Sol Marbella Estepona Atalaya Park

I went on holiday with my daughter and two Granddaughters for 4 nights as a special treat. We arrived at the Hotel Sol Marbella Estepona Atalaya Park by Melia having booked with Love Holidays but this hotel did not look like the photo in the brochures which showed low rise with a lovely pool, restaurant and nice big gym. But the building we were taken to was a high rise building which when we went in reception we thought, oh yes, this looks nice. We went to our room and all through the corridors we could not believe our eyes at the state of some of the walls, woodwork etc.We looked at the gym which was dark and dingy with hardly any equipment in it. It was like something that hasn't been sorted since the 1970's. We got to our room, which was a suite, to be met with a really musty smell, the hand dryer did not work, the windows were filthy, there were no towels in the room and when we tried to open the patio door, the handle came off in our hand and all the runners were disgusting. We went back to the reception and she told us it was the 'Best Room in the Hotel'. She said she would get someone to come and clean the floor and the patio runners so we went back. She came with a mop and did under the curtain and then went. Then two men came with tool kits to mend the door. We went for lunch whilst they were in our room which was awful. The pork was pink in the middle and the paella was nothing like paella. The staff were stressed and rude. We went back to the room and decided that we could not stay any longer so went to reception to tell them but there was nobody there. We waited to have a word with them but nobody arrived so we just left the keys on the reception desk. We booked another hotel on line and paid for a taxi to take us. The hotel will not pay us our money back even though we did not even stay there and Love Holidays said they cannot do anything about it so we are now out of pocket by £1000! All I can say is make sure you know where you are staying is as described.

Huge hotel. Can’t imagine in peak season that said our kids have grown up. Lots here for kids. Bit out of the way. Need a car! Maria Jose in bar was delightful. Friendly and bubbly. Give this woman a raise in salary! 10/10 at her job . Every hotel needs her! Food good. Staff good some not so much. Hotel clean and cleaning staff so good!

Hotel under construction work and out of season when we visited. Modern clean hotel in all parts that were open to us, main pool and pool bar area closed with everything could ask for. All Inclusive - drinks choice for alcohol and for non alcohol soft drinks and cocktails. Food - breakfast very good choice with cooked breakfast, omelettes, pancakes waffles, fruit cereal etc - lunch if like fish plenty choice with hot food on a lunch time, always have fries, plain pasta and choice of sauce. Had a huge selection of salad, cheeses and meats, and a paella. There are lots of nice desert choices. The evening meal is pretty similar to lunch time. There is a huge selection of salad, cheese meats, breads, and deserts. Hot meal options are limited again lots of fish. - snacks limited - pretty much overflow from breakfast. Individual meals that people bought looked really nice. Outside of all-inclusive. The pool area was nice and clean. With life guard on duty and towels available to hire. Lounge bar, clean and served large selection of drinks. Service was reasonably fast, and staff were very friendly. Alot of large family parties when we were here. Very popular hotel for golfers.

Just returned from a short golf break here booked through Golfbreaks! Decided to take the wives on a golf trip for the first time so decided an all inclusive was the way to go. We were delighted upon check in told be told we’d all been upgraded to their Villas. These Villas were absolutely superb, all with their own distinct style, myself and my wife’s was a Spanish Style Villa, number 5004, it was incredible! Looked like it had just been renovated, lovely and bright with tiled floors. 2 large bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a fully functional kitchen with a stocked fridge full of drinks and a huge living area with sofas, chairs flat screen tv and large Bluetooth sound system. There was also a large tv in the bedroom we used, maybe in the other room as well, I’m not sure! Large dining table and chairs also there. Outside was a large private garden going around the entire villa including another table and chairs with two full size sun loungers and even an outside shower! Individual remote controlled air conditioning units were in the 2 bedrooms and living area as well. The hotel itself was spotlessly clean. All the staff were polite and helpful. It’s an extremely large hotel with bars and restaurants everywhere, not all appeared to be open and the hotel pools were lovely and quiet, the pools themselves were the perfect temperature. The food in the buffet was nice, the evening meal was definitely better than lunch. As people have said in other reviews, the beach isn’t great at all, not the hotels fault obviously but you really can’t go for a swim as there’s just millions of large rocks and pebbles at the sea bed, I did try a dip once with some shoes on and it’s just dangerous really, there were quite large waves and it was difficult to get back out of the water with the slippery stones! There are some truly incredible views of the sea from the bars near the shore. It’s such a shame about the beach because it’s such a great location. It’s about 20 euro to go into Puerto Banus and taxis are almost instant. There’s a decent shop in the hotel for all your needs! All in all we really enjoyed this unique style hotel and would highly recommend and the upgrade really did make this a holiday to remember!

We chose this hotel for some quiet relaxation in the low season and were not disappointed. Although the weather was unusually wet, we were able to enjoy the break. The room was spacious and clean with a large rain shower and plenty of hot water. Bed very comfortable. We took the all-inclusive package and were very satisfied with coffee wine brandy and snacks available when we wanted. The quality and variety of the food available for breakfast, lunch, and dinner was excellent and always fresh. The staff were always attentive. All in all, good value for money. We would happily return, but so many places to go, so little time!

I’d give this hotel 3.5 out of 5 if I could. It’s a decent hotel with lovely spacious rooms, lots of storage for your things and it’s very clean. The food was good and plentiful and they even managed to cope with lots of big groups all at once (school kids and footballers, all of whom were very polite and well behaved) without it appearing chaotic in the dining room. Food was always topped up regularly. It’s a big hotel in a lovely wonderful coastal spot with great sea views and you can hear the sea from the rooms. However it’s a bit remote from anywhere else so you’d either need a car or be prepared to do a lot of walking in areas that aren’t all that suited to pedestrians. Plus the hotel could do with a lick of paint in places, both inside and outside to make it look like someone cares about it. The main public areas have been refurbished to the Sol standard but look bit further and it’s a bit tired. It’s probably good value though and more positives than negatives.