SBH Monica Beach

I don’t usually write reviews on tripadvisor and, instead, choose to spend my time reading others and getting myself stressed out and worked up before the holiday begins! As such, I was so stressed and worried about coming to this hotel (and even researched moving hotels) due to the reviews of previous guests. However, I am writing this review because I know I will not be alone with that (in fact we met people on holiday who had felt exactly the same!). My overall point, is that there is absolutely nothing to worry about!! My honest opinion is that people have very differing expectations and that, yes, those who are coming to expect a 4* luxury holiday are going to be in for a disappointment as I do not believe this to be the target audience for this hotel. Upon arrival, we were greeted by wonderful reception staff who welcomed us and made conversation (and spoke to our 12 year old daughter about the all important WiFi whilst we checked in….). We were told how to find our room and, for us, we are more than happy to find this ourselves and always use it as an opportunity to take in some of the hotel! I do think, admittedly, we were very very fortunate with the room we were placed in (225).. the room was huge & views were absolutely stunning. Was it dated? Yes. Did we do anything in it except sleep and shower? No. So the size and views far far outweighed anything negative I could highlight about the room. Again, the mattresses could most definitely be softer and the pillows plumper.. but we were so tired from a day in the sun it was never enough of an issue to stop us from snoozing! Breakfast was repetitive .. but with so many differing options that just simply isn’t a problem. We always did lunch at the pool bar.. the offer changes every day which we really enjoyed as it meant we didn’t feel we were missing out on the internal lunch offer. There is always a “kid friendly” option such as hot dog, burger or pizza as well as chips and then dishes that are a bit more “adult” (but very yum!) The dinner reviews have baffled me. Repetitive? No. We enjoyed a huge variety of fish & shellfish, chicken, pork, duck, lamb, vegetarian options and more. The salad bar is ever changing and the puddings are just yum (and don’t even get me started on the chocolate fountain which I wish I’d taken home!!). The pool are is lovely, a very good pool and it never felt too crowded for us. Yes, it’s family friendly so if you’re looking for a quiet, relaxing time by the pool this is maybe not the hotel for you. There were instances where the cleanliness of the pool area could’ve been improved with regards to spilt drinks & lemon and limes just left on the floor.. but we’re more partial to blaming guests who can’t pick their own mess up. Reviews about the hotel being unfriendly towards English guests are simply false. Every single member of staff we came across was wonderful, helpful and held such a positive, light, jokey approach to us. Sebastian, in particular, was lovely and quickly memorised our faces & order! I do wonder, sometimes, with English guests if they ever reflect on how they initially begin an interaction and people respond in kind… the German guests we saw often were truly lovely too. The African bar is wonderful, and the views just breathtaking. The location is absolutely superb, the beach one of the best we have ever visited and the snorkelling was absolutely fantastic (head to the rocks on the left about an hour after high tide for a truly spectacular snorkel). We used the safe in our room (€20 cash deposit) but we always would anyway. We had no issues at all (even when it was accidentally left open for the day by aforementioned 12 year old…). Also worth noting that there is a key card issue if you keep your key card by a mobile phone as I believe it demagnetises the card.. reception told us this when we went back after being unable to get into our room so we kept it away from our phones and had no further issues. The cats on site were a welcome surprise - they love a little cat treat if you wanted to feed them :) There is a little shopping centre within walking distance which has a Spar and other shops which we visited a couple of times. We also did a boat trip through Magic Sails and high recommend, that was a wonderful day. I do agree with a previous comment that said it would be nice if ice cream was available for kids from the pool bar for a longer period.. or maybe a machine that was accessible in the same way the drinks machines are for self serve? I’ve seen this be very successful in other hotels previously. Our child had a little disappointment at no option of a slushy either, that may be a future improvement? But nowhere near enough of a problem to stop a return. There is also use of a room after check out if you need to shower before your transfer arrives after a day in the pool which is free and just needs booking.

