Hesperia Sabinal Hotel

Fantastic hotel, food choice superb. Went there with my husband who is disabled the facilities were good no problems getting around the hotel. The hotel is geared to the fifties and over.
Don’t go if you want plenty of action because you will be disappointed. The resort its self is on the quiet side but still enough there to keep you entertained. We are going back in may 2006 cant wait.!!!

When we arrived at the Hotel Hesperia Sabinal we were greeted warmly by the reception staff. We had taken a taxi transfer from the airport (the journey took about half an hour) and so had arrived there before anyone else on our flight. We were immediately offered an upgrade to a sea view room. If you are offered this take it! It cost us around 125 euros for 2 rooms, for 2 weeks. It is defiantly worth the money as the view from the front of the hotel looks over a children’s playground and it is very noisy there!
In reception by the tour operators desk there is a book/magazine shelf where you can swap books. There are some much more mature cliental there so there was lots of Mills & Boon books and Peoples friend. But I managed to find a couple of good books and magazines to keep me occupied.
On arrival only one of our rooms (529) was ready the one next door (530) was still being cleaned, we were allowed to go in there within a couple of hours or so. We took this time to explore. The maids and cleaning staff are very efficient. Our bedding was changed every 3 days and the towels every day, the floors, balcony and bathroom were also cleaned.
The staff maintained a high standard of hygiene in the pool and the surrounding area. The beach and promenade were also well kept. This was one of the first places I have stayed in a long time that has a regular life guard for the pool. The beach also has a lifeguard that is also on duty as well as a medical centre, so you always felt safe swimming in the sea and the pool. The medical centre proved useful when my brother was stung by a jellyfish at least one other person was stung as well so watch out when you go in the sea. The medical staff on the beach were extremely helpful in sorting this out.
In the hotel ‘rules’ it says that you cannot reserve sun loungers everyone does though (especially the Germans) so you have to get down early to bag a good spot. We avoided this problem by reserving 4 loungers on the beach. This was 150 euros for 2 weeks. It saved a lot of bother we didn’t have to worry about rushing down to the pool to out our towels down and we always knew where our spot was, the beach is also a lot quieter and the loungers on the beach had nice mattresses instead of hard plastic like the pool. We reserved with Tony a nice Spanish chap (he has the yellow loungers).
The food in the hotel restaurant is good we were half board and at breakfast there was always cooked food, lovely croissants and fresh fruit. Dinner was equally as good never repetitious and great food. Once a week they do a cut of beef try that as it is very good. The waiting staff was mostly very pleasant but some were very sullen and did not make you feel welcome.
For lunch we went to La Pirata a small café on the promenade. Lovely food the staff doesn’t speak much English but there is always service with a smile and you get you meal.
I have to say the entertainment in the evenings was nothing to go over the moon about. The variety show was o.k. a bit cheesy, and the singers ‘Merlin’ they had on twice a week got boring after an hour. Every other Monday they do a pirate show in the bar. This is worth going to even if you don’t have kids lots of magic, fire eating and laughs.
Luckily there are several shops and tapas bars in the area so if you get bored with the hotel entertainment you could always go out. One night we went on the mini train that takes you for a tour around town we had good fun.
Walk along the promenade to the Playa Luna, there are even more shops and bars down there, we went to the ‘Malibu Cocktail’ bar several times. Competent staff who serve great cocktails and ice-creams.
There are several trips you can go on. We went on three. The Vicar market. Waste of time and a waste of money; don’t bother unless your idea of a good buy is a tacky top and plastic sunglasses. The trip to Granda to see the Alhambra Palace is well worth the long journey. Lots of history, beautiful architecture and some brilliant photo opportunities. Anyone should find this an interesting trip.
Then there is Mini Hollywood. We went on the evening trip. Again we had a wonderful time there are two very different shows and before the barbecue you have the chance to explore the western town, following in the foot steps of Harrison Ford and Clint Eastwood. The barbecue served good meat. The cowboys from the show came to join us for dinner and one let off a couple of shots on his gun! There was a live band and the can-can girls to keep us entertained. Maybe not a trip for younger children as you don’t get back until nearly one o’clock but you could take them during the day and then visit the animal sanctuary as well.
After reading some other reviews on here I was a bit apprehensive about the flies but those people must have been making a fuss. We never had a fly problem during the day or whilst eating our meals ( although we bought a swat just in case. ) I have also read reviews where people complain that the entertainment is all in Spanish; well you have come to Spain, what you expect! There is about 2 British bars in Roquetas de Mar. Personally I like the fact that this area is a holiday spot for the Spanish it really makes you feel that you are in a different country when you go down to the pool or restaurant and the first accent you hear isn’t a British one.
All in all the Sabinal lives up to its 4* reputation. Great resort and beach and several excellent day trips on offer. Add the fantastic weather to that (35 degrees or more every day and always sunny.) What more could you ask for? We will defiantly consider returning again.

