I think First Choice miss a massive opportunity to get the Holiday Village right in terms of value and quality.

The complex itself is quite nice, but lacks greenery as everywhere is concrete, why they can't just make some lawn areas I don't know. The beach club is a little disappointing, but is quite good for toddlers to say 8 yr olds. The main pool is nice but does get very busy.

There are about 11 lifts in the two blocks and they were quite often not working, they are also a little dangerous fo very young kids as the sliding doors have a gap, just big enough to slide a small hand down them, be careful!

The cleanliness I have marked as a 3, but in some areas it is more of a 1 and in others it is a 5. The toilets in the restaurant are well cleaned, but the poolside and the toilets near to the stage area are dirty. Our room was cleaned well but despite a couple of complaints the bath was not cleaned in 2 weeks.

The food is very average, it has a wide variety but it's quality is poor in the main. Salads are not bad, but the rest is quite average. The Italian is average and the Mexican was not tried. AI drinks are average, the beer is just about drinkable, with lime added!

The location is poor, but then most people know that. My advice would be to jump on a train at Caravajar and go into Malaga for a day, fares are cheap and the service is very good.

The staff vary at the hotel, I thought the First Choice reps were in the main okay, some of them possess a serious attitude problem and it appears that customer service was not part of their training course. The hotel staff are okay and are quite friendly.

The entertainment varies from quite good to very average. There is bingo every night which is a bit of a laugh. Most of the success of the entertainment is down to who is the compere at the time.

I can't say that I would go back again. The main grumbles being. 1. Queues for the bar, 2. Quality of the food, 3. Ridiculously high prices in the Supermarket (

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear, first choice what have you done?

Room:-
Basically very nice however, marble floors throughout and tiny wet feet do not mix, a disaster is waiting to happen. Very child unfriendly furniture, cannot lock door to room, my 3 year old got out many times. In the end we barricaded ourselves in. Choose a room with pool view, it may cost a bit more but on the other side you have views of building sites and the main line railway that passes just a few metres away from your balcony. They run very late. Fridge was rarely topped up.

Upon arrival we had pre ordered a cot for our 1 year old , it took them 5 hours to find one eventually got her to bed at 11p.m. Very bad start.

Cleanliness. All I can say is it was generally just about acceptable.

Food:- A good variety, you will be unlucky not to find something you like at most meals. However this is a four star hotel (supposedly) the food however is not better than 2 star, you will really will find better down your local on a sunday lunch.

The service in the gold fish bowl, sorry restaurant, is diabolical if it looks like your food has not been attended to for 30 seconds or more wooooosh its gone. If you have little ones get their early as you will have a cosiderable wait for high chairs. I'm going to include all inclusive on this bit. Although snacks are supposed to be all inclusive, crisps etc aren't. Be careful and ask first or you will get a hefty bill on checkout. The service in the bars is very slow and the barmaids are not very friendly but they are rushed off their feet and they do try (most of the time, they do have a habit of stopping half way through an order for a chat).

Location:-
Yes it is a bit out of the way, it took us 15 minutes to walk to the nearest bit of beach.

Entertainment:- I only hope none of the entertainers goes up in front of Simon Cowell.

Overall this holiday for me represented extremely poor value for money. The shop charges stupidly high prices and they seem to go up every week. If you have under 3s you will struggle to keep them amused. The creche is only for 1 1/2 hours and the twice weekly evening 3 hour creche gets booked up very quickly. If your little ones are a bit older they will have a great time as there's plenty for them to do.

Don't expect 4 star quality or service from this hotel.

Just back from Spain, fantastic holiday and well worth a visit. Location not great but public transport very good and 10 minutes takes you to Fuengirola or Benalmadena.

Beach club is brilliant and my kids loved every minute there. I was at Holiday Village last year and the beach club wasn't finished. I was more than impressed this year with everything. Food was great and always a good variety on offer. Snacks were plentiful and of good standard.

