Booked this a year ago on recommendation by my sister who is very fussy. But was concerned when I read some of the earlier reviews for this year. But I have to say what a great family holiday!

The hotel was clean as was our room. I say room it was more like an apartment. Maids replaced towels and made beds every day and were very polite. And the drinks man came daily to top up the fridge with bottled water and soft drinks.

We were on the top floor overlooking the main pool - what a great view of the whole complex!

We stayed all inclusive and would definitely recommend this as we met a family who were self catering who wished they weren't. Food itself was very good with loads of variety.

We only booked a week so didn't venture outside, so can't really comment about location - only that transfer times to Malaga airport were a reasonable 30 - 40 mins.
We found all of the hotel staff very polite, friendly and helpful.

Children's entertainment was good including the clubs our 4 year old went to 3 times a day, which she wanted to go to. The adults entertainment we didn't watch as we spent our time by the piano bar with friends.

This holiday was so good that the 3 of us said we would go back, but for 2 weeks next time.

Just returned from the village for the second year in a row. Enjoyed it even better than last year.

The food in the restaurant has improved greatly on last year. Each night has a different theme eg. Indian, Chinese, sea food, European night. I know you get chips served every night but there is also rice and baked potatoes or mash if you prefer that.

My son is 14 and went to the Wavelength club for the high ropes session (12 euros) and the pool tournaments but didn't really attend as much as he could have. He preferred the internet cafe (1 euro for 10 ins)or the snooker and pool tables (2 euros a game)he spent about 20 - 30 euros a day on this. I had prebooked the soccer club for 4 days. He enjoyed this and it is a great way to meet kids his own age with similar interests. He then could meet the boys at night and go to play snooker or internet cafe.

The night entertainment was better than last year. Ok I know it follow the same pattern every night, ie kids disco at 8, bingo at 9, family session (Mr and Mrs, pop or trivia quiz, balloon bursting comp. etc)then the cabaret but if you get involved you will have a great time. The 5 talented entertainers do a really good job and try to vary the shows for us. Chill out and enjoy yourself.

One down side. I didn't find the hotel as clean as last year, partly guests fault. They don't clean up after themselves and smoke where they are not supposed to! Hotel is non smoking anywhere inside and round the pool area, but people still leave ciggie ends in cups at pool or lying on the ground. When we arrived I borrowed a brush from the maids and swept my apt floor. The maids skimmed over it daily after that but at least I knew it started clean! Rooms have all the equipment you will need (except a brush) and even as all inclusive you get hob, kettle, microwave, fridge and toaster.

I have been Al inclusive twice and would not recommend self catering. I constantly spoke to s/c guests who said they were spending a fortune. Breakfast is 13 euros and lunch or dinner is 20 euros per person. It adds up. Consider up grading when you get there, well worth it, as hotel is quite far from any where else you can eat. 1.2 euros on the bus, supposed to run every half hour, but I always waited longer than that or 10 - 12 euros in a taxi each way. It will make a difference when the new train station opens. Trains very reliable every half hour but too far to walk to next station at the moment.

All in all a fantastic holiday and we will return (though possibly not next year.)

A very nice and clean hotel and the rooms are very well decorated and furnished.

If you dont go all inclusive you will find it very expensive unless you plan to hire a car and can drive to the nearest supermarket.

Soft drinks - 4

Just back from HV. Second time there. Enjoyed it even better than the last time. Upgraded to AI on arrival. I thought it was excellent value for money. Paid E30 per adult per day and E20 per child per day. It worked out at E1118.00 for 2 weeks food and drink! I would have spent an awful lot more had I gone SC. The food was lovely, something for everyone, even the fussy eaters. If you upgrade on arrivalyou get an extra 10% off, i.e 10% off E34

Entertainment was a lot better than last year, they have a very talented team of about 6 young adults that really work very hard, the shows were varied and again something for everyone. If you did not like that kind of entertainment you could have a quite drink at the piano bar.

The kids loved it, they have lots of freedom, because it is so secure.

The only fault I would have with the place is the fountain outside the piano bar, it is a magnet for the young kids and you cant relax when you have small kids playing near water.

I enjoyed it so much again this year that I have already booked for next year.

On speaking with other holiday makers, they all seemed to be enjoying it as much as we did, but you do get the odd one or two that complain about everything, these type of people would not be happy anywhere.

All round a great family holiday.

Just back from HV, Surprised what a good Hotel and Entertainment team the Holiday Village has considering some of the Holiday reports on here.

The Hotel is kept clean, the hotel staff and First Choice staff always go out of their way to help you should you have a problem.

The food and the Entertainment is really good, their was different food every day and of good standard.

The Entertainment team worked very hard to ensure everyone had a good time.
The Location means it is a bit of a way out to beaches and shops but their is regular buses that stops outside the hotel and it does say about the location in the Holiday book.

