Hotel El Paraiso Playa

“Highly recommended”

We visited this hotel in late September to early October which is pretty well at the end of the season in this part of the world. For example, the beach restaurants and cafes such as Oceano are noticeably less patronised and so cannot really offer the same service and choice as they did up to the... more

We visited this hotel in late September to early October which is pretty well at the end of the season in this part of the world. For example, the beach restaurants and cafes such as Oceano are noticeably less patronised and so cannot really offer the same service and choice as they did up to the end of September. However, the weather is still perfect for the beach ( 28-32 ) and there is still a welcome laid back feel to the place. As to the hotel, the location for a beach holiday is superb; the sands are but a few minutes away. The rooms are very clean and comfortable and ours had a small balcony which overlooked the pool. Towels were changed each day and Senora Trini spoke enough English to deal with any requests, since we had no problems. Iwould rate this hotel at the very top of its star rating. The coffee was good, the breakfast bread was fresh and there was always fruit, cereals and yoghurt......and the toaster worked! The reception area is quaintly furnished and has a comfortable Spanish feel to it. In fact Isla Cristina is very much geared to Spanish visitors - most of whom would have cars - so expect a bizarre experience while trying to find one at e.g. the bus station, even if you speak some Spanish! However, the hotel always managed to find one. Expect a welcoming, family-run hotel with unobtrusive but efficient service and you won't be disappointed.

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“Clean & above my expectations”

The staff are helpful & pleasant, and well mannered.i believe its a family run business 😃 Clean rooms and spacious. This is my 2nd time Ive stayed here and there is nothing to complain about. This time time round I stayed in a family room and the time before that was Oct '16 which was a double eo... more

The staff are helpful & pleasant, and well mannered.i believe its a family run business 😃 Clean rooms and spacious. This is my 2nd time Ive stayed here and there is nothing to complain about. This time time round I stayed in a family room and the time before that was Oct '16 which was a double eoom & the bathroom was bigger

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“Relaxed and welcoming”

This hotel exceeded my expectations. I had a room to myself which was spotless and cleaned daily and had plenty of storage space, a comfy bed and a nice small balcony though no outdoor chairs. The air-conditioning was very good, in fact it took me a while to get it so it wasn't too strong, a v... more

This hotel exceeded my expectations. I had a room to myself which was spotless and cleaned daily and had plenty of storage space, a comfy bed and a nice small balcony though no outdoor chairs. The air-conditioning was very good, in fact it took me a while to get it so it wasn't too strong, a very low setting. Breakfast was continental with the usual ham and cheese as well as fruit and yoghurt and bread and small cakes but the best part for me was hot baguettes and mini croissants and good fresh coffee (or tea if that's your thing) brought to your table. They also had cold water which is not always a given. The building itself was nice with lots of charming touches all around making it feel like it's run by real people unlike some other soulless places. The pool area which we had all to ourselves had beautiful tiles and was very private and quiet. The family running the hotel were helpful with any query we had. You do always get further speaking the language of the country you're in but they dealt with many things asked by others in English and my own Spanish is extremely basic. The hotel is very close to the beach and some restaurants but is a fair walk from the centre and because we went off season to avoid excess heat and crowds this produced some challenges for us. Firstly, the nearby restaurants seemed to be closing down for the season and so were not open at night. I am not able to walk far and was expecting to have to get taxis into the centre for dinner. However while we could get a taxi into town within 10 or 15 minutes of someone phoning for us it was not so easy to get home again and twice we were actually given a lift home from restaurant owners. This seems to be an ongoing problem during low season in the town and is frustrating for visitors and hotel/restaurant owners alike. It did mean though that we were shown real kindness by the locals. Also the beach has no loungers to rent so we ended up buying some chairs and parasols from the shop a few minutes up the road and did as the locals do. Of course none of this is any fault of the hotel but it is useful to know if you are planning a trip here. I very much enjoyed my stay in this hotel, we always had lots of room on the beach and there are a number of very good restaurants in the town. It is a good choice if you want to have a less touristy and more Spanish experience.

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