The reception staff were very friendly, however I did make one mistake and booked my trips with the reception and not First Choice, big big mistake. The trips were cheaper but on my first trip I got my kids up and ready for 7.30am to be picked up for Gibraltar and it came to 9am and still no coach!! All other customers on the first choice trip had been gone an hour ago. We never were picked up for that one and we had to spend another day by the pool, we felt like fools. The second time I went on a trip with reception, we were picked up ok. This time however I stupidly left my camcorder on the coach. I tried all week to get it back and never did sadly. So my trips with reception cost me over

Hello all, we stayed at this hotel from the 19th June to the 3rd July overall we had a fab time, like most of the reviews here there are a few issues with this place which I will detail below only because it may assist future holiday makers.

positive points:-

1...complex is very modern, bright clean and spacious...
2...inside pool/health club Awesum
3...outside pools/beach club very impressive (although would suggest all children wear pool shoes as tiles are broken and my kids and me cut our weeny toes)
4...entertainment excellent the reps really do there best, Yes they arnt professionals but the kids loved
them and with a few glasses of wine had me and hubby cracking a smile.
5... Rooms are modern very well equiped with a bathroom to die for and although you may think im sad to mention this mothers will know what i mean... you need to take your own travel washing line and more coat hangers!!!!!
6... all beach beds have mattresses so you can burn in comfort ;)
7... breakfast is very very very yummy, in fact too yummy... lunches at bar were ok sufgficient enough for a snack, evening meals although quite abit of choice it was abit bland, and mexican and italian restaurants were just ok, nothing special.


ok now for not so good points.....

1... My daughters 8 kids club too babyish for her she was at that inbetween age think ages shuld be revised. prob better for kids 7 and below.. however kids club room is well equiped with its own small ball park

2.. Have to say this super market is sooooooo expensive and whilst we were there sun cream went from 14euros to 17 euros, they change the prices of everything as and when they please.

3... Bar staff are rather sullen, a weeny smile wouldnt go amiss.

4... They cook there meat in same oils as fish so it tastes so much like fish, you had to look twice at what you were eating...

5... Not that this is first choice or the spanish fault but sum holiday makers need to be respective of other ppl they let there kids run wild till early hours of morning, and this kept us awake quite abit

6.... Location.... WHAT LOCATION nothing there but a busy main road, however friends of ours out there who were a tad more adventurous than us lazy gits did say the bus service was very good and only 1 euro per person....

7 Queues queues queues for kids club, queue for booking them in queues for taking them queues for picking them up and i mean a good 15mins/20mins queues. and same for bars in evening , we found getting a cpl of drinks per time was best way ...

But overall folks we did have a great time, made extra special by another family we met out there, so we wish you the very best holiday.

Hi - we stayed as a family (two kids aged 7 and 3) at this hotel from 19th June to 3rd July and although it was an okay holiday we would not go back to this hotel for any more than a long weekend (as much as you can tolerate) there was plenty to do for the kids (clubs not for us - but that was because our kids are a bit fussy) we had quite a few excursions (Jeep Safari/ Gibraltar/Diamond Factory) and they really kept the boredom from setting in.

The reps work very hard and you can tell (they sometimes get a bit grumpy - but wouldn't you after working 6 days a week.
The food is okay for the first few days but it can be so boring after a few days.
We originally went self catering but found the prices of the shop expensive and they do change the prices every other day.

The reception staff can't do enough to help they were very helpful with a situation we had.
Unfortunately we had our wallet stolen from our room but First Choice were of no help.

As with the previous report the kids running about until 2.00am is a problem if you have younger kids.
The beach club is great and well laid out plenty of room for the kids to play.

We personnally are not sure if we would go back again - if we did it would be booked directly with hotel and be for no more than a long weekend.
The stay was made very enjoyable by a lovely family that we met from down south and if it hadn't been for their funny ways it would have been a less than average holiday. (PS Hi to them)

If anyone has any questions they want to ask me about the holiday village I will endeavour to give you an honest report.
The Potter Family from Cockermouth

On arrival to the holiday village we were very impressed by the hotel building and staff at reception.

Our room was clean and large enough for our needs although we could not lock the door from the inside to stop the smallest one escaping down the corridor. The kitchen was small and not very well equipped but this would only be a problem for self catering and did not affect us.

