Hotel Marbel Cala Ratjada

The room was clean and smelled fresh, with both a fan and air conditioning, and breakfast was good. The staff were lovely, too. We happened to arrive on a Friday, when they had barbecue and live music. The food was delicious, with the barbecue at €16, a nice litre of sangria at €13, and cheap beers. It made for a happy, relaxed evening, just what we wanted. We had a really good stay at Hotel Marbel and would recommend it for a laid-back break.

The hotel is in a nice area, but the cleanliness was extremely poor. There was dust all over the television and a thick layer in the bread basket on the table. The glasses and coffee cups at breakfast weren't clean, and the shower floor in our room was dirty when we arrived. I can't recommend a visit.

The staff were warm and welcoming, and some of them are family, which helped me feel safe as a first-time solo traveller. They speak Spanish, English and German. It feels local, costs less than many places, and is close to shops and beaches. I stayed alone for five nights in a ground-floor room with a door straight out to the pool, which made coming and going easy. The downside was noise, and bugs could get in at ground level. I saw four cockroaches, then mostly kept the outside door and window shut and had no more problems. There’s no AC, so keeping the windows closed was tough. The ceiling fan helped, but it was noisy. The room was cleaned every day, the bed made and dirty towels replaced, which I really appreciated. The mattress and pillows were comfortable. There’s a safe, but it costs two euros a night, and there’s no fridge. Breakfast runs from 9 to 11, and they usually leave it out a little longer, until 11:30. There’s a good range, including fruit, jam, eggs, cheese, sausage and cereal. The bar and restaurant serve homemade lunch and dinner for an extra charge. Wi-Fi is free, though it doesn’t reach the pool. It could get loud: construction nearby in the mornings, people swimming in the pool in the middle of the night, and guests laughing and singing at the bar in the evening. If you sleep past 1pm, you should be fine.

The location is pretty good, but I can't think of much else positive to say. The room was tiny, especially the bathroom, where it was hard to turn around. It was dusty everywhere, and there was paper rubbish on the shower floor. Even the glasses and plates at breakfast were dirty, though breakfast itself was okay, about 2/5. It's cheap, but still not worth the price. Find somewhere else, or stay one night at most.