We have just returned from 2 weeks at the Holiday Village, having had an excellent holiday. This hotel has something for everyone, we should know because in our family we all have varied interests.
The kids had a great time. My son loved the Soccer School (we will definitely look for this next hol) and my daughter spent so much time in the excellent Kids Club that we nearly forgot what she looked like! They both took part in Swim Kids which was also excellent!
We all enjoyed the hotel pool, which was very clean and extremely safe thanks to the lifeguards on duty and the ban on inflatables. The Beach Club is brilliant for families.
The staff of the hotel worked very hard and were generally polite. The reps were very hard working and did their best to ensure we all had a good hol. My husband is not really into the "family" evening entertainment, but the children and myself enjoyed it a lot and I found it much better than the entertainment at comparable resorts on other holidays.
We hired a car, so the "out of the way" location wasn't a problem, and having visited the extremely busy nearby towns I was glad we were in a quieter area.
We were gald we went AI and never found the wait for drinks too long.
We were impressed by the Holiday Village and think it definitely deserves its 4-star rating.

After reading the comments on this site we were really worried about going to the holiday village, but we had the best holiday yet.

the staff were really eager to please and polite, the food was excellent including the italian and the mexican as we were AI we could eat in all the resturants.

Rooms were excellent plenty of space. we really miss the a/c and the big bathroom. the rooms were tidied each day but not cleaned very well. lots of cleaners cleaning the complex everyday they did a good job. Our shower leaked the 1st day there but after a call to reception, it was sorted within 30 mins.

The pool was brilliant no need to get up at 6.30am to get sunbeds there were still plenty at 9.30am. life guards on duty all day, parasols available for 25 euro deposit, pool games for the kids everyday and some for the adults aswell.

first choice reps worked really hard to make sure we had a good holiday, well done to them. the shows they put on were good, the battle of the sexes comp was brill. bingo, kids disco and entertainment every night.

location was ok, buses outside the complex we had trouble only once trying to get a bus, they are crowded if you leave it late to go into town, but we found that is always the same in spain. we like to be away from the town as its quieter.

no problems with the traffic from the road or the trains. Our room looked out into the hills and the train line, but it never bothered us.

the beach club was lovely although the pools were really cold. our 13 year old spent a lot of time in there.

We have just come back from an excellent two weeks in the holiday village!
We were at the holiday village from the 13th - 27th of august and we LOVED it!

It was only a 35 minute bus trip to the Holiday Village from the airport.

We arrived at around midday and check in was swift. Most rooms however were not ready until about 2:00pm but this didnt bother us as we could still make use of all the facilities as we had already been given our all inclusive bands.
The rooms are excellent and very well equipt. Every room has one main bedroom with two single beds, a large bathroom, kitchen, and a living/dining area with sofa beds. Every room also has a large balcony with 5 chairs and a large table.
The 9 (yes 9!) pools were excellent and we really loved the beach club. There is also a health club which has a steam room,indoor gym,sauna,indoor pool and much more!
The food is gorgeous. La Perla is the main restaurant and every night it has diffrent food on offer. The staff are also very keen to serve you your drinks.
You could book to go to the Italian and mexican once a week, but you had to book it between 8-11am and 24 hours in advance.
It seemed better to go to this hotel all inclusive as the snacks and drinks seemed a little expensive.
Towel hire was a 15 euro depoit and you got new ones freshly washed every day. Parosol hire was a 25 euro deposit.

The wavelength clubs were excellent! There are three age groups: 2-8,9-11 and 12-15. They organise trips out nearly every other day.

The entertainment was AMAZING! Every night from 8-9 was mini disco time , from 9-10 was bingo or battle of the sexes
(done by jason an absolute star!and a marco lookalike!!!!) Then at 10-11 was the main show. 11-12 was the club dances.
There was also a resident duo Intuiton who were O.K.

There was also an irish bar,internet cafe,piano bar(someone who looks like stu from BB playing a keyboard but still good), 2 cinemas, arcade, and a shop which sold everything you needed!

This was one of the best holidays we've been on and we would definatly go back!

We have just arrived back from a fantastic 2 week holiday to the Holiday Village and we all really enjoyed it.

We arrived at around mid-day and the check-in was quite quick, although most of the rooms were not ready until about 2 o'clock. This did not really cause any trouble as we had already been given our all inclusive bands and were able to use the facilities and get food and drink.

The rooms were nicley laid out and very clean. there was 1 master bedroom with 2 single beds, a large bathroom with 2 showers, a kitchen and a living area which had a double sofa bed.

The restaurants were good. The main buffet restaurant (La Perla) had different food nearly every night. The Mexican and the Italian were also very nice, the Italian being the better of the two. With these you had to book between 8 - 11am and could only eat in them once a week.