There was a wide choice of food in the buffet restaurant which was all ok and some dishes could be described as quite good. It could get quite busy in here at times with people walking between their table and the buffet and felt more like a production line than a place to relax and a have a nice meal.

The 2 themed restaurants were good and it was a welcome to change to be able to sit and relax with waiter service. The food at the snack bar was good but basic and had a limited choice.

The hotel is a little out of the way with not too much going on nearby but we knew this when booking so it was not a problem for us as we didn't intend to venture out of the complex.

The entertainment was geared up for the kids and the entertainers worked very hard for their money and most kids enjoyed the shows that were put on for them. The resident duo were very repetitive with their act and not very good in my opinion. The reps put on a very good show of The Wizard of Oz which everyone seemed to enjoy.

Overall we had a good holiday but we would not go back again as it didn't quite live up to expectations and it

Just on here to point out that this is the worse all inclusive "non inclusive" rip off I've even been to.

Not all inclusive for slush, cider or cocktails ? If you went self catering you have your own bar man, if like us you paid 4 months before you had to stand in a Q for anything up to 30 mins! then to cap it all off. On departure (due to leave at 6 pm) we had to buy food and drink from noon! We didn't arrive till 9 pm! watch out for this rip off.

Drinks at the beach club are included for A.I. though don't look for a smile from the bar man and the staff in the piano bar are under pressure. Very short staffed. 1 night whilst waiting my turn at the piano bar the only guy serving tells me the bar is closed. I was only waiting 15 mins this time.

Won't be returning to the H.V. due to the A.I. rip off. More than

WE arrived on 26/06/05.

1. Hotel was excellent had no complaints.

2. Hotel staff were good all polite and helpfull.

3. Food was excellent always plenty of choice and we never came away hungry this also included the Italian and Mexican.

4. Cleanliness was good througout where it wasn't was due to other guests not being bothered and not the fault of the hotel or cleaners.

5. Room was excellent maid everyday clean towles most days and so quiet.

6. General facilities of hotel good good games rooms for the kids Cinema with film each day internet room open until midnight.

7. Indoor pool and gym very good

8. Outdoor pool good but watch your toes.

9. Beach club was excellent pools better for the kids and more for them to do but should have snacks on A1 as well as drink.

10. Entertainment was ok the first choice reps do try and it was watchable the pick of the bunch is Jason if he is on you will have a good laugh. There were ques at the bar but always seemed to move quick and everyone waited there turn.

11. Our advise for any trips or excursions is DIY as it will be cheaper and you will crtainly organise it better than first choice ( that was our only moan but only a little one).

12. Location could have been better but we knew that when we booked so we got a taxi whenever we went out.

13. Over all we had a great time weather was hot and the kids enjoyed it which was the main thing would we go back yep certainly would.

We booked the Holiday Village 12 months prior to our holiday and were SO looking forward to it. The flight was on time and the transfer seamless, first impressions were great, as it was by far the best looking hotel we passed on the bus. We were checked in quickly and politely by very competant and friendly staff and installed in our room within minutes.

THE POSITIVES

The beachclub, this was great as we have 2 small children and there is a wealth of things to do the staff and friendly and welcoming especially the lady who runs the Sirenis mini club.

The Rooms,these were vast with all the mod cons you could need whilst away. There is loads of wardrobe space, and we even had a dvd player! and a fantastic pool and seaview.

The pools are large and all shapes and sizes to suit. The sloping bank that surrounds the outside is a fantastic idea.

The food was good in the buffet restaurant with a vast and changing selection. There were rarely queues and the table were cleared and the drinks brought promptly. The all incusive drinks were all of a good standard too. The orange slushes are addictive!

