Lina Grakauskaitė
Booked just for one night before our flight. After reading all bad reviews, my husband and I decided to eat in the city and didn't expect to even find any food after 8PM. We checked in after 8:30PM and decided to check dinner buffet. To our surprise there were plenty of food and everything tasted good. Some new dishes were brought in and other dishes were restocked. Our room was clean and beds were comfortable. Nice balcony. Only negative thing was sound isolation. It wasn't terrible, as we couldn't hear people talking, but (probably) some water pipes were just behind our beds, and running water sound was so intense, even earplugs didn't help.
Melvin
Great hotel and location. Easy access to the train line to commute and visit easily. Bar staff were friendly and helpful. Waiter staff were prompt and reset tables during dining.
It would have been nice for the pool to open before 11am, but I’m guessing this is due to safety and insurance as they open the pool with a full time life guard daily.
Only negative I can genuinely say is I did get a smell from our toilets a couple times which I would put down to sewerage.
The cleaners did a fabulous job and came daily to clean your room.
We went half board, and although not a mass amount of buffet choice, there is something for everyone. (Not any luxury food. You get what you pay for)
I would recommend this hotel for older travelers looking to explore the area and have a dip in the pool and evening drink.
This is not a resort hotel, which I why I think people have left negative reviews as they may have thought this is what they had booked.
Thanks for our stay and service
Adam Szottfried
Nice food, Frank in the bar is a very nice person - great customer service he should get a promotion! Beach is 10-15 mins walk. Good value I'll be back!!
Bo Gramdal
We had a great holiday. We had a large room with a large terrace. The room was cleaned every day. The beds were great to lie in. There were 3 outlets for 220V + in the bathroom. Delicious with air conditioning. Good coverage with free WiFi. We booked with a view of the pool area. The whole hotel was tidy and everything was cleaned every day. The breakfast was great. Plenty of space outside and inside. Should only have been a small table for the chairs out on the terrace and a small fridge. Short way to the beach, 10-12 min. Only 4-5 minutes to the train. There wasn't much noise either. So all in all we were very satisfied with the hotel and the service. Give you good grades for the entire stay that we had now at the end of September
Sarah
**PLEASE NOTE- THIS HOTEL CLOSES ITS POOL DURING THE WINTER SEASON FROM OCTOBER ONWARDS. - PLEASE SEE PICS BEFORE BOOKING HERE**
Seen a lot of mixed reviews on this place so here is my no nonsense, in depth and honest review as a Brit looking for a cheap week away.
Location- staying at Royal Costa you are pretty much central to Malaga and Fuengirola and very close to Los Alamos station (highly recommend the €10 Renfe pass). 10-15 minute walk from nearest beach, although with the Renfe pass our favourite beach to visit was Carvejal, a few stops away. You can also use the train to get to and from the airport, we realised this after we had forked out €20 for a taxi for a 5 minute journey.
Staff- We arrived from the airport at 9:50pm. The lady at reception quickly ushered us into the restaurant so we could have some dinner despite it closing at 10pm. This was very much appreciated and a nice gesture. The maids were always very pleasant and friendly along with the restaurant and bar staff. Had no issues at all with staffing.
Hotel amenities- unfortunately this is where I have had to lower the rating, THE POOL WAS CLOSED for the winter and unavailable for use throughout our whole stay. It was closed off with a very uninviting mesh fence, nobody was allowed to even sit round it. Nowhere on the booking form, Ts & Cs or reception desk did it mention anything about this, we were not told about this when we checked in either. There were various families with children staying at this hotel and I can imagine this was a big letdown for them. I booked through on the beach and it also states the hotel has a gym, searched the whole place and never saw any sign of a gym anywhere. I have contacted on the beach for further clarification about this.
Clientele - 90% Spanish. 10% other. Saw 3 other British families in our week stay.
Entertainment- apart from the flamenco dancing everything else was completely inaccessible, bingo was done in Spanish with no translation and the DJ spoke no English either.
Food- food was spot on, i really enjoyed the variety on offer. Every night was something different. Although we don’t have any dietary requirements, I don’t think it caters very well. I saw a lady asking the chef if there was pork in the paella and he didn’t seem to have a clue.
Room- always clean, beds made every morning, floor mopped, bathroom disinfected. For a 3 star resort the cleaners go above and beyond. Balcony was small with 2 chairs, no table. Room was decent size with a small tv. Decor is typical of a Spanish hotel, looks like it’s not been revamped since the 80s, but can’t expect much more for the price. Walls were paper thin and can hear the conversations of the neighbours, didn’t really bother us as we are heavy sleepers but this could be an issue if you aren’t.
Overall, I booked this hotel with the hopes of it being a relaxing pool holiday, with the pool being closed we had to make the best of a bad situation and instead travelled up and down the Andalusian coast on the train. I expected more from this hotel, especially when it advertises a pool and a gym. Can’t give it more than 2 stars unfortunately as I feel the description was very inaccurate of the place, the pictures advertised tell a very different story of the hotel. I hope they soon realise that deceiving a consumer is never a good idea.