Hotel AR Almerimar

“No Frills”

As a British family- if you're sociable and looking to stay mostly on site/join in and use the facilities, I wouldn't recommend this site. The resort is heavily Spanish, which isn't a problem per se. But, no one speaks English and as a result, children cannot happily join in with the games/enterta… more

As a British family- if you're sociable and looking to stay mostly on site/join in and use the facilities, I wouldn't recommend this site. The resort is heavily Spanish, which isn't a problem per se. But, no one speaks English and as a result, children cannot happily join in with the games/entertainment. In fact, a number of times our 6 year old daughter was actively ignored by staff once stating she was English. No one tried to include her even once and as a result she didn't stand a chance of a diploma/certificate at any point and that really hurts a child! As adults we could use google translate to order drinks/make requests on a small/low level basis but for the actual entertainment etc it wasn't possible. The shows mon-weds were juvenile games all in Spanish and boring. The bars were stated as being open until 01:00 but were closed at 11.30. The staff had significant varying friendliness There were positives- the room was cleaned well every day. The shower was quite powerful but literally soaked the whole bathroom. Food wasn't too bad but was very hard for a vegetarian at times. Pools were quite good but not the cleanest. Nothing much to do locally without a big journey Generally speaking this is a budget hotel for Spanish locals. We didn't have a bad time but definitely wouldn't return

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“Poor Service”

Just called in for a drink in the golf bar..had to walk in and order the drinks..once the drinks where finished. Staff never asked if you wanted another drink or anything thing else. Not very good for a supposed 5 star hotel...

“Good for a chilled holiday with not much to do”

It's ok, not great, but alright for a chilled holiday and for doing very little. The hotel is old and dated and needs some proper TLC. Some of the grips on the steps had come away and were hanging off which were a trip hazard. The lifts were really dirty, the glass was like looking through a piece … more

It's ok, not great, but alright for a chilled holiday and for doing very little. The hotel is old and dated and needs some proper TLC. Some of the grips on the steps had come away and were hanging off which were a trip hazard. The lifts were really dirty, the glass was like looking through a piece of used old cling film. The Room - The sofa bed for our little girl was damaged with a sharp piece of metal sticking out which is dangerous for a child, could potentially cut and injure quite easily (see photo). The bathroom has a weird swinging door to the toilet which I thought was bizarre (be careful as it does swing back and forth quite quickly potentially smashing you in the face if you're not careful). The sink was cracked and the taps were mucky and dirty. There was some weird splatter of something gross on the back of the TV and the table it was sitting on looked like it hadn't been wiped down since 2012 (again, see photos). And the hairdryer is something that belongs in a retro 80s museum, I recommend bringing your own hairdryer if you're not going for the dried frazzled look. Air con is decent, but noisy. The restaurant - we did half board which I'm relieved about because the food choices were poor. Same starters/salad bar selection every breakfast, lunch and dinner. The mains were ok, sometimes the meat was really overcooked and rubbery, and one night the pork was underdone. Everything is either really salty or has no flavour. The plates, cutlery, cups and glasses are really dirty. Some of the waiters seem really annoyed that you're there, like it's a massive inconvenience to them to have to ask you what you want to drink. Dessert was disappointing, pretty much the same every single day - mostly some kind of cheesecake or cream cake, and suspect looking ice-cream (3 flavours to choose from). The pools - the only good thing is that there are enough sun loungers, so no sunbed wars here. There's not enough umbrellas though so if you want shade you can put the sunbed by the fence with bins either side, and a road on the other side of the fence. There are no tables and nowhere to set down your drinks so be prepared for ants and critters to crawl into your drink. The pool is ok, there's a bridge across the middle but it is cordoned off and you can't go across it. There are little island things in the middle but you're not allowed to climb up or sit on the them. There's 2 spiral slides which was fun. The kids pool is for really small children, very shallow, and has a couple of little slides. In both pools the water is really really dirty. The entertainment - everyday there's a hotel mascot which is a person in a big red dog costume that walks around waving at people and you can have pictures taken with him, then he does a dance with some of the hotel staff. The really young kids seem to love it. There were some pool side games everyday but if you don't know any Spanish it will be difficult to take part and get involved. There is a games room with a couple of pool tables, table hockey, cherry pickers, table football etc, but most of the machines are broken and will swallow your money without warning. The note change machine was also broken and took some poor dad's 10 euro note and did not return any change. The beach - the beach is only a few minutes walk from the hotel. Literally walk out the back gate from where the swimming pools are, cross the cycle lane and footpath and you're there. The beach is pebbly and rocky so I would recommend wearing water shoes. You will need to walk a bit further down along the beach if you want to hire sunloungers which are 5 euros each. The area - there are some really nice restaurants nearby - Restaurante Puertovino Almerimar, best calamari I've ever had. Note that they don't have a menu in English but Google translate works well enough. The marina is close by (about 15 mins leisurely stroll) and there are some decent restaurants there too - Carbónico Bistró, really good food and pleasant staff. Not much for shopping or sightseeing. Overall it's not really worth the money, and if you're looking for a holiday with a nice beach, good food, decent entertainment, nice facilities and friendly staff then you're best going somewhere else.

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