Overall, I wanted to write a review that puts some people’s minds at ease before they go to the hotel. It is a family friendly resort, with wonderful staff and gave us everything we had wanted from a family getaway. For the price we paid, we think even more than we could’ve expected! We will return, our daughter is already asking when!

We had a wonderful time at this hotel. Our room was a bit further from the main building, but it was really nice and spacious (one king size bed and two singles plus small kitchen area with fridge, table and chairs), wich was great for a family of four. AC was working all the time. We had few issues with access card but reception staff quickly sorted this without any problems. The main pool is lovely but we didnt spend much time there as kids were obsessed with waterslides in the other pool (however only one waterslide was working every day but we still had a great fun). Plenty of options for drinks during the day by pool as two bars were open all the time and one by the slides also opened for a few hours in the afternoon. Food choices were excellent - fish, chicken, pork, beef, salads, chips, pizza etc. Breakfast very good too - eggs, bacon, pancakes and many more. But the best choices were the desserts, especially during dinner service (ice cream, choc fountain and few types of a very delicious mousse)! Not just adults, but kids always found a great food without thinking much (and I am talking about quite a fussy eaters here!). Beach by the hotel is brilliant. Beautiful sand, amazing colour of the sea and crystal clear water (we also spotted fish). The staff around hotel were very friendly, especially at the reception. I cannot comment on the entertainment much, as this was happening by the main pool, but there was a mini disco every evening and different program in the bar under reception after that. The lovely cats everywhere were a cherry on the top of an already great holiday. Overall, this hotel is very nice and we had a very lovely time here.

SBH Monica Beach Resort – Our Stay, 7th–17th August 2026

We stayed at SBH Monica Beach Resort from 7th–17th August 2026, with three of us sharing Room 114, which was situated on the corner.

Overall, we actually had a really nice, relaxing holiday. I didn’t explore much of the island because this holiday was purely about switching off, sitting in the sun and reading a book. There were some things I really liked about the hotel and one fairly major disappointment — the food!

🏨 Room 114

I personally found our room lovely and quiet. My husband did occasionally notice a smell from the drains, although it wasn’t something that particularly bothered me.

We had paid for a full sea view, although I’d describe what we actually had as a partial sea view because the palm trees obstructed quite a lot of it. We didn’t complain because it wasn’t a major issue for us.

The room itself was lovely and clean, and the cleaners came in every single day. I really couldn’t fault the housekeeping at all.

☀️ Pool & Sunbeds

On our first day I thought getting a sunbed was going to be a nightmare unless you were up at the crack of dawn! However, I soon found that if I went down at around 8:30–9:00am, I could normally find a bed around the pool.

I never personally saw the swimming pool being cleaned during our stay, although to be fair the water always looked clear and was never cloudy.

One warning — the pool area is an absolute sun trap! Definitely use a high-factor sun cream because you can burn very quickly around there.

🍽️ Food – My Biggest Disappointment

We stayed all-inclusive, and unfortunately I really didn’t like the food.

Obviously food is subjective and I am quite a fussy eater, but during our ten-night stay I think there were only two evenings when I ate what I’d consider a proper full dinner — chicken breast one evening and fried chicken breast on another.

There seemed to be a lot of pork and fish served every day. I can’t stand pork, so that immediately reduced my choices. However, if you love fish, you’ll probably be in your element!

I was particularly disappointed with the choices for fussy children.

I don’t remember seeing chicken nuggets once. The sausages looked similar to hot-dog sausages but weren’t what we’d normally consider regular sausages. There was pizza regularly, but some of the toppings weren’t particularly child-friendly — including fish and ham. I only remember seeing pepperoni once, although cheese pizza was available at other times.

There were chips and onion rings, but personally I thought the burgers were absolutely vile, and unfortunately I didn’t like the pasta sauces either.

There was plenty of bread, salad and chips, though. I think I probably ate the equivalent of about ten full baguettes over the holiday! 😂

This was particularly difficult because my child has ARFID and can only eat a limited range of foods. For families dealing with ARFID or children who need familiar and predictable foods, I would definitely research the food options carefully before booking all-inclusive here.

