El Fuerte Marbella

The hotel decor was classy, clean and traditional. It was always spotlessly clean and had a nice fragrance throughout. It is in a fantastic location too, right on the front but the service we received let the hotel down. On arrival there a mess up with our reservation. We booked a twin room but apparently there were no twin rooms available??? unless we upgraded. We are two men and did not want to share a bed, hence why we booked a twin room. They wanted 65??? a night for us to ???upgrade???, but somehow they found us a twin room in the hotel for an additional 35??? a night. I don???t know how they found a room when there wasn???t one available when we arrived!? It took 40 minutes for the upgraded room to be ready. Then our bags were not there so we had to call reception for them. Breakfast service was not good. We felt that some staff didn???t listen to a word we said. Nati, the main host, sat us down on the first day and didn???t explain anything to us. After ten minutes we had to ask for our food. They said it???s a buffet and you help yourself. Yeah thanks. On the second day I asked for an americano instead of the filter coffee and they brought a filter. I specifically said I don???t want a filter coffee to Nati. He didn???t seem happy about this and asked another member of staff to get me a coffee??? when it didn???t arrive I asked him again and he said there is a machine and I can use it myself. If I would have known this I would have done so. My biggest gripe is that I saw staff bending over backwards to help certain guests (that looked like they had money) but ignoring people like us. The breakfast itself was great and you could tell the quality of the produce used. It is a buffet style with ample choice for everyone. Lots of fresh produce such as fruit, salad, cheese, yogurts, milk including plant based. A great selection of bakery goods; at least ten different types of bread and lots of pastries. With staff on hand to slice and toast for you. They had lots of choice for people with dietary requirements; a full gluten free section, plant milks and vegetarian options. The hot food was more than ample; you could choose to have omelette or eggs any way you like cooked fresh or hot plate options such as sausage, scrambled eggs etc. The staff in the buffet room were great - they appreciated us speaking Spanish, were patient, happy and could not help you enough. Our room was clean but felt dated in certain ways. The decor and fittings were nice but dated. The biggest thing that needs looking at is the tech in the room, especially the light switch arrangements. There are at least ten different light switches, each doing random lights. You???d expect the switch for the dressing/corridor area to be near there, but it???s on the other side of the room. The bath was small and shower system was dated and overcomplicated. Hot water wasn???t instant either. The double sink was good. But the ventilation was terrible - I don???t even know if there was a fan, just a vent in the wall which didn???t extract any condensation. The WiFi didn???t work in our room. When I called reception the receptionist couldn???t help and wanted to send someone up to my room at 8am. I did not want this, you should just make it easier to sign in. I???m not a technophobe in any stretch of the imagination. You are supposed to use your email address as the password but it didn???t work. The spa was really nice with friendly staff. The sauna was red hot - steam room spacious and constant steam. We were really disappointed that the opening hours were quite short and not as advertised. The spa was supposed to be open from 11am-7pm but staff said it closed at 6:30pm. It just didn???t give us any time to use the spa before or after being out at golf all day. The service let the hotel down - especially reception and breakfast staff - therefore I would not book again as it was not the 5 star service that you should expect for the price point.

The most beautiful location with exceptional food. Breakfast & dinner outstanding. Selected Junior suite with sea view room was large size, first class comfort with the best pillows, truly 5 star. Selected lounge option also a nice treat! Much nicer than the website photos! Perfectly clean & smells like a spa throughout the hotel. We will be back!