The Entertainment Team were good. During the day they would do activities such as water basket, football, crazy golf, party dances in the pool and much more. Then in the evening at 8pm there would be a mini disco,9pm bingo and little games(Holiday hunk, bingo, quizes)10pm would be the main entertainment, some nights they had professional dancers etc.(could get a little boring) but the entertainment teams performance of grease was great. At 11pm to finish the night there were party dances which everyone really enjoyed. There was also a Holiday Village band 'Intuition' who weren't brilliant but o.k for some music. Look out 4 Jason/Marco he is brill.

The Wave-length club was good. There was different age groups 9-11 and 12-15 (and a different club for the little ones) They organised trips such as - Aqua park, Tivoli World, Bowling and Burgers and many more.

Ideally this resort is all inclusive. You have to get on a bus to get to the nearest bars and restaurants or a 40 minute walk before you reach the first ones.

Overall we had an excellent holiday and i would recommend if going all inclusive!!

Hotel was fantastic it had everything you needed. The rooms were always clean and well maintained.

The pools were brilliant and never too overcrowded,there was always three lifeguards on duty and the security throughout the hotel was very good and made you feel at ease to let the children have a little freedom.

You never had to wait for more than 5 minutes to be served at any of the bars. There was agood range of food everyday the only downside was that there seemed to be pork or fish with nearly everything.

Overall the hotel was fantastic and i would reccomend it to all families we will definetly visit again in a couple of years.

I would not recomend self catering.

We arrived home yesterday from a really good holiday at the Holiday Village - here is my review:

Good points: The hotel and complex is very impressive. It is clean and extremely secure for children. I liked the fact that there was a security guard on the gate at all times and entry was only granted via a card. The main pool was very safe and our favourite activities water basket and pool party (mini disco in the water) took place here regularly.
We were originally self-catering but after taking advice from this website decided to upgrade to full board on arrival. This worked out very good value especially as it included drinks too. La Perla restaurant was first class - the food and the staff are excellent. If anyone is self-catering, particularly without a car I would recommend an upgrade to at least half board otherwise it will cost a small fortune.
The kids entertainment was great. Our daughters didn't actually go to the kids' club but their holiday was made complete with the rendition of Cartoon Heroes and Cha Cha Slide between 8pm and 9pm each evening. We are still doing the dances at home as we took the opportunity to purchase the cd!!! The entertainers and kiddie reps worked very hard indeed and were all very talented as was shown during their Saturday night performance which we all enjoyed. They even do hair wraps and face painting on a regular basis which means you don't have to leave the hotel grounds for a moment.
The apartments are very comfortable although sleeping arrangements are pretty cramped for five. More space in the lounge would have been preferable to a huge bathroom and balcony.
Bad points: On arrival we couldn't wait to see the much talked about beach club. Pretty disappointed I am afraid to say. All eight pools are great if you are under 8 years old! The boat with a slide coming out of it is extremely dangerous as it is very slippery. The water at the beach club is freezing - even on the hotest day when temperatures were in the late 30's it was very unpleasant. Much more thought could have gone into this. Larger pools more geared towards adults with slides etc. would have been nice plus a man-made beach!! How can you have a beach club with no beach?
This was the most disappointing thing about the holiday it wasn't near the beach!! The beach access was via a walk along a busy road for approximately 20 minutes and then down some steep steps - not very good for people with buggies and beach stuff on a hot day!
It didn't bother us too much but our friends like to go for a stroll in the evening after dinner. There is absolutely no where to stroll too - not a souvenier shop in sight.
Anyway I would love to visit this hotel again in about 5 years time to see the progress of this resort - I think it will be amazing.

Just arrived back recently 29-08 - after a fantastic holiday. The village hotel is huge, fantastic, clean, modern and well signposted.

We arrived at the hotel at around 11.30 a.m. and our room wasn't quite ready. After having received our armbands we headed for the nearest restuarant - La Perla where we were truly amazed by the food that was on offer.

Each day there was a variety of food, i.e. salmon, chicken, lamb, pealla (on every day))prawns, burgers, ribs - you name it, they had it.

The Mexican and the Italian resturant offered a good variety of food, I liked the tortilla, my husband liked the ribs and my kids loved the speghitti bolognese.

I'm glad we went all inclusive because drinks were at hand almost immediately and our children took advantage of the blue and orange slushes that were available.


The room overlooked the pool and we had a sea view: together with a great big balcony.

Maid service was good: clean towels and the bed was made everyday.

Sadly, the location of the hotel is a 10 Euro drive to Benalmedina and Feurengorola (sorry about the spelling)and there aren't any shops outside of the complex.

The hotel staff were very pleasing and worked very well to please everyone, especially the reception and resturant staff.