Will one day return to this great hotel

We are a family of four: 2 adults, two children aged 8 and 12. got back from the holiday village late Saturday night, and what a fantastic time we had!

The first thing that struck me about the place was the sheer size of it - it really is on a huge scale over eight floors and as there are two 'wings' it can get a bit confusing at first, but you soon find your way round.

The facilities are as follows:

Level O - Reception and some guest rooms, lifts to:

Level -1 - Site shop (This seemed to be pretty well stocked and was a decent size), games arcade which contained prize-grabbing machines, air hockey etc..., Internet Cafe, kids clubs rooms, welcome meeting room, pool table room, WCs, the piano bar, La Perla restaurant, Mexican restaurant, Italian restaurant, toddlers pool, main pool, poolside bars (x2 - the one nearest the pool serves drinks and ice-cream, the other, by the stage, serves drinks and snacks), main stage.

Level -2 - Irish bar, Indoor pool (definitely worth a visit), gym, health & beauty club, luggage storeroom.

Levels 1-5 are guest rooms

From Level -1 you can access the beach club. You walk past the main stage and out through the gate, over the bridge, up a path and you're there. It's about a five minute walk. The beach club opens at ten and there are plenty of pools and parasols. We found that there was a mass exodus over to the beach club on two days as some children had accidents of the 'solid variety'(!) in the big main pool. This meant everyone out and pool closure for the rest of the day. Annoying to say the least - it is made very clear that nappy-age kids must wear swimmers, but evidently some choose to ignore this. Apparently this is a regular occurance - so beware! (It's encouraging to know that the hotel takes hygiene so seriously though! I didn't hear of any incidence of 'holiday tummy' while we were there!)

All of the indoor communal areas have the slippery marble-look floors (as expected really) and we saw several 'slippings' while we were there. When you fall on this kind of floor, you fall hard, so be careful! There cleaners were around from morning until night and did a good job considering that some people evidently don't know how to clean up after themselves.

The food was excellent, in my opinion. Here's a synopsis:

Breakfast in 'La Perla': Full english (Sausages, fried egg, scrambled egg, beans, bacon, fried bread, grilled tomatoes, mushrooms and also chef prepared omelettes - plain/cheese/ham/bacon/tomato ), continental stuff (Toast, rolls, cold meats and cheeses and pastries), loads of fresh fruit, Cereal (Cornflakes, coco pops, sugar puffs & muesli), tea and coffee, water, fruit juice.

Lunch at the Beach Club - Buffet style - fantastic range of salad bar goodies: pasta salads, cheeses, meats, fish (fresh tuna & sardines etc...), all the usual salad veg, soups, rolls, several hot dishes (eg: lasagne, fish in sauce, chicken in sauce) and all the usual kiddie stuff too (chicken nuggets, burgers, chips, pizza & sausages) plus fruit, youghurt, ice creams, pastries & puddings. The buffet lunch was really good - can't recommend it enough - lovely views over the coast from there too.

And/ OR

Lunch at the snackbar: Some (but NOT all) things were AI. From what I remember they included:

3 varieties of pizza (1 slice of)
Popcorn
Cheesy potato balls (like potato croquettes)
Chips
Hamburger
Cheeseburger
Hotdog
Cheese & Ham toasty (really nice!!)
Cheese toasty
Ham toasty
Tomato pasta (hot spag bol without the mince!))
Salad bowl (tuna, lettuce, tomato, sweetcorn)
BBQ Chicken wings (Really tasty, but you only get two in a portion, so if you want to share a few ask for a few portions!)
Bread and butter
Fruit
Pastries

There are quite a lot of other things on the snack menu that are not AI such as chilli nachos, Jacket potatoes, tortilla wraps and battered prawns.

Dinner at 'La Perla' - again buffet style with all the stuff mentioned above that they have at the beach club buffet. Each night they have a theme such as 'mexican', 'italian', 'chinese', 'caribbean' etc... with traditional dishes from these countries.

The Italian and Mexican restaurants (you get to go once a week to each) were better than I expected and the sevice we received was very quick. Tip: book early in your holiday to avoid disappointment or silly times (how many kids want to eat at 9:30pm?). Having said that, we think that they have a certain number of places for AI customers, as they had a job squeezing us in at 8:30pm, but when we got there there were lots of free tables (for self catering customers?. If you go earlier than your booking, I would anticipate their being able to squeeze you in. Also, if you are celebrating a birthday, anniversary or other special event, they do have a list of extras (birthday cakes etc...) that you can purchase quite reasonably at the main reception. My daughter was eight while we were there and on the night of her birthday we went to the Italian and pre-ordered a chocolate birthday cake.

