Aguamar

Just back from a 10 day holiday at Aguamar and we had a brilliant time. We're a family of 4 (kids ages 15 and 13) and the mixed reviews did have us a little worried. The hotel is very clean, with the pool area being thoroughly cleaned every morning before the sunbeds are released. Pool - it's the best system we've seen for sunbeds in a while - if you want to get the spot (or close) you want, I'd advise waiting there from around 9.30 (sunbeds are methodically released and put out at 10.00) - we didn't see anybody going without a sunbed apart from one person, who pitched up after 12.00 and expected one. As mentioned, the pool area was cleaned every morning, and it's the cleanest pool I've seen. Small issue would be the size - there's a large "island" in the middle which serves no purpose. Get rid of that, and it's a much bigger and better pool. Rooms - there is no air-con, as mentioned, but we found the ceiling fans quite suitable, but I'd suggest bringing additional portable small fans. Cleaners changed bedding and towels on most days. Food - difficult to comment on breakfast and evening meals as we opted for self-catering. We did order hot snacks from the pool bar during the day - standard chips, onion rings, toasties etc - again no complaints and portions were very generous. Drinks prices also very reasonable, you have options for glasses if sitting in, or paper cups for the pool area. Staff - extremely friendly. From the reception staff to the lifeguards and the bar staff - all friendly, patient and helpful. Putting out those sunbeds was a thankless task, but I was impressed by how firm but fair they were with the process. Location - perfect. A 10-15 minute walk to the seafront, with plenty of choices for bars and restaurants, with a few off the beaten track. We didn't have a bad meal all holiday and there are some lovely bars both on the seafront and on the way down. Local attractions - HIGHLY recommend the Monkey Park, a bargain at 10 Euros for adults, great value. Need to either hire a car or take a taxi to get there. Siam Park is really good, but VERY busy, even in the evening. Negatives - being pernickety, the noise levels on the last couple of days from newly arrived obnoxious guests was a shame. I'm not sure if there's a process in place to deal with that, but there were people talking loudly on their balconies at 2.30am, blissfully ignorant of anybody else trying to sleep. As mentioned, the pool itself would be much better if they took out the pointless "island" in the middle.

Overall - we had a brilliant time. Personally, I'd always recommend self-catering, as there's so many good places to eat in Los Cristianos. We would definitely return to this hotel for another holiday. Huge thank you to the brilliant staff.

