Hotel Bluebay Banus

“An acceptable hotel - does the job”

I stayed here in July of 2024 on my holiday in Marbella. I agree with some of the less positive comments in the reviews here, but other than that, I had a more-than-acceptable time. The hotel/resort is its own little environment and unless you're a gym-goer it has everything you could possibly wan… more

I stayed here in July of 2024 on my holiday in Marbella. I agree with some of the less positive comments in the reviews here, but other than that, I had a more-than-acceptable time. The hotel/resort is its own little environment and unless you're a gym-goer it has everything you could possibly want. You don't need to leave the hotel unless you're going out. There are different restaurants although one evening I was told I could not wear a sleeveless t shirt and had to go back to my room to change. When I came for breakfast the following morning you could not move for people in sleeveless so I was a bit hacked off by that. It's acceptable for out-of-shape men to wear sleeveless but not me. The restaurants offer as best I can fathom an "all inclusive" experience though I went for half board only. There was as a result a pretty decent buffet every night and every morning. There is an amphitheater type setup where there is different entertainment every evening situated close to an outdoor bar. This wasn't perfect given I tried to buy a drink just before closing time and the card machine had already been switched off. The entertainment finishes at midnight so if your room is close to this and you want a before-12 sleep you might struggle. There are two main pools. One of which there is pretty much no warning but it's a "tropical" pool and the shallow end is 6ft deep. The pool is surrounded by grass/mud rather than any kind of wooden or concrete terrace as a result guests pick up quite a bit of dirt. There is an additional pool with a considerably more sensible shallow end surrounded by deck chairs. The deck chairs if I'm honest could do with replacing. The area again is grass/mud. The hotel is not a typical square building like other places I have stayed - it is divided up into small blocks/clusters of rooms. It appears that each room has it's own entrance leading directly to the outdoors and a balcony (or terrace) which has a sliding/patio door and has some kind of wooden blind as well - so you could go out or go to bed, leaving your patio doors open, and yet have the room fully secured as the blinds allow ventilation. Since the rooms do not egress into a long corridor like most hotels, there is limited opportunity for drunk people shouting their mouths off and slamming doors to reverberate up and down the corridor so this is actually quite great for lighter sleepers. The rooms have their own air conditioning and a ceiling light/fan, though it wasn't until my last day until I figured out how to turn the ceiling fan on. The light switches aren't labelled. The rooms are acceptable though in my opinion the furniture within is quite dated. I also note the absence of any USB charging ports meaning you need to bring a euro plug adapter. The bathrooms in my opinion are also dated. With all of that said, I would still stay here again. I found the hotel, given the price, more than acceptable. Though it would be my preference to stay somewhere a bit more upmarket despite all of the good points I have listed out.

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“Nothing special”

Hotel was fine, but too close to the main run that runs along the coast. Close to the beach and a short walk to Puerto Banus. Staff were friendly. Breakfast was varied and there is a big selection. Hotel and complex is a little dated and could do with a lick of paint.