Xeliter Marbella, Juan Dolio

The power interruptions happened every day during our two months there, but they had a generator that came on a few seconds later, which mattered a lot. We never ran out of water, even though its quality was bad. The tap water was very salty and ruined some of our things. A thermos I’d had for seven years rusted during our first week, so be careful with belongings. The electricity was expensive at $0.20 per KW. If you use the AC only at night for a month, expect around 1500KW, so you can work out the cost. On Friday nights the bars on the street have karaoke, and it gets very loud, which isn’t good if you need to work the next morning. The buildings are outdated and give a poor impression of maintenance. Tower 3’s elevator was out for two weeks, there were missing bulbs, and holes in elevator ceilings and around the complex. During a sargassum washout in the last week of August, they stopped cleaning because there was so much of it. We ended up using the public beach on the right, which the government was cleaning. We felt we’d paid a premium and didn’t get the basics.

The apartment was nicely decorated and had a pretty view, but the problems made it impossible to enjoy our vacation. The worst was the sewer smell from a leaking sink. It filled the apartment and wouldn’t go away no matter how much we cleaned. The sink and shower water smelled bad and was salty. When we checked the pipes, we saw that toilet water flushed back up and was reused, leaving an odd color and a nasty smell that lingered in the bathroom. The washing machine was rusted inside. Before we realized, we put clothes in and several came out with rust stains. The bedding was even more disgusting. My daughters noticed that the sheets in the second bedroom smelled like dirty feet and sweat, and had lipstick and dried boogers on the underside. The smell was so awful that taking the bedding off and running a fan didn’t help. We tried washing it, but the blanket wouldn’t fit in the tiny machine. We arrived late, so couldn’t go to a dry cleaner that night, and my daughters had to sleep freezing on the couches without blankets. I reported this the day after we arrived. Three days later, someone came to collect the sheets I’d already washed, then never returned with the blankets. We got no help with all these issues. I stayed in apartment 520 towel 3 with my two daughters.

For such a huge group of five connected apartment and condo towers, the beach is surprisingly tiny.

The pool looked very good, but the beach was awful and covered in seaweed. With no water for flushing toilets, showering, cooking, or washing dishes, the place felt uninhabitable. I hope people don’t book through airbnb and arrive to find this. The airbnb hosts lie to get guests there, then they have nowhere to go except stay at Marbella Towers without water. If you’re unhappy when you arrive, there are plenty of other places nearby. Always have a plan B. There are a few Marbella Towers listings on Google Maps, so be careful about relying on positive reviews. Zoom in and out and you’ll see about two or three. The room views are stunning, but some rooms may have no air-conditioning, electricity, water, or wifi. Read the reviews. I booked through airbnb and learned from another guest that the place had been without water since 8 am. I contacted the host right away. At 5 pm they said they were still working on it, and when I asked when water would be back, the host didn’t know. I decided to cancel. Check-in was complicated too. The Marbella Towers administration wants people to park outside on the street. You have to park far from the entrance because there’s no nearby parking, then walk to reception. After checking in and getting a bracelet, you’re finally allowed to drive into the complex.