The location of the hotel is not particularly near to... well... anything really! The thing is, you should research a holiday before you go, so if you get there and find it hasn't got everything you want on the doorstep, then it's really just unfortunate. We knew there was nothing for miles around, but we just wanted a chill-out-around-the-pool holiday and this place definitely fits the bill. There are lovely views out to sea and we really weren't looking for more than that. If you want a hotel that's in the middle of all the action, maybe you need one further down the coast...

The staff were friendly for the most part. The maitre d' of La Perla, in particular, did a great job - he seemed to be running a military operation at every sitting, but always managed to get you seated with the minimum of waiting time and he always had a kind word for the kids. If all the staff had been like this, I would have given a five for this section. You might find that some of the staff can be a bit surly and make you wait longer than necessary (At the beachclub I was the only customer and waited 15 minutes while she counted the entire contents of the till, which I felt was a bit unnecessary. We heard similar stories from other guests). The staff in the Italian and Mexican were very pleasant and the reps themselves did an amazing job and were very friendly.

We enjoyed the entertainment and went every night. The bingo was very popular, with prizes of up to 800E some nights and there was a good variety of stuff going on from 8pm-11.00pm (which included all singing/all dancing shows, quizzes, comedy, games and a pantomime), and then more entertainment (karaoke, school disco, tribute acts etc..) in the Irish bar until 2am.

The entertainment team were extremely enthusiastic and really couldn't have done any better in my opinion. Luke, Amy and Julie, in particular, had extremely strong voices and gave excellent performances. Let them know if your child has a birthday while you are there, as they will make a fuss of them.

The kids could go to the kids clubs from 9-11pm, but plenty stayed at the front to watch the entertainment too.

There was a huge variety of stuff to do for all ages. There were five opportunities to go to the various kids clubs in a day and each session was 1.5 hours (except for the evening one, which was two hours). Kids clubs are at 10am, 12pm, 2pm, 4pm and 9pm. They kept them really busy, but if they chose not to go, there were plenty of other activities going on during the day. I would say that the 'in2action' reps came round the pool maybe three times a day with other activities in which children and adults alike can get involved.

I have to say that we had a fantastic holiday and felt every aspect provided excellent value for money. It seems to me that First Choice go out of their way to ensure that people are kept entertained (there were several groups of reps with different responsibilities: the kids clubs reps, the entertainments reps, the 'in2action' reps; all doing a stirling job by all accounts.

I've read a few complaints about the 'entertainment' but, I'm not sure what people expect - at the end of the day, this is a holiday, not the west end. That said, it was very clear that all the entertainers had had professional training (As someone who has also had 'professional training', I think I am qualified to say that!) and they worked damn hard to give everyone a good time! I think complainers would generally be in the minority in this instance, as everyone I saw seemed to be enjoying themselves and the venue was always packed.

We would definitely visit this hotel again and are keen to try some of the other hotels within this group.

Highly recommended!

We were a little worried before going as some of the reports we read were less than glowing. These reports couldn't have been more wrong.

This hotel is a fantastic place for a family holiday and we would definatley consider returning and would recomend this hotel to anyone.

The cleaners at the hotel are great always working hard. The hotel is kept very clean.

The food is good enough, plenty of variety. We were there for two weeks and found that there was always something different every night. The italian restraunt is fantastic. The mexican was also good. We found that the staff both in the restrauns and bars very polite, with the execption of one lady in the bar at the beach club, you will know who she is when you meet her. We went all inclusive and would suggest every one to do the same, we witnessed one woman paying 12.90e for three pints of coke! I hate to think how much you would spend SC for two weeks.

The kid's clubs are fantastic my son loved every minute of the activities put on. The staff are really good with the kids.

The entertainment is fantastic, high light were Amy i caberet, an amazing singer, Mother Goose panto, very funny and Lukes bingo bobby, absoloutly hilarious not to be missed.

We didn't find the location a problem at all. there are bus stops outside the hotel going to Fuengirola (hotel side) and Benelmadena and torremolinos (beach club side). It takes around 10 mins to get to both fuengarola and benelmadena and around 20 mins to toerremolinos. All fares cost 1.20e adults and children payiny the same. Taxi's are easy to get you can book them via reception, or there it a taxi rank at the enterance to the hotel and there always seems to be one there. It cost us 10e to benelmadena and 12e to fuengarola.

We went out to Parque Acuatico Mijas, but children had to be over 1.2 meters to go on any of the slides. My 6 year old son is only 1.15 so we didn't stay very long. There are trips organised to by First Choice to Tivoli World and then to Aqualand and the crocodile park in Torremolinos. Worthwile trips out but go by yourself it's much cheaper. For example Tivoli World with FC would have cost 102e for three, on our own with taxi there and back only 68e!!

S/C or A/I
We went self catering and LOVED it!!
If you have booked to go S/C and have read on hear you will need to go A/I then don't believe it.

