There is so many things to love about Marbella, Spain. We happily booked on our Marriott trade in…read morehere for a week into a 3 bedroom villa to celebrate our daughter who's a recent graduate and multi state bar pass attorney. We made it here after being in Madrid for 3 nights with our youngest who works for the FS corporation. I mention that, because one thing that happens in our stay was appalling and trust me , FS employees always notice.. First , this resort is beautiful. It's right on the beach. A beautiful gym; multi pools , including a heated one inside; a kids pool & play area; BBQ areas and multiple outlets for eating. The lobby is small, which made check in a bit slow. There is a market place, but it's pricey as it's on property. But it gets you what you need & our girls loved that it had quick pizzas and Euro snacks on the ready. There is a grocery store down the way , also pricey , but cheaper than on Marriott's property. The villa itself could use a bit of a renovation but it's very quiet and so nice and near so much in S. Spain. We had a large balcony over looking the grounds. The location superb. The villa itself was outfitted perfectly for our daughters and us for the 6 day stay. We had one misfire at the on site restaurant: his name is , ' Rofo' and he is a tyrant. He works at El Med, as a host --- maybe a waiter and wins the award for the rudest, most obnoxious staff member we encountered in Europe this year.. yes. The entire year. He sat us at 830, maybe closer to 9pm? But being in Spain, that is usually the dinner hour. We had been traveling all day so we heard music in the restaurant and one of our daughters had a headache and asked to sit on the patio, which he took issue with. She saw him roll his eyes as we sat at the outside table , ( he said we had to sit by 'his' door and order from the limited bar menu), so she left for the room & we went inside, which again aggravated him and he rolled his eyes again. He slammed the menus down and told us to hurry and order. He then placed bread on the table that we didn't want , ( charging us for it) & returning to say 'yes?' .. meaning he wanted our order. We ordered quickly. This was the vibe through our quick dinner; and when we listened to the great entertainment, that we loved and decided to order dessert since it seemed others were? He yelled at us, 'HURRY UP!! IT's almost 10 and we close!!' While tapping his watch and saying , 'I I , EYE EYE EYE O!' .. to that I finally said , ' that is NOT okay .. you are rude !' And he said ' you showed up late and chef is waiting !' .. I had NO clue what this man meant .. but we wanted our check and I was so angry and humiliated we vowed to never go back to this restaurant again. Moreover, it's a Marriott where we have over a weeks plus worth of points for this trip in Europe like we do every year and the American brands employee treated us that badly at dinner after our long day ? So that was our one HUGE issue. We did check out a day early and leave for Barcelona. The spa was also closed and that is not mentioned anywhere on any site or when you check in- it's only when you ask. That said most of our time here was great. It's a lovely location. There needs to be more restaurants with more variety open and a spa. Some updates are needed but I think we will definitely return and maybe Rofo will have a new career somewhere else :-)

Great food and service. No one told us a reservation was recommended though. Beautiful water views!read more

Good, hip, lively adults only hotel to stay at with great staff. Same group also owns El Fuerte…read moreHotel. Almost feels like a cruise ship with all the amenities and British guests but this hotel has a nice pool, beach club, gym, beautiful rooftop bar and great breakfast buffet. Rooms are nicely appointed; my "Keep the Secret" room had a patio/balcony with side view to the sea. Short 5-10 minute stroll to Old Town and good value for the money. I did wander over to Puente Romano and Marbella Club for an even more upscale vibe that was only a 10-12 minute taxi ride away. Puerto Banus is another 5-10 minutes and you can catch a ferry boat to there from a marina promenade that is just a 5 minute walk from the hotel.

Oh my goodness, where to start?! I fell in love with this city and to a great extend it's because…read moreof the comfort and service we had here (aside from Marbella's amazing beaches and views of course!). The hotel is right by the ocean, and our room opened to a balcony overseeing the beach. So needless to say, the view was AMAZING. The balcony is awesome to sit and relax and enjoy a drink. And the room is so comfortable and has very good amenities. The room features are controlled via a smartphone that can also be taken out and used for internet and navigation if needed. That was a pretty nifty thing to have around, so I thought it was cool. The shower is awesome and the water pressure is great. The toiletries are good and that's all I need to say about that. I also experienced the SPA. I had a deep tissue massage, and although it wasn't that deep, it was so relaxing and refreshing. You also get a pass to use the SPA facilities for the day, but I ended up not using that... since I wanted to be by the beach instead. There's hotel-only beach seating area with service staff available for food and drinks. We tried some appetizers and they were awesome. We also ate at the hotel restaurant on beach level. There was live music, which was awesome... although the sound wasn't really balanced, so we could barely hear the singer while we were able to hear the music just fine. The staff are super friendly. Happy to help, take pictures, provide service, whatever you need. The hotel also has bicycles available for use for the day which is great for riding along the beach. We'll definitely come back to this place when we revisit.