One of Spains 'quieter' resorts. No loud bars or Clubs to contend with so perfect for a more sedate stay.
Beach is all grit and the sea dips quickly so not ideal for children. The sea can get quite rough.
There was some nice restaurants and bars but you need to ask around for the better ones. The odd 1 or 2 obligatory authentic English bars are dotted about and do offer live football and beer from home.....
The shops leave a lot to be desired, unless you want to look at tacky souvenirs! There is half decent shopping mall a short bus ride away and has shops like Dorothy Perkins (very Spanish!) In truth there was some good shops and a cheap electrical store where there was some very good bargains on sale.
The Hotel was very clean, the staff were always very friendly and the food (buffet) was excellent and plenty of choice for everyone’s taste. The restaurant does get very busy at times with children given a licence to run riot helping themselves to food by hand! So choose your meal times carefully!
Entertainment was very poor, this is a resort which caters for the Spanish holidaymaker more than anyone else. All the entertainment in the hotel was in Spanish for the Spanish with no translation.
Plenty of spaces to get a bed near the pool, not by it though as they still get 'reserved' by early riser’s! It is quite and very pleasant to relax by. Large pool and always seemed to have space to swim. It does get deep very quickly, so not ideal for non swimmers. Just a tiny children’s pool for the toddlers.
Nice to stroll along the front in the evening and felt quite safe. Not a great deal to do in the evening which is good if you want to relax all day and night. Not so good if you have teenage children!
Worse part of the holiday is the flies! They are everywhere and there is nothing more irritating then a fly buzzing in your ear or walking over you when you are sunbathing, so be warned. They are very annoying!!
Although an enjoyable holiday and really relaxing not really the sort of place you are likely to go again.

Having sat in the travel agents, asking for bars at 20mtrs beach at 20mtrs and shops at 20mtrs, we (my long time friend Carol and myself) thought that from 3 weeks to the date that we had decided to go on holiday we would not be able to find what we wanted, suprise...our Thompson travel agent came up with what we must now describe as exactly what we had asked for.
LOCATION-
was perfect, no roads in front of the hotel and safe for children and the elderly, no dodging the traffic to get to the beach if you wanted to, or to the seafront bars and shops.
HOTEL -was lovely, offered a seaview upgrade on arrival for 20 euros for the 2 weeks, though we thought that maybe we would have had a seaview anyway since we were on a changeover, never the less our room was on the third floor with lovely views over the sea, and the sun was on our balcony all day until 7pm, perfect.
OUR ROOM- was spacious and with air conditioning, but you had to make sure that the balcony door was shut for it to operate, good thinking on the design, saves energy, door open and the air con going full, no point in that, it wastes electricity.
Our room was cleaned every day and as usual towels on floor were replaced, though the larger lady would have had trouble with her modesty because they were a little on the short side.! Nothing was moved if it was your personal possessions.
There were not any fridges in the room but there was, a space for them if you wanted to hire one at 2 euros a day.
The only moan I have about the service is that you have a dialing information card in the room but with no rate to dial out to England, I did have to use the phone and it was to my amazement very very expensive, there are phones in the reception and my advice is use them, the euro gives you three times as long for your money.Use that instead.
THE FOOD- was very very good, every kind of meat and vegetables you could want and plenty of fish included, this was always cooked in the restaurant so that you could see how it was handled and presented, another good design for the hotel, salad was plentiful as was the breakfast, English and continental was available and also the local Almerian breakfast, though I didnt try it, it looked a bit like tomato puree on toast, fresh fruit was available at all meal times as was coffee tea, fresh orange and pineapple juice, also a microwave to heat babies milk and food. Water and Alcohol were at extra charge at dinner.
THE POOL- area was excellent, a lifeguard and doctor was poolside all day, very impressive, as was the staff that ran the little pizza and tapas bar poolside, nothing was too much trouble.
ENTERTAINMENT- There was entertainment every evening for those that wanted to attend, I was sorry that I missed the 3 performing parrots, never mind, we found a bar called the Amsterdam that proved to be very entertaining, this was only people watching but a nice friendly bar run by a couple from Romania, very good service indeed.Bars are in abundance.
One thing that I thought was such a good idea in the Hotel, as you walked through reception the automatic doors to the road at the back of the hotel had a blue strip at about 4 foot high around them, we discovered that this was a sensor to protect children from getting out through them without their parents.
I haven’t seen this before and what a relief for parents with toddlers to know that they couldn’t get out onto the main road at the back of the hotel. There is a lot to keep the children occupied, i.e. table games and a kids club.
ACCESSABILITY- Wheelchair and pushchair access was in abundance here, nothing was left out, even when you entered the restaurant there were reserved tables with plenty of room around them for that very reason.
STAFF- All staff at all times were the most pleasant I have come across, nothing was too much trouble, the management have much to be proud of, this is a well run Hotel.
If you take a walk on the promenade in front of the hotel for around 300-500 meters you will find another area of bars shops.
THE BEACH- was cleaned daily with the usual tractor trailing a rake like implement, also the boys that put out the mattresses also pulled a manual rake in between the beds, the beach was sand and small shingle, which was hot to walk on but safe, not only that there is a tendency for the wind to get up when the tide changes and the shingle stops the sand from blowing all over the place.
Would I go back to Roquetas de Mar...........YES
Would I recommend this hotel..................... YES
Though a resort aimed at the Spanish, we were made to feel very welcome and treated with respect.
P.S. Sorry to Holiday Watchdog....there is no video footage....couldn’t work the camera.....too many sangrias! perhaps next time.