drinks very dear. Service very poor had to wait nearly twenty minutes one night to be served at the bar, also staff not friendly like in other hotels we have stayed in.

Wont go back to this hotel, but I must add that the swimming pools were excellent and clean.

T'was very nice and comfortable.
Food was just great plenty of choice. Hotel wasn't that busy tbh so plenty of room to relax.
But, the evening entertainment I've seen better in working mens clubs. Although, the Flamenco dancers were excellent. Pity they didn't have a live guitarist.

I was glad I hired the car as others have commented it is remote. It's also positioned behind a contruction site which gave us a bit of a shock when we first saw it.

I did have to bite my lip with some of the staff though as some were slightly miserable, but all in all had a great time.

If he just want's a bit of p & q like me then he should find it the perfect place.