Gran Hotel Costa Del Sol

We stayed at this hotel for 23 nights over christmas and new year. After reading some reviews we were a little apprehensive but pleasantly surprised. The rooms were clean and spacious but we were near the main road and found it quite noisy with the door open but did get a room transfer nearer the sea and it was a lot quieter. A major point to make when travelling by car is that they charge 10euros a night to park in the hotel grounds, but there is plenty of safe free parking nearby. The food was good and always something to eat,if a little cool. Christmas meals were nice but new year added about 350 spanish for a few days who were extremely noisy, especially at meal times. t is mainly a saga hotel but very friendly. We would not hesitate to go back to this hotel. There were 3 computers so can easily check on emails. On the down side the entertainment was rubbish and dissapointing over xmas and new year. Just a music man or dancers. Good value for money being all inclusive.

Went on a last minute deal as it was so cheap with lastminute.com - £140 for two nights all inclusive and the flight. The hotel was more than adequate and the staff were friendly. The overall feel of this place is very much geared around older holidaymakers, and the entertainment has been customised for this group. However, this did not have a negative impact on how much we enjoyed ourselves as a younger group, and if anything, added to the general mood. It was refreshing not to have to share the pool area with young children, and it was very much also not a posing competition. The food was great - plenty of it and fresh and varied. The beach couldn't have been nearer and the town was pretty and had plenty of amenities. All in all a nice weekend.

After the exam stress, my friend and I took ourselves off on a little holiday. We booked it last minute, as we found such a good deal for all inclusive on the internet. We got put at this hotel, and were so delighted with it. The place was absolutely spotless, and the staff members were all really friendly. We were put in a room at the back of the hotel (overlooking the dried up stream), which meant that we had the sunshine all day, beating in on our room. The air conditioning in the room worked brilliant, so the room wasn't too hot at night. The food in the hotel was gorgeous, and I really put some weight on over there, there was just so many appetising foods to choose from over there. AI wise, the drinks were ok, we got rather tipsy on the cocktails, but I don't remember there being anything that was off limits to us. There were no drinks limits in place. Snack wise during the day there were none provided, except peanuts at the bar. A little disappointing if you were hungry. Cala de mijas, was a pretty enough place. Being 20, and put in a Saga hotel meant that we were a bit bored in the hotel, so we ventured out into the town at night. There were a few bars, which were fun enough, and we always had a great time. The swimming pool was fine for lounging about in. As we were so young, we immediately made friends with the other younger people in the hotel. They were all really cool, and we used to go out with them on nights out. To experience the Spanish nightlife, we had to get a taxi to Benalmadena, which cost around 50 euros. During the day there were great bus links from Mijas to Fuengirola, which offered lots of designer and high street shops, and train links from there to Torremolinos and Malaga. All in all, even though we were on a Saga holiday, as students, we had a FABULOUS time!

GRAN HOTEL COSTA DEL SOL We have just returned 14 June 2006 from a holiday at this hotel and really enjoyed a lovely relaxing break. The rooms were excellent, and very clean and the air conditioning couldn't have been better. The pool was really for children but you could swim at one end if wished. There were lovely grass areas with the pool and the beach bar inbetween where there were plenty of sunbeads and umbrellas. Here you could sunbathe away from the children in the pool (if you wished) and watch the sea. The children were never a problem and seemed to enjoy themselves in the pool. Although it was 87 temperature there was always a lovely breeze. Food - good choice, nicely presented, plenty of it although it was sometimes on the cool side but not cold. Lovely salad area. The bar is excellent and for all inclusive a very good choice of drinks also the beach bar. The staff in the dining room were excellent and if you arrived when the restaurant was rather full a waiter was always there to show you to a table. You went through a gate to the beach with sunloungers, umbrellas which you had to pay for, the beach was really nice and close to the sea. We are hoping to go again next year. .

My wife and I stayed here for two nights while on on a trip to see my parents who live in La Cala De Mijas. Had read the previous reviews and on checkin, which was excellent by the way, we asked for a room on the side of the hotel that didn't overlook the river bed that runs down one side of the hotel. The receptionsist was more than willing to give us a room where we wanted. The lobby is very clean and nicely decorated, the lifts were all good and the room was nice. Good size balcony, two double beds in our standard room, and the bathroom had a full size suite, 2 sinks and a very powerful shower. All done in marble and very nice. We went on a bed and breakfast basis and the breakfast was fine. Buffet style with full english and continental offerings. Bacon was of the spanish type, streaky and thinly cut. The scrambled egg seems to have had some sort of flour powder to make it up so if you fancy eggs either go for the boiled option or visit the chef based in the middle kitchen area to do you a fresh fried one. There's juice and coffee machines for you to help yourself. There's entertainment on at night and during the day (paella making, etc) so if you're into that it's available. It's true that the average age of the guests here is well over 50. This does however have its benefits for the younger visitor as any rowdiness is kept to a minimum. The hotel is within a short walking distance of the centre of La Cala De Mijas so is very conveniently located.

