Sandos Griego Hotel

We’ve just returned from this hotel after a last-minute family holiday, and I wanted to share an honest review because I was quite sceptical after reading the reviews beforehand… but we decided to remain optimistic.

We travelled as 4 adults + 3 children aged 7 and under and had one family room and one standard room.

The rooms: The family room was much smaller than I expected and definitely wasn’t a separate bedroom as I had assumed. It was essentially a double bed, single bed and pull-down bed all in one room. The bathroom was actually quite spacious and more modern than the bedroom, but our balcony overlooked a backstreet and the view was very poor.

Personally, I’d struggle to rate this hotel 3 stars.

Cleanliness was a major issue. Each morning, the pool area was covered in rubbish, food and sometimes broken glass from the previous evening’s entertainment. I complained to reception, who seemed surprised, but unfortunately nothing really changed.

As the week went on, another member of our family complained too, and we spoke to several other guests who had similar concerns. Unfortunately, the response seemed to be the same, so if you’re expecting complaints to result in action, don’t hold your breath.

The pool & sunbeds: The pool was small and often looked dirty/scummy. I barely saw it being cleaned.

The sunbed situation was also awful. Around 8:45am, people were allowed to access the beds and it was basically a free-for-all. Many were broken, weren’t cleaned and there simply weren’t enough for everyone.

Everyone was packed in like sardines, and many of the parasols were old or broken. When the wind picked up, some were literally blowing around, which I found particularly concerning with young children around. One actually blew into the pool while we were there.

For families with children… ⚠️

I personally wouldn’t say this hotel is particularly child-friendly.

The “mini disco” was advertised, but during our 7-night stay it consisted of around 3 songs and a lolly. They did balloons once, but that was about it.

The evening entertainment generally wasn’t great either.

There was also no real pool entertainment for children. Balls weren’t officially allowed, although one lifeguard allowed them while another was very strict, so the rules seemed inconsistent.

Drinks: There was only one main bar by the pool, which meant queues were pretty much constant.

Food: The food was average, with limited variety and quite repetitive. In my opinion, it felt like a lot of corners had been cut compared with other all-inclusive resorts we’ve stayed at.

My sister-in-law is vegetarian and found the options very limited despite there being a vegetarian section.

My 7-year-old daughter also has coeliac disease, so gluten-free food was really important for us.

To be fair, the reception staff were helpful when we explained the situation. They arranged pasta, chips and pizza for her, and upon request they also provided things like gluten-free cereal, toast, muffins and a cake.

However, there weren’t many suitable options readily available, and we were often told to choose food from the main buffet. With coeliac disease, that obviously comes with a serious cross-contamination concern.

One positive: There is a FREE shuttle bus down to the beach, which was great.

If you’re all-inclusive, there’s also a beach area with paid sunbeds and a section where you can get free food and drinks, which was a really nice bonus.

However, it isn’t well signposted at all. We only discovered it because another guest on the bus showed us where it was, and you need a PIN to access it.

Overall…

We tried our best to make the most of the holiday and enjoy ourselves as a family, but unfortunately the hotel really let the experience down.

Torremolinos and Benalmádena themselves were lovely but personally, I wouldn’t return to this hotel.

My honest rating: 2/5

This is just our personal experience and everyone’s expectations are different, but if you’re considering booking this hotel, especially with young children or specific dietary requirements, I’d definitely do your research first.

We tried to ignore the bad reviews but I wouldn’t if I were you. We are a young couple and are very easygoing so just wanted somewhere clean and decent. The rooms are slightly tired, walls very thin (we could hear word for word conversations through the bathroom wall) and doors have to slam to shut, but we obviously weren’t in there a lot so it didn’t matter too much to us.

We didn’t stay around the pool once as we saw what it was like. It was dirty and crammed, lots of litter on the floor and no space to walk around. We knew there was no chance of getting a sunbed or having a relaxing day. Instead, we got on the free shuttle bus and went to the beach, which we loved as the beds were always available and the beach bar allowed us to make the most of our all inclusive package.

We actually really didn’t mind the food in the all inclusive restaurant. Lots of choice and did the job. Naturally very crammed and busy due to the time of year so be prepared for bumping into people and dodging them when getting food.

We are very easygoing and easily pleased, however I would genuinely pay attention to the reviews as they are true. We had a fantastic week but I wouldn’t say it was due to the quality of the hotel and I don’t think we’d return to it anytime soon.

The staff were very lovely.