Hotel Riu Monica

Just returned from this beautiful hotel, our 4th visit in two years. I cannot fault the staff, service and food at the Riu Monica. We were lucky with the weather, again, with many sunbathing days in January. 17c -19c most days and plenty of sun loungers! Jumped on the local bus service, twice on our stay. Very easy to do. Once to Malaga (8 euros return per person) and once to the amazing village of Frigliana (1.15 euros single). The latter is a beautiful quant very Spanish village and cant wait to visit again, when the weather is better. TUI offered many hotel excursions, so plenty to do if you want to do a tour of Costa del Sol, with local tours in the town as well. My only criticism of the hotel is that I didn't think the evening entertainment was as good as standard as previous holidays here. You have to display personality as an entertainer and both 'Ricky Gervaza' and the 'Neil Diamond' act displayed this in abundance and had good voices to match. The female solo again had excellent personality, a good voice, but just not my type of music. Really enjoyed the Flamenco show , good as always. Apart from this I didn't think the other 3 acts were up to the usual standards. Across the road are some lovely café bars. Sarah and Monolos is the cheapest for drink, but lunches are basic. The Ship is the perfect package. Great drinks and only a slight difference to the other bars, lovely food at lunch time. Baguettes, toasties and the best is coffee and dessert for between 3 and 3.5 Euros! The staff have great personalities and cant do enough for you. Football on TV offered at the bar next door, if you fancy games? Maxwells Bar in town show all the live English football, in a comfortable environment. The gym at the hotel now needs updating. The treadmills were playing up at times, when walking instead of running on it. The tension foot straps on the rower are badly worn and need readjusting every 3 minutes! The weights machines need servicing. Easy to spend an hour or so there though. The swimming pool is nice, but was very busy and very small, so didn't use. Thanks to all the staff, from reception, to restaurant and bar and the cleaning staff. ALL extremely kind and helpful. Look forward to our next visit.

My partner and I have spent two New Years here now and love the hotel and Nerja. The hotel has a good position on the seafront and an easy walk to the centre. The staff are all pleasant and helpful. The food is a good buffet - we loved the salads . New Years Eve food and entertainment was excellent , as was the soup and doughnuts served at 1.00! There are some handy bars opposite the hotel and an Irish bar round the corner if you don’t like the evening entertainment.