We have just returned from a weeks holiday as a family of four from the Aguamar Apartments in Los Christianos. We arrived late on a Tuesday so missed the evening meal, check in was quick and efficient and dealt with by a friendly lady behind the front desk. We were given a ground floor apartment which I requested to not have but I'm aware that these requests aren't guaranteed so that's fine. Unfortunately the room we were given was a corner room (017) the corner rooms are the only rooms without a pool view. The other downside of the corner room was that the bathroom was tiny, so much so that the door didn't fully open as it hit the sink on the opposite wall. I returned immediately to the reception to ask if it was possible to move rooms, the lady was just leaving off and suggested I speak with her colleague in the morning. In the morning when we were able to see the "terrrace" area for our room it was apparent that it wasn't so much a terrace as a public walkway for all hotel guests to use to go back and forth from rooms to pool and pool to mini golf /table tennis area. This fuelled my desire to change rooms further, I went to reception where I happened to see the Jet2 rep so spoke with her, we were able to view a room on the top floor that day but as I have a fear of heights and children who I wouldn't trust to be sensible on the balcony we declined the room. Over the course of the second and third day of our holiday we were offered the chance to view two more rooms as they became available, one of which on the first floor would have been perfect but for the fact that we just didn't want o go through the upheaval after being in place for two nights (unpacked and food/drink bought for the room.) So we stayed in our corner room and got quite used to it, we enjoyed the ground floor after all, with easy access to the pool and the pathway outside our doors not as busy as we first feared. The tiny bathroom was an inconvenience but again we got used to it and other than the fact that a window with tilting slats which could be moved from outside to look in (which never happened but could have) all was fine. Hotel Location and appearance, So the transfer from the airport via a prebooked bus provided by Jet2 was very quick (about 15 mins) and we were the first drop off. The hotel stands about halfway up a slight hill, it looks very nice from outside the entrance and very clean. There is an ATM right outside the entrance and across the road road is a row of bars and cafes nothing loud, unpleasant or off-putting in the slightest. Within one minute walk there are mini supermarkets and more bars and hotels, we used the superdiplo mini market which was very close and had a good range of everything we needed for the week. We were on halfboard so just snacks and drinks for the room and a few necessities. The main centre of Los Christianos is about a 15-20 minute walk (guestimation) with bars and restaurants along the route. The main area of los christianos is lovely, a perfect mix of quiet little seaside town but with more than enough going on to keep you entertained. So many restaurants and bars with several providing singers/performers to sit and watch with a drink or two. There are two lovely close by beaches with gold sand and activities available at a cost. An easy coastal walk to Play de las Americas is achievable from the los christianos beaches, again the walk is lined with restaurants and bars. Inside the the Hotel is spotlessly clean, both public areas and bedrooms are well maintained day and night. The reception area has some seats and leads directly to the dining area. Just through some double doors is the pool area with poolside bar. The pool and surrounding area is really nice but realistically it's not quite big enough for the size of the hotel and the amount of guests wanting to use it at peak times. Sunloungers are put out by the lifeguard at 10am, if you want one be by the poolside from about 09:45 to make sure you're not disappointed. Parasoles and mats for the loungers come at a cost of 3 and 3.5 euros a day or for the week at a reduced rate. Food at the Aguamar was a very pleasant surprise, we were apprehensive after reading reviews but decided to go with halfboard as we got a good deal with jet2 and thought we could always eat out locally if needed. The food was mostly amazing, a great choice most nights which was well cooked and very tasty. desserts were limited but fine the only dish that wasn't to our taste was a battered fish which was a bit rubbery (not the posh fish fingers which were very tasty) breakfast again amazing, excellent cooked and continental options (sausages are more like what we think of a hotdogs) but everything else as you would expect. There were pastries, yoghurts, cakes , cereals and fruit available, both the breakfast and the evening meal are buffet style so you won't go hungry and if the trays are empty they are replenished straight away with food piping hot! pool bar serves hot lunches, my children had pizza and chips a couple of times and said it was really good. The hotel has a laundry room, safe room (38 euros for the week with 20 euros refundable deposit included) there is a luggage room for before check in and after check out should it be needed. There is a changing room and shower available to use on your last day after checking out if you want to kill some time around the pool. Wifi is only free in the bar/reception area. There is an adult only roof terrace (no bar) with a shower to cool off. Pool table, small kids play area, table tennis, mini golf(at a cost) and a soft play room. All the staff without exception were friendly and helpful the three ladies on reception were always available to help, a special thanks to to the one who found my lost phone in the reception area and kept it safe for me until I returned from my evening out in the town.

Overall we had a wonderful holiday at this great hotel in beautiful Los christianos, was it perfect? not quite, but what holiday/hotel is and to expect it to be is naive, it is however spotlessly clean, well decorated, with a good pool, good rooms, great food and an ideal/quiet location with exceptional staff. If you aren't entirely happy with something speak with them as they will do everything they can to resolve your issues.

The only slight negative for us is we were unlucky with the room we were allocated as there are bigger better rooms, they are all at the same price per night and I would suggest pricing the corner rooms at a slightly lower rate and advertising them as such would be a fair thing to do. Having said that the ground floor one (17) had its advantages and they did everything they could when we expressed our concerns.

We have stayed at 5 star hotels with all inclusive board in the past and can honestly say for the money you pay at the Aguamar whilst it might not be 5 star it stands up well and is well worth it's rating if not higher.

We never do the exact same holiday/hotel twice as we like to experience new places and try different hotels however if that were to change I would not hesitate to stay here again and will recommend it to others.

Thank you all at the Aguamar hotel for a great holiday!