The rooms are very pretty. Most of the staff is friendly. They're willing to give you what you ask…read morefor but most things have an extra cost. For example the hotel is not on the beach but you can use their pool at the beach club which has a minimum fee of 20 pounds per person. There is a charge for water at the table and for any bottled water in the room. A bucket of ice costs 6 pounds. We had to pay 90 extra pounds to have a third person in the room. They advertise a nice gym and even show a picture of the facility with a view of the hotel pool from the gym. We went to the gym and there were six machines and some weights in a very tiny room and two of the machines did not work. After being at the hotel for eight hours the third bed , which was the pull out sofa bed, was not even made up. When we called room service to have them make up the bed they did not seem to understand our request and had to go back severeal times to get the pillows and sheets and a blanket. After explaining the bed incident to the manger he was very kind and apologized. The apology was sincere but most hotels would not have charged us for the third person if they had made a mistake like this. I think the staff means well but are not given any power to address issues that involve cost. This is not what I would expects from a four or five star hotel.

Did not stay here but stopped by for their fantastic Sunday brunch at the Beach Club and to check…read moreout the impressive grounds. Brunch featured great Joselito's Cinco Jotas jamon, Beef Wellington, paella, lamb chops, smoked salmon, shrimp, desserts and more. Absolutely wonderful and worth the 130 Euro. There is a bar called Rudy's that is stunning though closed for the summer months. The waiting room off the lobby is impeccably furnished. High end shopping on site including a Louis Vuitton. Beautiful hotel that attracts a more refined, laid back crowd.

We would typically highly recommend this hotel for many reasons but sadly we are unable to do so…read more The property is beautiful, has impeccable service, fantastic dining and truly all of the amenities and service that you would seek in a resort, but we would like to share the troubling and incredibly disappointing experience that we had while there that left us feeling completely violated.We were traveling as 2 couples and were staying in rooms 167 and 169. On our 2nd day we realized that multiple things from our rooms were missing: 1. Several hundred dollars taken out of the wallet that was on the shelf in the closet in room 167 2. A jewelry case that had many pieces of expensive and incredibly sentimental things that can never be replaced - this was also on a shelf in the closet in room 167 3. Another jewelry case that had many pieces of expensive and sentimental pieces that can never be replaced - this was in a drawer in the closet of room 169 and had been covered with undergarments and bathing suits. We were distraught and went immediately to the guest services office. We were professional and kind while sharing what had happened. Management promised an investigation and review of the security film. Over the course of the next 4 days we spent several hours per day proactively seeking updates and information. One of the hotel managers and one of the guest services managers accompanied us to the police station where we spent 2 hours getting a report filed. On our last night of vacation we still had no resolution as to how the hotel was going to help us so we went back to the office and engaged with Julian (the hotel General Manager and person who responds to these trip advisor reviews). We spent over an hour with him sharing with him in a very rational manner what transpired, how we felt and how disappointed we were that this had happened. He listened and then said that we need to understand that things like this happen and that the hotel is not responsible for any of it. Julian came across as condescending and it felt that he was insinuating that we were not being entirely truthful. He referenced that the Ritz Carlton has bi-laws that state that they are not responsible for things that are taken from their guests. I told him that we have stayed at many Ritz Carltons over the years and have never had an issue, but if we ever did I was certain that they would take care of us and make us feel valued given how impeccable their customer service is. I know that we wouldn't have had to spend several hours over the course of 4 days trying to plead our case to the Ritz Carlton management team while we were told repeatedly that it's not their fault and we shouldn't accuse them of taking our things. He said that the security cameras show that 3 staff people entered our room the night of the robbery and each of them has been working at the hotel for 20 years and that they have never had an issue. We said that we hoped that it wasn't one of the 3 staff members who were in our room but that the reality is that our things were gone so somebody was in our room going through our things while we were gone. He continued to tell us that we should not accuse people on this team of taking our things. The conversation was going in circles as we tried multiple times to plead with him to understand that we are good, honest people who feel incredibly violated. We asked him if he could please put us in touch with the owner of the company and he said no. He said that he would personally call the owner to discuss this matter with him. We asked him if we could please be present for this conversation and he said no. While we can appreciate the loyalty he has for his employees, we also feel that he should have valued what we were telling him vs. debating it with us. The entire thing hugely impacted our experience and took hours and energy away from our trip. What has been most disheartening is the lack of communication, compassion and empathy from the highest levels of management. This is not the gold standard of the rest of the resort experience. There is absolutely, positively without a doubt an issue with theft. It's a terrible and incredibly unsettling thing and it's sad to head home with this type of feeling after what should have been the most magical experience at this resort. It is bad enough that it happened, but it's compounded given that we had to beg them to help make it right. In the end they didn't do that. Very disheartening. We recognize that 99% of the people there are absolutely fantastic but sadly somebody came into our room, went through our personal belongings and took money and things that were important to us and we will never see those things again. Awful in every regard.