We put 1300 GBP into a Nationwide flex account for our total holiday spending money and came home to find 109 still in the account. :0)

You DON'T have to upgrade. Why anyone wants to go to Spain and then eat in the same room surrounded by the same people night after night I do not know. We ate at the Mexican twice and the Italian once for approx 50 E a time - each visit we shared 2 starters and 3 of us had a desert and 1 drink each. This was more than enough food. The Mexican was good but the Italian was pretty poor. There was only pizza and pasta on the menu, no meat or fish dishes at all.

If we had gone A/I our holiday would have cost us another 1700 pounds we saved 500 and enjoyed eating out somewhere different every night!

There are some beautiful restaurants over looking the sea in Benalmadena where steak and fish is barbecued in front of you. We also ate in Fuengirola a few times where a family of 4 can eat and drink for 35 E at very "British" restaurants. We went to Puerto Banus ( on local transport) where we had our most expensive meal at "Picasso's - well worth a visit!! This cost 77E.

For our money we also went to Gibraltor for the day - costing 75E using a local firm, all A/C coaches and the same itinerary as the reps trip which would have cost 170E.
We also took a taxi to Benalmadena Pueblo - a mountain village which is really beautiful, ask Ivor about it.

We also went to Marbella on the bus and Malaga on the train. You can have a good holiday and get around without spending the earth. Those people who say you are stuck in the middle of nowhere have no imagination and no energy to actually do anything!

They encourage you to upgrade when you are there for 34E / 20 E per day if you do this for 11-14 consecutive days. This is cheaper than the brochure so people who book A/I from the start must be pretty annoyed.

If you want to stay in the same place and drink an awful lot and put on a stone or more then you can probably get your moneys worth. We met an A/I family who'd still spent 400 pounds in a week and also people who hadn't left the complex. The buses and trains are so easy to use and as you can see by my sums you will have a better holiday and spend less by going A/I.

(Drinks wise we took our own drinks down to the pool/ stage when we needed to, my favourites weren't A/I anyway)

The Apartments
These were good, though rather strangely designed - obviously a male architect! The bathrooms were enormous and, as many people have already described - 2 of everything.

This really helped when getting ready for an evening. The living area was on the small size but we did get an end room; these have an extra 2 windows and about 2 metre squared floor space more than the other rooms which helped a lot.
Request one if you have time. We overlooked the crazy golf and had good sea views ( which I requested) we wanted a quiet room and apart from hearing our neighbours use the bathroom at night, we got one. The kitchen was adequate as was the bathroom. You also get 2 large wardrobes and an enormous balcony which could have been smaller to give more living space.

The Reps
Best we've ever had and there are so many!
Ivor was great and told us how to get around using the buses and trains and where to see real Spain. He made a vague attempt to sell their over priced trip.

The daytime kids clubs and adults stuff was excellent. We enjoyed family archery and our kids loved the kids club sessions. It was good fun watching them in the pool based sessions.

Pool/ Beach club
The main pool was great when you woke up early enough to get down to get a bed and shade. However it was closed from lunchtime for the rest of the day on 3 days in 5 due to kids pooing in it! This got very annoying. Yes you could go to the Beach club but it was a 10 minute walk on your own - 20 with a 6 year old, and when you've got to go backwards and forwards to take the children to the kids clubs they want to go toy get very fed up of the Beach club bridge. (They make you go a very strange way round)

The complex
Someone else has recently given an excellent description - it really is vast and we did find ourselves going up in the wrong lifts at times.

The evenings
We only spent 3 evenings here as we like to get out and about - but we stayed in cos of the kids clubs - chocolate parties etc. They come out covered in the stuff!
The evening shows re not for us at all- really desperate at times but we just don't like this sort of thing so if you do maybe they're good!?? However there was nothing else to do. We played golf until it got too dark and sat around the reception area reading about the area. They should really keep the health club open in the evenings.

Health club
Brilliant! A lovely A/C gym which was very quiet and we also had a facial and massage - this was included in our original holiday money - I'm impressed with what we got for our money!;)

We have said we wouldn't stay here again because we want to visit other places. we would recommend it to families, we didn't see anyone without children there.

Have a good time!

We had a fabulous time at this hotel during the first two weeks in July.

All aspects of the accommodation were very good - cleanliness, facilities and staff. The maitre d in la perla in particular was very pleasant, even when so obviously under pressure.

The reception staff were always very helpful, and the evening entertainment was fab if you got involved!

Our holiday was so good we have just booked to go back next year (something we are not in the habit of doing!) and are meeting up with some of the people we met there this year.

A holiday is what you make it and should be enjoyed as most people only go once a year! They made every effort to make us feel at home - only one small grievance - our air conditioning didn't work and wasn't repaired even when we had complained about it.

Otherwise a good time was had by all.

Location