Costa Marbella Star Light

The receptionist was a genuinely nice guy, and he managed to find us a replacement for the missing air-conditioning remote. That was the bright spot. The room wasn’t filthy, but it wasn’t very clean either, and it felt poorly maintained. Maintenance clearly isn’t happening much here. I probably wouldn’t stay again.

We arrived at 3 pm, the stated check-in time, but reception was empty. I messaged to say we were waiting and got no answer. After calling repeatedly for an hour and a half, we were told the key was outside our room. We dropped our bags and went out to eat. When we came back, reception was still unattended. The room was so unhygienic that we had to leave and find another hotel. There were dead cockroaches across the bathroom floor, mold all over the shower area, and around six or seven live cockroaches moving around the bedroom floor. We also found small blood spots on the sheets. We tried contacting the property again and heard nothing. They finally got back to us around 11 the next morning to ask if we still wanted to move to another room. Communication was ridiculous. This place was disgusting, not worth the hassle or stress, and I really don’t recommend it.

The staff were loud in the corridor, took personal calls there, and left the front door open onto a busy road. Bringing a toddler to work added to the noise. After a full day of sightseeing and partying in Marbella, I still wanted some peace now and then. Instead, the hostel’s location on a loud main road made the stay even harder. The room had no outside window, so there was no daylight, and its curtains faced the corridor and couldn’t be opened for fresh air. The air conditioning didn’t work either. It’s absurd for a hotel in Spain to lack that basic amenity. The room looked nothing like the photos, which showed a balcony, even though the hostel was just four rooms on the ground floor. Cleanliness was awful. A dead fly was in one of the cups, and the others were dirty, so the kitchen couldn’t be used. For three nights we got one towel each and a single roll of toilet paper, which was locked away. There was no hand soap, and the bathroom tap fell off in my hand, leaving us without water from it. The bathroom door was punched in too, so I can guess how that person felt. One night I returned to find the front door broken, leaving the place open to intruders. The room window looked onto the corridor, and someone could have smashed it and stolen our things. I was so worried I barricaded the door with the mini fridge and my suitcase, and ended up not sleeping. Then someone entered the room before checkout time. Luckily, I was fully clothed. This was a profoundly disappointing stay. I’m not usually one to write reviews, but I had to.

We were here for a wedding, and the location worked really well, about a five-minute walk to the beach and old town. Our room was spacious and clean, with a full-length mirror. We were given fresh sheets and towels during our three-day stay. I’d happily come back.