Barcelo Marbella Golf Hotel

BEWARE OF STAYING AT THIS HOTEL! I stayed at this hotel with my parents and my wife at the end of May 2005.
Within an hour and a half of our arrival my wife’s wedding ring and a small amount of money had been stolen from our room while we were at the swimming pool. There was no forced entry to the room and hotel computer did not show that anybody had used a key card to enter the room.
My parents had the room next door and within ten minutes of checking into their room a stranger knocked on the door. When my mother opened the door the stranger apologised and moved off down the corridor.
I suspect that this individual saw us all check in and heard our room numbers and wanted to check if anyone was in the room. By this time my wife and I were at the pool so there would have been no response from our room. When we returned from the pool our valuables had been stolen.
The manager could not explain how it had happened but my view is that somebody slipped something round the side of the door and slipped the lock.
I reported the theft to the police and was told that this sort of thing is not unusual. Security at this hotel is particularly poor, however. Any floor can be accessed from the garage without needing to go via reception and the garage can be accessed from the street without any security or identification.
My advice to anyone wanting to stay in this hotel is be very careful. The Hotel was not willing to take responsibility for the theft notwithstanding their inadequate security arrangements.
Obviously this completely ruined our experience and we decided not to stay the night. I would advise travellers to avoid this hotel.