Royal Al-Andalus

My wife and myself booked a three night half board stay from Friday 19th January 07.Having read a few negative reviews we were pleasantly surprised. The room was large with views over the well tended gardens and the pool (closed for cleaning).There was a mini bar which was empty but handy for our own use. The food was acceptable if a little repetative.The breakfast and dinner is buffet service.Expect the bacon and eggs Spanish style with the usual continental fare. The staff were helpful and friendly. The location just off the main four lane through road had no problems with noise but is up a steep hill. I can see problems in busier periods with the lack of space and the pool is small for a hotel this size. However for an out of season break excellent value having paid £87.00 for the three nights. It was our first visit to Torremolenos,again a nice surprise the excellent promenade goes for miles and there are plenty of bars and restaurants Spanish and various nationalities. The weather was also kind with three warm sunny days, cold in the shade and at night. A very enjoyable value for money break.

We stayed in November 06. The We found the staff to be efficient, friendly and helpful. Bar prices were excellent, we had a very nice bottle of decent Cava in the bar every night, properly served by an attentive barman inc nibbles and the correct glasses for only a tenner! Try getting a beer in a blighty hotel for that money. The maids washed down all the outside walkways , cleaned the sunbeds and tables early every morning, the room service was impeccable and the Brekkers was terrific. A choice between Continental buffet and cooked. The hot breakfast was cooked as you watched and the eggs, bacon, sossies etc were excellent. ONLY 1 MOAN We had dinner one evening only and it was quite poor. We advise having B&B and using the many excellent restaurants within 5 minutes walking distance on the beach or nearby. The one furthest away on the beach does a wonderful Sunday lunch but get there early to avoid a queue. We'd give this hotel 100% if it could improve the dinner. As for cost, WOW, where can you get anything over a campsite for forty quid a night for 2?

I'm a professional tour leader, I lead Italian and american groups in mediterrenean Africa and Europe. In october, I had a 18 people group, and received a very unwelcoming treatment. This is the story, in short: half of my group was going to arrive at about 9, 9:30 PM at the hotel, for dinner and stay. Worried to be somewhat late, the hotel had Two calls during the day, from me and a customer of mine, to advise the time of arrival. They said no problem. When we get there, we aknowledged the restaurant closed at 9 pm (no comments on this: in Spain, where dinners usually STARTS at 10 pm??). After some discussion, and even though they had the Half board already fully paid in advance, I had to take part of the group to dine out at the tour operator's (extra) expense. The next day, despite my insistance, there was no way to speak to a director, manager or whatsoever to claim about what happened. In 5 years of this job, over 30 trips, something like this never happened to me. Another fact that upset me, was the rigidity of the maitre of the restaurant that did not want to prepare one table for the whole group. Only the setted 4 seats tables, no other choices. Overall, a very unprofessional way of managing things, and an impression of being interested only in making money, and not in satisfying the clients. This hotel might be ok for individuals, prepared to dine bet. 6,30 and 9 pm, but definately not for groups. In torremolinos there is plenty of choice. My suggestion? look around...

Mostly due to earlier favourable reviews on this website we thought we would give this hotel a chance, as we booked last minute and were only charged 300 euro for one week. We were wrong! 4 star hotels do not have uncomfortable bedsa, hot small rooms, terrible entertainment and one of the worst food experiences I have ever had. Breakfast is truley terrible. On the other hand the pool area and bars are very nice, the gardens are lovely and the hotel is very very clean. For a cheap deal away I suppose you could do worse, just expect to have to walk away from the hotel onto the sea front for a decent meal.

We have just returned from the Al Andalus and we both liked the hotel very much, it suited our taste for something not too rowdie with with good service, our room was nicely decorated and a good size. The pool area was very nice as were the gardens. The downside was the food, the hot buffet was not to my taste at all and when I did find something to eat it was invariably luke warm. We gave up on the soup after the first couple of days as it was completely tasteless. The cold buffets were good, however the lack of any sort of menu meant that chosing your meal was a bit of a lottery. My advise is if you want a relaxing holiday then the Al Andalus fits the bill just make sure you go B & B.

How this hotel can claim to be 4 star is beyond me. Rooms are a bit tired and some of the reception staff have an attitude of like it or lump it if you want to make a complaint. The appaulingly naff entertainment each night in the (lovely) garden whether you want it or not is so loud it invades the whole area. If you like the hokey cokey and being screeched at out of a badly tuned sound system till midnight then this is the place for you. Not a 4 star experience. Luckily as independent travellers we were able to check out promptly.

A number of problems showed that this hotel is seriously over rated. I arrived and was given a back room which smelled of smoke and had barking dogs at 3 am. I then asked to be moved and ended up with a pool view, much better. The gardens and communal areas were however stunning and looked the part. Entertainment was poor and a serious shortage of sun loungers meant I ended up on the grass. Clientele are over 60s. On the second night the cock roaches made an apperence in the bedroom and bathroom indicating a serious lack of cleaniness. Telephones did not work for 2 days, not even to call reception desk. Overall very disappointing and I would rate this hotel very poorly.

This hotel is not 4 star. Our room was not ready on arrival so we had to stay in a small room overlooking the bottle bank. Moved the next day to another room with broken airconditioning and light fitting. This room, as did the first one, stink of stale tobacco. No dress code at dinner and no menu to tell you what the food was. This was the first holiday I have ever ticked the days off to when we could come home. The gardens and pool were well cared for but that was all. Good point. A bus stop at the bottom of the road.

We toured Spain sept 2006 and stayed in 3 four star hotels and this one was the worse. We expected more and were dissapointed on arrival. It was not the cheapest hotel and in my opinion should not be 4 star . I must stress that there is nothing major wrong with this hotel, had it been advertised as a 3 star and we paid less I would have been happy there . On entering our room it stank of stale smoke and whilst Im sure this is not the case of every room it was the case with ours. Our room did not have a balcony just a window overlooking the car park . Although the room was clean it was showing signs of wear such as stains on the carpet and a smashed badly repaired door frame and smashed TV. Two single beds made a double bed , reasonably comfy but not what expected in a 4 star establishment. The room was painted in a horrible salmon / orange colour. Bathroom had 2 basins. Shower fell off wall when used and I had to make a repair with sticky tape. ( easier than complaining I thought) The room had a minbar but it was empty!!. I told reception who replied it was supposed to be empty. I said thats ok ( perhaps they would have filled it if asked) and I filled it up myself with cut price drinks from the supermarket. Air conditioning just worked ok. Extra charge for room safe.I asked for a bucket of ice at the bar and was given a small plastic cup full, I asked for 2 plastic cup fulls ...afterall this was a 4 star hotel. On the plus side parking was free and the location is good, near beach and many bars / restaurants nearby.. Staff helpfull and friendly .Breakfast was ok , the typical spanish setup, nothing special. Entertainment was at 10pm but cannot comment as we were always out . The pool was nice and clean but sunbeds ran out .

Just returned from a 3 night break staying at this hotel. It is an excellent hotel and suits the 4 star rating if not more. Very clean and spacious room with a lovely view of the pool and sea. Pool and gardens are beautiful and in a lovely setting. We got a great deal which made it all the more impressive! Weather was hot which again was a bonus. Just a 10 minute ride from the airport. Plenty of beautiful coastline to walk about and lovely sea food restaurants on the front. Would go again to this hotel..... it was lovely