Hotel Nobu is an absolute dream! Situated adjacent to the Mediterranean Sea and alongside "The…read moreGolden Mile", the ritziest part of Marbella, lies this stunning, Andalusian style hotel, that aims to please. I thoroughly enjoyed my entire stay here, and you will too. The lushly manicured grounds are maintained exceptionally well. In fact, they were just adding a fresh coat of stark white paint to the dwellings while I was visiting, which was beautifully accented by cobalt blue wall pottery, containing bright pink flowers. The majestic swans that swim in the man-made stream help make this an even more romantic getaway than it already is. I was seriously living vicariously through those two. Now where was my dream date when I needed him most?! The rooms are every bit as spectacular as the glitzy pictures on their website will lead you to believe. The decor is contemporary meets boho chic and the color palette consists of relaxing, neutral tones. The Deluxe & Junior Suite rooms were both spacious and well appointed. Nobu Hotel goes the extra mile with Natura Bissé toiletries. Anything you could possibly need or want is provided... slippers, combs, bath salts, makeup remover, you name it. There's even night cream for your face, which was quite luxurious. The breakfast buffet was heavenly! Bring your appetite as they do not disappoint. This isn't your typical hotel buffet, it's a major cut above the rest. Pretty much any breakfast food that your heart desires is served and all of it is excellent. Six Senses Spa is close by too, in case you're in need of some pampering. I had an amazing, ninety minute massage with the argan oil upgrade. I thoroughly enjoyed my treatment, as well as the amenities. Every evening, turndown service brought me something special to nibble on and offered me complimentary water bottles. The staff truly made me feel like a princess here. Tip for the ladies: pack an extra pair of flats to carry with you in your purse so you don't slip on the cobblestone bridge in your heels (especially after a few cocktails at Nobu, lol). See photo I posted of the Roman Bridge. This is in no means a complaint whatsoever. That bridge is so picturesque and it's from first century A.D. so it's certainly not going anywhere! I mention it only so that those reading this can plan accordingly. Nobu Hotel Marbella is as good as it gets! You can order Nobu sushi from room service. Need I say more? I will always have fond memories of my stay here (special shoutout to GM John Thomson for taking such good care of me). I hope to return for another visit in the near future, next time I'd like to stay during the summer months. I'm convinced this is the nicest hotel in all of Marbella! Highly recommend.

The A/C makes a terrible noise, we were told a technician was coming to solve the problem while we…read morewere out... we just came back and the noise is still terrible... it will be a looong night... :(

We had a wonderful stay at the hotel. We arrived very late, but the host was very gracious in…read moreletting us in. The room was very clean. The shower had very strong pressure. We also had breakfast at the hotel. It was simple, but delicious- good coffee, fresh fruits, fresh orange juice, fresh bread, eggs, etc. I would highly recommend the hotel.

Great breakfast, very friendly staff We're looking forward…read moreto our next breakfast. Too bad the restaurant closes at 15.30 though. Would love to hang out with a sundowner

This restaurant, located at the Crown Resorts at Club Marabella, offers delicious food (the leg of…read morelamb is phenomenally tender and well seasoned), an attentive and friendly wait staff and live music. The singer had the audience not only up and dancing, but singing along too. A great pick for dinner, for night number one, on our first trip to Spain!

The full name of this hotel is: Don Pepe Gran Meliá. It is a great place, located just about 15…read moreminutes walking from the old city center of Marbella. It is also right on the boardwalk that runs along the beach, and that you can use to get to the city center. The boardwalk is full of restaurants and bars, which makes the location of the hotel even better. The hotel facilities are in great shape, spacious rooms with views of the Mediterranean Sea, large outdoor pool, heated indoor pool, large fitness center, 3 restaurants, lots of lounge chairs around the pool deck, as well as, on the lawn area next to the pool. Another big plus for this hotel is the breakfast buffet they offer and that is included with the room rate. Huge selection of breads, meats, eggs, juices and fresh fruit. Also, the service in general is great, in all of the areas of the hotel. Excellent place to vacation in Marbella.

Great place to stay right on the beachfront and boardwalk. The Décor could use some updating but…read moreoverall still great in book! Definitely recommended!

We had a fantastic time at Don Carlos! A highlight of our experience was the wonderful kids club!…read moreOur 3 children (7, 6, and 4) were delighted to make new friends and spend time with the nurturing and fun loving staff at the club! Noela, Maria, and Veneris truly made the holiday extra special for the kids! Many thanks for a great experience! Gina + Tony

AMAZING HOTEL...incredible service and ocean views. If you ever find yourself planning a trip to…read moreMarbella, this is a most! Also, be sure to take tennis lessons from Manu Jimenez. He is an excellent trainer, passionate about the sport, and will make sure you stay in shape all throughout your vacation! Thank you for a great summer!!!!