Holiday Village Costa del Sol

After previously being at HV Ibiza and Lanzarote we returned to a Holiday Village after two years of other holidays. Did not appreciate what we had missed until we looked back Went with our three boys who are now a bit older (5,9,10) and maybe that made all the difference. All of this is written in the context of a family friendly, 4 star all-inclusive, so go with that expectation and not some other type of holiday. If you want another type of holiday then go elsewhere, you'll probably hate it here. Hotel was very good. Rooms a decent size and clean both inside and outside (at times despite efforts of some guests). Staff all friendly and minor issues resolved without any drama. Bar staff especially were always polite and friendly which has not always been our experience. Beds in rooms very comfortable and air conditioning worked really well. Food. Best we have had at this type of hotel. Good selection and most of it of at least reasonable standard. Never had a problem with finding something we could all enjoy. Nice to have various themes - Sushi, Mexican etc. Although I do wish there was more Spanish options. Restaurants busy at peak times but fairly easy to find a quieter time. Eating in the Beach Club is a good option for lunch if you want more variety. Speciality restaurants ok - Italian better than Burger one. HV Team - superb. All the ones we dealt with were fantastic. Friendly, well informed, motivated and lots of little things they did to make a difference. Special quick mention to Louise (for making sure our youngest got a sticker in a little HV15 fishing game to match the ones his brothers had won) and Georgia (?) for helping out when our eldest had a minor panic attack on the tour of Gibralter (long story !) Entertainment - maybe because of age we saw less of the evening entertainment than previous holiday but did more during day. Aeriel adventures, water walkers, inflatables, foam parties, mini-golf all very much enjoyed. Daily quiz well run (and we won a few times !) Kids club team were fantastic as always. What we did see of evening entertainment it was full of enthusiasm and enjoyable. Pools - good, spent more time at main pool than elsewhere. Felt safe and well maintained. A few 'brown alerts' but not much hotel can do about that. Sunbeds availability a lot better than elsewhere although see comments below. Shame you have to pay extra for Beach park inflatables, seemed a bit unnecessary - but did not spend a great deal of time there anyway. Negatives - having to pay for safes is a recurring complaint of mine. They are there anyway and should be inclusive - sunbeds although good in quantity were the least comfortable I've used. Non adjustable and the only postion is neither lying down or sitting up - no idea why that was chosen as an option. A bit of a first-world problem - but becomes annoying over time given the amount of time you spend on them. - very expensive (€11) to use laundry facilities, which given the number of chocolate fountains available to cover clothes is a bit of a problem. Overall though, relaxing and very enjoyable. We are already going back next year.

Please be aware that the Beach Club slide where you use the inflatable rings are not part of the all-inclusive package. You have to pay per day, per ring for their use. The First Choice website hides this bit of detail away and it still doesn't say that there is an 8 euro charge - it simply states (when you find it) 'daily part-refundable deposit'. This actually means you pay 20 euro per day and receive 12 euro back when you return the ring at the end of the day. I have two daughters, so this cost me 16 euro extra per day that I hadn't budgeted for. Very misleading and unfair First Choice!!!!

We stayed for 1 week. The hotel accommodation and staff were quite good. The hotel was clean and bedrooms comfortable. The pools were really good and the water park across the road is really good and the only paying part is for the water flume dinghy. 4 hotels share this park and there is a lunchtime restaurant there. The food and drink is pretty poor. My grandson after a week said don't mention sausages, chicken or chips again. Very repetitive for kids. Adult choices they tried but the presentation is poor. kids running around restaurant and public areas playing football with no parents in sight does not aid relaxation.Good adult only pool indoor in the afternoon. I would not go again but understand itsappeal to young families.