Apart from the first choice entertainment and the Irish pub (downstairs), their is hardly any other type of entertainment on offer.

I would visit this hotel in the future - in a couple of years when it has become more established.


Pointers:

For those going to this hotel, bring some coffee, teabags and coffee mate (and washing up liquid) as shopping at the 'shop n village' supermarket can very, very expensive.

For those thinking about going on the Gibraltar tour - take plenty of water and keep some pound sterling money handy.

When we started to read the comments on holiday village we were a bit worried about coming but the holiday was great.
I would definatly recommend going All Inclusive because the food and drinks are quiet expensive, and there is no where nearby the hotel to get something.
The hotel was very clean and even though the maids only tided your room and never cleaned it well it was fine.
The food was ok although most nights there was nothing different to choose from.We never actually tried the Mexican restaraunt but we tried the Italien restaraunt and the service was slow and they never got our orders right.
The entertainment was good for children but there was never anything for adults apart from bingo.
The location wasnt great but it didnt bother us because there was a taxi rank just outside the hotel
I would go back to the hotel in a few years when it had improved.

We arrived at the Hotel at approximately 11am, and checked in straight away, even though our room was not ready, we stored our cases and went to have a look around. On first impression the hotel looks really good. We went into the restaurant for lunch, which was very nice, good choice and all hot.

Got into our room about 2pm and again very impressed. The bedroom has (2) big beds and a double sofa bed in the lounge. The bathroom was hugh, only problem was our shower cubicle leaked into the lounge.

The Pool Area was nice, it was just a shame that people could not keep it clean, There are bins everywear, yet you would find glasses and plates all over the place and the Hotel had no idea how to clean the pool area. It was the same every morning, dirty floors, dirty beds, even the broken ones are just left there.

The Beach Club was really good, but the water was absolutely freezing.

The Evening Entertainment had to be some of the worst I have every seen. Every night you had the resident Duo on, and every night the bloke pretended to play the Electric Guitar, which was not even plugged in. The Girl would be a lot better on here own.

The biggest draw back of this Hotel is the location. If there were shops and bars around the hotel I would go back again, because the rooms and food were great.

However, they do need to learn to clean more, but again you can only blame the Holiday Makers who abuse the hotel, my Husband and Son went to play crazy golf and this has already been wrecked and its only been open 4 months.

All in all it was a good week, just glad I did not go for 2 weeks.

On arrival I was really suprised, after reading comments on this site I thought the Hotel was in the middle of nowhere, as soon as we turned and looked up the road I could see the hotel. Alright it is a 20 min walk into fengerola(sorry about the spelling). We were allocated our bands, the only thing I had concern about was they were going to give my son the same band I had (they told me he was classed as an adult even though he was 14, we told them he was not an adult so they changed it) so how many kids had adult bands on and could get alcahol?
The rooms were very spacious, the queen size beds are comfatable (best I have had abroad). The bathroom is the biggest I have come across, the kids managed in the living room.
Very impressed with the system of towels etc just for 15euro deposit per towel you had fresh towels everyday to sunbath on, ( I wish I had known about this before I had gone, because I would not have taken any with me. There is lifeguards round every pool, including the beach club. We spent most of our holiday over at the beach club, just going back for our dinner and having a rest from the sun, then going back till they closed it. The best thing about the beach club is that it does not open till 10 o'clock so nobody can put their towels on,plus you do not have to get up early to put your towels on the beds round the main pool, we faced the pool and some mornings there was plenty on towels on beds by 7.30.

Food was good, plenty to choose from, first time we have been AI, did not think my hubby would want to do it again but could not believe how much it saves money. ALright there was only the supermarket, I like to look in the shops, but to tell you the truth I did not miss shopping ( it is just the same tat anyway) Also it was that hot you did not want to.
The entertainment was hit and miss the reps put their heart and soul in to entertaining people, they could please some and not others, as one rep told us they are all trained in dancing or singing, they know they are not westend material, because if they were they would be in the westend not reping. The hotel group were good, Natalie the female singer could sing, alright her other half could not but he could play the guitar ( although it was not pluged in, we asked one of the reps about this, and was told it was like the microphones they use. Radio mic) Do not be put of when advertised ballet this was not (about 5min if that) rest was singing and dancing very good spanish act.
We would go again,( it would be very interesting when they are going to start on the next hotels) very good for families with young children, but older children were enjoying themselves, ( they have wavelength club)
Only thing that let this hotel down, was some people, a lot of people did not treat this hotel right, sometimes you were ashamed of them, how they left toilets, what they did in lifts, could not put things in litter bins. One night there was some kids again the ice cream machine, they were just throwing an ice cream up the side of the machine, ice cream flying everywhere, where were their parents, nothing was said.