Hotel Riviera

7 readers found this review helpful

we have just returned from a holiday at the hotel riviera in benalmadena. what a fantastic hotel, we could not find fault with the room,the food and the facilities and the staff were very helpful. we also found a gem of a bar called lizzies lounge bar. no t.v.football billiard table or loud music, just background music to encourage conversation. and free access to the internet. alan and francis smith.

3 readers found this review helpful

Myself and 8 friends visited the Riviera Hotel for a 3 night stay in April 2010.- Our age range was from 21 - 50+ We found the hotel to be in an excellent position over looking the sea. We had 3 people sharing each room, and found there to be ample room. The hotel was clean and the staff friendly and helpful. We went on a half board basis, and the breakfast and evening buffets had plenty of choice. Although entertainment was provided each evening, we didn't stay in the hotel of a night. We chose the location as it was close to all amenities, eventhough we were out of season most of the beach area bars and restaurants were open.
All in all the hotel provided excellent value for money and we would all recommend it for a short break..

15 readers found this review helpful

I have been going Benalmadena for 10 Years, Always staying in the Triton Hotel, This year was our 1st wedding anniversary and we thought we would go back to Benalmadena as this is were I asked my wife to marry me, As I lost my Job we thought we would save £300 and stay in the Hotel Riviera as it was also a 4 star, Now I am no snob but I wouldnt keep my dog in this hotel!!! This is by far the most run down badly run place I have ever stayed in. I dont think it has ever been cleaned! My wife refused to take off her flip flops as the carpets were stained and and very unclean, the bathroom was even worse! the floor was not cleaned at all for our week stay,The toilet brush was just as mass of dirty tissue, tiles were broke,shower curtan was black at the bottom. Our beds were made but not changed! the decore was like an old peoples home from the 80s, the pool area was very cramped, and thats if you get up at 3am and reserve a bed as after 8am all will be taken up. I cant knock the food that as it was ok, but it was'nt 4 star, And I was refused entry as I had 3/4 trousers on, when the lady if front had the same type of trouser on. The Hotel charge £14 for a key to work the safe in the room witch I feel is alot when the door to the balcony dont even lock so you have to buy it, The road noise is another problem the doors keep no sound out at all. I could go on and on all day about this hotel and I would have nothing good to say! Benalmadena is a great place but I would never stay here again! I felt very let down and gutted that I spent money to find out how bad this hotel was, All in all I would question a 2 star rating on this hotel.

4 readers found this review helpful

Paid roughly £1400 for myself and my girlfriend to go to the Hotel for 7 days. On arrival to the Airport we had to find a Thomson rep by ourselves to find the coaches, then find another to point us to the correct coach. Then a rep came on the coach and left the coach to go to her own hotel before anyone got dropped off on theirs. We were left with a Spanish driver who did not speak good English.
On arrival at the Hotel there was no Holiday Rep just reception to deal with. They required two passports to keep which we felt unsafe in handing over our passports. The Quality of the food at the Hotel (Breakfast and Tea) was terrible, the same food, breakfast is every day. We ended up eating out every night instead of having the same chips, pasta, salad, crisps, rice, curry in the Hotel every night. The quality of it was not even good.
The rooms seem a bit of poor quality for a 4* but are nice. The Hotel has got lovely views. Loads of bars/restaurants in the area are up for sale or closed down.
The Restaurant Manager speaks NO English which we felt was a huge let down as I was refused entry for tea one night as we were only going in for a quick bite to eat before we head for a walk down the prom all because I was wearing 3/4 trousers while there were women/girls all in skirts, 3/4's, mini-skirts in there which is quite stupid.
On our return home we again had no rep on the coach only a driver who spoke no English at all we only understood him because he done an action of a plane. This we felt let down again.
Be careful with cases, we got ripped off on the way back. My case weighed 17.5kg on the way out of there and on the way back it some how weighed 21.5kg yet I had only placed a small bottle of Sangria and a very light horse for a present in the case.

3 readers found this review helpful

This is our second visit to this hotel, stayed this time for 3 weeks, had a great time. The staff were friendly, great views from most rooms, dining room, and all the sun terraces. The meals were very good with plenty of choice, but the restauant could get busy at times. Benalmadena has plenty of cafes, good clean beaches, and easy walking along the seaside promenade, also the marina is worth a visit which is close by. Plenty of local buses pass by the front of the hotel.

2 readers found this review helpful

Just got back from a 1 weeks stay at the Riviera Hotel. We had a nice break, hotel lovely and clean and the staff helpful and friendly. We liked the hotel as every room has some degree of sea view and though its 8 floors high it is well seviced with the lifts. the third lift takes you to the pool , inside pool and sauna and then down to the promenade which is fantastic for anyone with walking difficulties. the food was good and varied with a great choice of meals, as this hotel caters for predominately british there are not many spanish dishes but that wasn't a problem for us as we found lots of reasonable places within walking dishes where we could get a nice 'spanish' lunch.
If I had to find a bad point it was the busy main road running at the front of the hotel and this being the coast road had traffic all night long. I guess the higher floors would probably be a little quieter. Overall we had a great time and I would certainly ( if visiting the Costa Del Sol ) use this hotel again.

This hotel was the worst we have ever stayed in we had booked for 1 Month but left after 4 days The reception staff were rude and you were not made welcome on checking in. carpets in bedroom stained and skirting boards broken away from walls this is not a 4 star hotel a 2 if they got lucky The sun cushions for the the loungers were disgusting (filthy dirty ) to sum up a badly run old peoples home we moved hotels to the RUI NAUTILUS IT WAS WONDERFUL .

5 readers found this review helpful

This hotel was good, there didnt seem to be a lot going on through the day tho, the evening entertainment ie the act coming on from 10 till 11pm what I saw was good but as it was only on for an hour and not a lot else we tended to go out, the best place for being entertained we found was Buzby's Fun Pub just over the road from the hotel as they have live entertainment each night from about 10pm until midnight or so which if you then wanted to stay they had kareoke until whenever oclock! If TV sports are your thing would recommend the Sand Bar with their HD TV and very good new hosts Carol and Tom.
To be truthful dont think the hotel is worth its 4 star status, more like 3+, if you go I suggest you ask for a high floor room as this hotel is on the side of a main road which is busy 24/7, we were on floor 6 of 8 so didnt have too much noise problem but people on the low floors were complaining of the noise and did hear people asking to move rooms because of it.
Nice area, we loved Fuengirola Zoo quite unbelieveable just on the high street, but inside the animals were kept in wonderful enclosures (not cages). Best trip was Gibralter, we did the Dolphin Discovery (fantastic saw loads of dolphins up very close) and the Rock Tour including see the Barbary Apes (hilarious), well worth the cost.
All in all we enjoyed our holiday very much, the area the hotel is in is good, beach good etc

5 readers found this review helpful

We stayed here for the first time. Hotel was superb, food was lovely and different varieties every day. very clean, maid service daily, pool very clean. Good entertainment. Staff were very friendly and polite. The only bad thing was other people staying there. As we were a younger couple 0f 22 and 21 we did get some strange looks. The majority of people were older, some snobbiness from certain people which was unneccesary. There were some lovely people dont get me wrong. Quite frustrating as people get up very early to get best sun beds and leave towels on. But apart from that we had a brill time.

2 readers found this review helpful

I have been to this hotel on two other occasions and found eveything perfect. Helpful and polite staff, food excellent, also the entertainment very, very good, and the whole Hotel very clean. I shall be going back there for my third time very soon and looking forward to it very much. I recommended it to some friends and now nine of them will be coming too.