Hotel is all you would expect from a four star but unfortunately some rooms overlook a dried up stream which does not smell very nice and attracts flies. We were allocated a room on the first floor facing the pool but found it a bit off-putting that everyone walking past could see in. The Receptionist was very helpful and offered us room 632 instead. On initial inspection the view was fantastic but once stepping out onto the balcony we couldn't get away from the flies. They made you feel that they were on you all the time, we felt awful asking for another move but again the Receptionist was very helpful and we were given a lovely room overlooking the pool on the second floor. Ideal rooms are even numbers ending between 2 and 28. We stayed bed and breakfast and there was a good selection at the buffet. English sausages but the bacon was the usual streaky kind you get in Spain. We did find the hot food was only warm though and the orange juice was squash although you could see oranges growing not too far away down the coast! The bar area is large and there seemed to be a good take-up for the evening entertainment. For the first couple of days the hotel was quite empty - mainly Saga clients who even had their own lounge but the hotel gradually filled up with Spanish and French visitors and by Good Friday you had to queue up to get into breakfast. The location of the pool is quite strange - you have to come out of the front door of the hotel and walk past some of the rooms to get to it. It is very shallow so not suitable for serious swimmers but the pool area has plenty of sunbeds and you have a lovely view of the sea. We did find it was quite windy and the waves were crashing a bit but that is probably down to the time of year. La Cala the resort was disappointing, not many restaurants or bars and the place was very quiet - hardly a soul about after 11pm. A few expats sitting in the English bars and an Irish bar called Biddy Mulligans where there is live music a couple of nights per week. We would recommend the Monday act who play all their own instruments and were fantastic. (Called Monkey something!)Apart from that we were struggling to find somewhere to go, maybe again the time of year was significant. Worth mentioning also is that the hotel has a decent size car park but it costs 10 euros per day. There is adequate parking however just around the corner. In conclusion providing you get a good room you will like the hotel, if you are not bothered about going out at night it would be ideal.

We have just returned from 4 weeks here and we found it to be awful. Unless you are lucky your room will overlook either the car park and garage or worse still a polluted river - with dead cat. Entertainment almost non existant unless you like Flamenco dancing at least 3 times a week. Very very busy at weekends with locals taking over the hotel, almost to the exclusion of anyone else. The hotel is right on the beach but there is no promenade to walk on and the beach is difficult-certainly not the place for people with walking difficulties. The food was not too varied, very predictable and was mostly served up only luke-warm. If you enjoy good holidays avoid this hotel.

Further to my earlier review (August 2005), I must report that the real orange juice has now disappeared. There is still real tomato juice at breakfast but they have, unfortunately, gone down the normal route of offering diluted cordial instead of fruit juice. Why, when they grow so many oranges in Spain? The hotel still offers excellent value for money and we will be back. The rooms on the front get the afternoon sun so make sure you get a room with an even number.

We stayed 14 nights from Dec 20 to Jan 3 2006. A British enclave on Spanish territory. The average age is around 70. The meals reflect the renown good culinary tastes of Britons!... Nothing Spanish in the cuisine; too bad. There is problem with the temperature of food: it is mostly lukewarm. Contrary to the information one can read on the Internet, there is no access to it in the rooms: three machines in a reading room that swallow euros at a F1 rate of speed and keep freezing. The employees at the desk are unable to dispense valuable information on the region and do nothing but sell tours at a commission. The rooms are very clean and well kept. The waiters, barmen and dining room employees are very polite and efficient. They are hotter than the food they serve! At 60, I am yet too young for the place.

This was our first trip to play golf overseas with the Gran Hotel being chosen for our accommodation off the internet. It wasn't until a few months later I saw Trip Advisor and saw the reviews, especially the one giving a 2 star rating. This was in the back of our minds until we actually arrived, but as soon as we were warmly welcomed at reception our fears were allayed. The rooms were spotless in fact the whole hotel was constantly being cleaned. Choice of food in the Dining room was excellent ranging from salads to hot dishes to freshly cooked meat or fish each day. We were 'all inclusive' so the waiters were always attentive bringing us fresh caraffs of wine or beer each time we requested a top up. The pool area is fine, although the pool is rather shallow, with a bar open until 7pm each evening. The bar area is large with a great buzz of people enjoying themselves each evening. There is entertainment each evening including Karaoke, Bingo, Flamenco dancing etc. Our feeling is this hotel is ideal for retired couples, families with pre-school children or golf societies as it has everything you require but there are limited facilities outside of the hotel unless you have transport. We would not hesitate to go back to the GRAN HOTEL.