For us, the food simply wasn’t worth the all-inclusive price, and it was by far my biggest disappointment with the hotel.

🏖️ The Beach – Absolutely Stunning

Now for something I absolutely cannot fault — the beach.

It’s beautiful. ❤️

And if you want to find the little squirrels everyone talks about, we found them in two places. 🐿️

Come down from the Africa Bar, turn left and walk along a little way towards the old sun loungers and you should find some around there.

Alternatively, when you reach the beach turn right and keep walking until it looks as though the beach is coming to an end, where you’ll reach the rocky area. We found them living amongst the rocks there too.

People often call them chipmunks, but they’re actually squirrels.

Top tip: get yourself some peanuts from the indoor shop before you go looking for them. 🥜🐿️

☕ Milk, Snacks & Nearby Shops

If you’re like me and like having tea or coffee in your room, you’ll probably want to know where to find milk!

Come out of the hotel and turn right. Walk past the first few sets of shops until you reach the shop with Santander on it. Inside there is a small supermarket, and we found milk at the back.

It’s long-life milk rather than refrigerated fresh milk, but it did the job perfectly well for tea and coffee.

The supermarket itself wasn’t huge, but we used it for snacks and bits for the room.

There are also plenty of little gift and souvenir shops around this area and along the approach to it.

🛒 A Bigger Shopping Area

If you’re looking for a SPAR and more restaurants and shops, come out of the hotel and turn left, then go up and turn left again towards the next hotel.

When you reach the entrance to that hotel, turn right and walk up.

You’ll find a SPAR supermarket along with restaurants and various little shops.

🥡 Chinatown – Worth the Walk!

Because I struggled so much with the hotel food, we did find somewhere else to eat that I really enjoyed.

Come out of the hotel, turn left and walk for roughly 10 minutes, then turn right and walk through the wooded area until you reach the main road.

There is a Chinese restaurant called Chinatown there, and we thought the food was really nice.

There are some other little shops around there too.

🛍️ Local Market

There’s also a market nearby on Wednesdays and Sundays, approximately 9am–1pm.

Come out of the hotel and cross the road towards the wooded area and you’ll find the market there.

It’s handy to know about if you don’t intend travelling far during your holiday but fancy having a wander around somewhere different.

🎤 Animation & Evening Entertainment

The animation team regularly came around the pool trying to encourage people to join in with activities, which was nice.

I wouldn’t say they were the most energetic animation team I’ve ever experienced. Some of them looked tired quite a lot of the time and weren’t always particularly enthusiastic, but they did make the effort to get people involved.

In the evening, the entertainment takes place downstairs in an undercroft/basement-type area of the hotel.

I only went down there twice — once for karaoke and another time just to have a look at what was going on.

Unfortunately, I found it far too hot down there. There didn’t appear to be air conditioning, and personally I found the heat uncomfortable enough that I didn’t particularly want to stay.

❤️ Overall

Despite everything I’ve said about the food, I actually had a really nice holiday.

My intention was to relax, sit in the sunshine and read a book — and that’s exactly what I did.

The room was clean and quiet, housekeeping was excellent, the beach was absolutely stunning, I could generally find a sunbed without getting up ridiculously early, and there were enough shops and places nearby for what we needed.

The food was unquestionably my biggest disappointment.

Personally, I wouldn’t recommend the all-inclusive food if you’re a particularly fussy eater, and I’d be especially cautious if travelling with a child with ARFID or a very restricted diet. Other people may love it — food is incredibly subjective — but for us it was really difficult.

But did the food ruin our holiday?

No.

We still had a lovely, chilled-out break.

So if you’re heading to SBH Monica Beach…

Have a fantastic holiday, take plenty of high-factor sun cream, pack a good book — and don’t forget the peanuts for the squirrels! ☀️📚🐿️❤️