The daytime kids activities are excellent loads of choice. Your kids will never be bored. I have never seen such a well facilatated hotel for children

THE NEGATIVES

The hygiene,this was the main let down of the hotel and at times was verging on appauling.There is glass everywhere due to the modern design and this is NEVER cleaned. This means that the general appearance is shabby,the pool area was never jetwashed as previously mentioned though we did see the guests were all being tidy and using bins . There were 2 poos fished out of the pool whilst I was there and one day the smell of vomit was so bad from the drains around the baby pool, that many parents complained and unfortunately both children became poorly with a tummy bug during the 2 weeks. The grout in the main pool is turning black with mould in many patches. There were 2 small trickling water overflows that used to cross through the entertainment area. We saw the entertaiment duo, one night, chasing the kiddies away that were playing in it as it was raw sewage!! So we had all been sat there on a night with it around our feet...urrghh

The pool bar, i could cope with the queues but the presentation was dire! all food served without a smile on a side plate sized flimsey plastic plate, no flair at all. People were piling up plate towers and struggling to take food to their families due to no trays ever being available.

The obvious lack of staff, wether it be bar or maintenance staff(which I saw once) this place is vast and needs a bigger team to cope with the upkeep for example they must have spent a fortune on plants but all the ones on our balcony and in the main ground floor areas were dead!

The entertainment in the evening....poor. First choice should put its hand in its pockets bring in a professional act each night at 10pm

Finally the behaviour of some of the other guests was a shame, drunken men and loud women with blasters round the pool!! This is not 18-30. Their children were then left to run wild and chased away when they went over bothering their parents.

First choice are on to a potential jem here as the facilities are fantastic but without injecting some effort,staff,time and money it will become run down in no time. There is potential here to have a real 4star+ Would I return ......no thanks but I will follow the reviews with interest next year to see if there have been changes.

The Hotel Buildings

The HV gives a very good impression on entry, with two spacious blocks joined by a wide reception area. you enter on floor 0, but because the hotel is on the side of a hill, all the facilities (restaurant, pool etc) are on floor -1. The whole place seemed very clean to us, there are plenty of toilets around (which also seemed clean enough), and a total of 4 bars (Irish bar on floor -2, the main piano bar, the poolside bar and a further bar near the outside entertainment area. This last served on SC guests during the day, but had two queues for AI at night, 1 for SC).

The Pool

The pool is huge and deepens to the centre (though never over about 5 foot), which gives larges areas very safe for the youngest kids to play in. Again very clean. Towels can be hired for a 15 euro deposit, and changed as often as you like. The procedure is a bit lengthy though, you need to get a token from reception first, then exchange this with the girl by the pool. Also, she's not there all day, so if you're a late riser or return mid-afternoon from a trip, tough. Lots of kids got small cuts and bruises in the pool (either from loose tiles or just falling over in the shallow water), so advise swimming shoes or plenty of plasters!

The Room

Very nice, with kitchen (microwave, halogen hob, fridge, oven and sink; but only a small variety of utensils), bathroom (unnecessarily large, with bath, two showers (one over batch, one cubicle), bidet and twin sinks), bedroom with 2 large beds and wardrobe, main room with wardrobe, dining table, sofa bed (with push-away 4th bed underneath)so if your kids are older get another room or don't bother! and huge balcony with table and chairs. There is a telly with satellite TV, but you need to pay 10 euro deposit for the remote, and the only English channels are news (my kids still watched German cartoons though!). There is also a safe, but you need a key (10 euros deposit again plus 2 euros a day hire charge) before it will work. Cleanliness average, towels changed every day but actual cleaning left a bit to be desired.

The Food

Well, average to poor would cover it. The main restaurant, La Perla, is buffet style, which meant that none of the food was ever piping hot when you got it back to your table. Most of it was OK, and there was a decent variety, but if it were a restaurant back home I wouldn't go back twice. The themed restaurants are Mexican and Italian, the Mexican was OK as far as it went, but the Italian was dreadful (6 of us ate there twice and of the 12 main courses only 1 was acceptable). Our local kids pub does better pasta and pizza than this. The pool bars are OK, but only open until 6pm. If you fancy a snack after this, you're stuck with curling sandwiches from the piano bar.

The Entertainment

There seemed to be a lot going on for kids, but my son wasn't interested in the kids club so I can't comment except that it seemed quite popular with parents at least. We heard some bad comments about the cr