Iberostar Selection Sábila - Adults Only

“Enjoy”

This hotel has great facilities but what makes it is the staff. There are plenty of them and they are always smiling and happy to help - which makes for a great holiday!

“Excellent resort”

All the staff were amazing and so helpful. The resort is very clean and in a great location - Carmela (by the pool) is the best for sorting out sunbeds!! Great evening entertainment as well. Easy access to beach and restaurants. Also a very good gym to work off the amazing breakfasts!!

“A Fantastic Stay With Just a Few Small Tweaks Needed”

We have just returned from a week’s stay and had a fantastic holiday. If TripAdvisor allowed half stars, this would comfortably be a 4.5/5 from me. I have rated it 4 stars only because there are a few areas where I think the hotel could be even better. The standout feature for us was the all-inclu… more

We have just returned from a week’s stay and had a fantastic holiday. If TripAdvisor allowed half stars, this would comfortably be a 4.5/5 from me. I have rated it 4 stars only because there are a few areas where I think the hotel could be even better. The standout feature for us was the all-inclusive package. Unlike many hotels where only basic drinks are included, the selection here was excellent. Almost everything was covered apart from premium spirits and champagne, with plenty of branded and mid-range options available, including cava/Prosecco. It genuinely felt like a generous all-inclusive offering. The food was another highlight. The quality was consistently excellent and we really enjoyed every meal. There was a good variety throughout the week, although a couple of themed evenings felt slightly repetitive, with what seemed to be two Indian-themed nights. Our room was spotless throughout our stay. Housekeeping did an exceptional job every day and the minibar was replenished regularly with soft drinks, beer and Prosecco. The beds were extremely comfortable, although we would have preferred one king-size bed rather than two singles pushed together. The air conditioning worked well, although it took a little while for the room to cool down when getting ready in the evenings. There was no noise from neighbouring rooms, and although there were a few scuff marks on the walls, the overall standard of maintenance was excellent. The staff deserve a special mention. Check-in was fantastic, with a glass of cava and a cold towel waiting for us after a long day of travelling, which was a lovely touch. The restaurant staff were consistently friendly and efficient, while the bar staff were always welcoming despite sometimes being incredibly busy. During peak periods, particularly around 4pm at the pool bar and around 10pm in the lobby bar, it did feel like an extra member of staff would have made a big difference. The pool area was beautiful. The water was a comfortable temperature and perfect for relaxing or enjoying a swim. The sunbed reservation system worked brilliantly for almost the entire holiday and is a great idea. We did experience one issue where our beds were accidentally double-booked, but Santiago dealt with the situation immediately and professionally. It felt like a genuine one-off rather than a wider problem. My advice would be to reserve your preferred sunbeds early the day before if you have a favourite area. The location is excellent, just a short walk from the beach with stunning sunset views. The Wi-Fi worked perfectly throughout our stay and the overall atmosphere was peaceful and relaxing. There were a few larger family groups during our stay which occasionally changed the atmosphere around the pool, but that’s simply luck of the draw rather than a criticism of the hotel. Although we didn’t use the gym, it looked very well equipped and it was great to see the hotel offering fitness classes. If I could suggest a few improvements, they would be: • Include the pool snack bar within the all-inclusive package, or at the very least make it much clearer when ordering that it isn’t included. We ordered lunch there early in our holiday and were surprised to discover a €30 charge on the app afterwards. The food was delicious, but for a light lunch we would happily have accepted a simpler menu if it meant it was included and saved us changing to visit the buffet. • Introduce QR code ordering for drinks around the pool. The QR codes on the tables already let you browse the menu, but you still have to queue at the bar or try to catch the attention of a waiter. A previous hotel we stayed at allowed guests to order directly from their sunbeds, and it made a huge difference to the overall experience, especially during busy periods. • Extend the bar opening hours. The bars closing at midnight often brought the evening to an abrupt end. A late-night bar, even until 2am, would have been a great addition. Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed our stay and would happily recommend this hotel. The positives far outweighed the negatives, and with just a few small changes it would easily be a five-star experience.

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“Pleasant Stay”

I would have rated this hotel 5 stars but a few reasons unfortunately led to some disappointment. We stayed in rooms 504 and 505 with our daughters in the room beside us. The issue we had on the first night and penultimate night was noise coming from above which turned out to be a fault with the ch… more

I would have rated this hotel 5 stars but a few reasons unfortunately led to some disappointment. We stayed in rooms 504 and 505 with our daughters in the room beside us. The issue we had on the first night and penultimate night was noise coming from above which turned out to be a fault with the chlorine pump for the rooftop pool/jacuzzi. We had been assured it was fixed after the first night's noise but unfortunately it returned on our penultimate night. Although the guest relations staff and manager were very apologetic and quick to get the problem sorted both times, it still left us all tired with disturbed sleep at each end of our 2 week stay. We had been specifically allocated these rooms by Marcos in the weeks leading up to our holiday. We originally booked the beachfront seaview rooms, not prestige and he suggested we pay more and upgrade to the prestige package. Travellers tip! Make sure you don't end up with rooms directly under the rooftop pool area otherwise you might end up with the noise problems we had. The second issue we had was allergy information on the food items in the prestige lounge. Our daughter has an egg allergy and they had sandwiches labelled as not having egg which included a salmon wrap - our daughter ended up with a reaction which we think was caused by mayonnaise in the wrap which would have had egg in the ingredients. The management were apologetic and offered to make her food specially for her but it had dented her confidence in what was being said about the food content. We were given a free evening dinner as compensation but unfortunately the buffet is not set up well with information for allergy sufferers. There wasn't much she could eat there either! These issues aside, we really enjoyed our 2 week stay on bed and breakfast basis with the prestige upgrade. The rooms were kept very clean by housekeeping and staff generally were very attentive in terms of room service, reception etc. The rooftop pool is much cleaner than the ground floor pool. Pool areas generally are in need of some repairs in places. The prestige upstairs area is stocked well with drinks and snacks during the day and kept clean as much as possible with people in and out constantly. If you are a light sleeper and go to bed early, don't expect it to be quiet. This hotel is surrounded by other hotels who regularly have outdoor evening entertainment which goes on until 11pm. Bring earplugs! If we return I think we would stay for just 5 nights and bed and breakfast basis again. There is a huge choice of local restaurants of a very good standard within a 10 to 15min walk and a taxi to Las Americas costs about 10euros. The management were very good in acknowledging our birthdays for myself and my husband with cava in the room and birthday cake. A nice touch without us even mentioning the birthday for him. Thank you to Oscar who helped us with the noise issue and the egg allergy issue. The other lady from guest relations who helped us at the end of the stay was also lovely. Management please look at your allergy information on food items and please ensure that they are accurate and minimise risk of cross contamination in your kitchen areas. Thank you for a pleasant stay.

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