SBH Monica Beach

My wife and I chose SBH Monica Beach Resort in Costa Calma to celebrate our 9th wedding anniversary and enjoy a relaxing holiday. Unfortunately, it turned out to be one of the most disappointing hotel experiences we have ever had.

The biggest issue was the attitude of some of the reception staff, especially Sergio (Team Leader) and Adrián. We found them to be dismissive, confrontational, and unwilling to help when we had a genuine problem.

We stayed in Room 207 (sea view). From the very first night, the key card repeatedly failed to open our room door. After many attempts, we finally managed to get inside. The next morning, we reported the issue and a technician came to inspect the lock. Unfortunately, the problem continued. The following day, we were locked out again and another technician had to come and open the door.

On the fifth day, after collecting our passports from reception to put them back in our room, I spent around 30 minutes trying unsuccessfully to open the door. I returned to reception and explained that this situation was unacceptable. I asked why the room could not simply be changed or the lock permanently repaired.

At first, Mr. Monium was very understanding. He apologised, said he understood our frustration, and arranged for a technician to come. I offered to wait so we could all go together and resolve the issue once and for all.

However, the situation changed completely when Adrián became involved. When I asked if we could go to the room with the technician, he refused and said he was calling security. I asked why security was necessary just to open my room. Instead of trying to resolve the issue, I was told that if I continued talking, they would not open my room anymore and he does not cared.

When security arrived, Adrián spoke mainly in Spanish with the security officer while I was left out of the conversation. The officer then gestured for me to be quiet before hearing my side of the story. Shortly afterwards, I was told the police had been called and that I could be arrested.

Thankfully, my wife, who speaks Spanish, came to reception after I asked her to join us. There was also a British guest who had witnessed the incident and kindly agreed to stay as a witness.

When the police arrived, the security officer explained the situation in Spanish. As I began explaining my side, Adrián interrupted several times. The police stopped him and said they also wanted to hear from me. My wife translated everything I said, which allowed me to explain exactly what had happened.

I told the police that all I wanted was access to my room. The police instructed the staff to open the door. My wife went with the security officer and the technician. Even the security officer could not open the room using our key card, and once again the technician had to unlock the door. This confirmed that the lock problem was genuine and not something we had imagined.

Afterwards, while sitting by the pool, I spoke with several other guests about what had happened. Some shared their own negative experiences with reception staff. One Italian family told me they had requested a room change because of the location of their room and felt they were treated aggressively. They also told me they later experienced a theft from their room. Another guest told me her safe had been broken into. A British lady, who had witnessed my situation, also told me she struggled to communicate when requesting medical assistance because the doctor only spoke Spanish.

I cannot verify these other guests' experiences, but hearing similar complaints from several different people was concerning.

I would like to recognise Mr. Monium, who treated us professionally and respectfully throughout the situation. There was also a young receptionist who wore a head covering and was polite and helpful whenever we dealt with her. Unfortunately, our interactions with Sergio and Adrián were the complete opposite.

A holiday should be relaxing, especially when you are celebrating a special occasion like a wedding anniversary. Instead, we spent much of our stay dealing with a room lock that was never properly fixed and a confrontation that escalated to the point where the police were called over a maintenance issue that was ultimately proven to be real.

Based on our experience, I cannot recommend this hotel. The property itself has potential, but customer service—particularly at reception—needs significant improvement and there is to much stealing going on in the Resort. Guests deserve to be treated with respect, listened to, and helped when genuine problems arise.They do have a GYM but most of the equipment are old or not working.People in the restaurant / Bars are really working hard and nice.I saw many Cockroaches in the resort.

We stayed in this hotel in march 2026. There is no single major fault that can be attributed to the hotel. The room was clean and spacious, check-in was efficient, the food was excellent (they even served prosciutto). Nevertheless, the entire stay felt somewhat awkward, and we were left with an uneasy feeling that something was not quite right.

Here are some of the highlights:

• We witnessed a robbery! When we visit Fuerteventura, we enjoy taking evening walks to experience the peaceful and relaxing atmosphere after dark. Unfortunately, this year our stroll turned into a frightening experience. As we were walking, there was a man a short distance ahead of us. Suddenly, another person approached him, began pushing and shouting at him, and appeared to demand money or his mobile phone. Although I do not speak Spanish, I recognized enough to understand what was happening. We immediately turned around and returned to the hotel. We were unharmed, but upset by the incident. While it is possible that the confrontation was a personal dispute between the two individuals, it did not appear that way. Earlier that evening, we had noticed the aggressor staring at us. At the time, the prolonged and intense gaze felt uncomfortable, but we did not think much of it. Looking back, however, we realized that we may have been assessed as potential targets ourselves. The thought that we could easily have been the victims left us quite distressed. After that experience, we no longer felt comfortable leaving the hotel for the remainder of our stay. The sense of insecurity lingered - Costa Calma is not a criminal hotbed, but there is a certain amount of criminal undercurrent. The surroundings of the hotel after dark are empty and scary streets.

• Our room was on the ground floor. We are experienced travelers and, once we got into the room, we immediately recognized how dangerous the situation was - a low-density, sparsely populated area and a room that anyone could walk into. We took security very seriously and took our valuables with us wherever we went. As regular SBH customers, we thought we knew what to expect and therefore did not research this particular hotel before our trip. After returning home, I looked into the hotel's safety record and found that our concerns had been well-founded. One review described a German woman who was sleeping with her window open when an intruder entered her room and struck her on the head. There were also reports of several thefts and robberies at the hotel. What is particularly striking is the apparent lack of support provided by the hotel in such situations. According to these accounts, staff simply advised affected guests to visit the nearest police station in Morro Jable and report the incident themselves. In essence, the hotel provides you with a room key and kiss you goodbye - leaves you entirely responsible for whatever happens during your stay.

As I understand it, Spanish law provides that when there is no sign of forced entry and the value of the stolen property is less than €400, the police are not required to attend the scene. In such cases, they generally do not open an investigation, review surveillance footage, or take any other investigative action. Filing a report at the police station is therefore mainly useful for insurance claims. As a result, the perpetrators may be deliberately targeting situations where police involvement is unlikely—such as solo travellers who leave the window open and from whom less than €400 is stolen. Given these circumstances, the possibility that someone associated with the hotel may be involved cannot be ruled out.

• There was a beautiful garden right in front of our room. The issue with beautiful gardens is that they attract insects. Every night, large cockroaches would emerge from the garden. Naturally, we do not blame the hotel for this — it is simply part of nature. Some people may not mind cockroaches; unfortunately, I do. The sight of them crawling around gives me the creeps. As a result, we could not enjoy the cool evening air because we had to keep the window closed to prevent the cockroaches from entering the room. Likewise, sitting on the patio was far from relaxing when insects were crawling around.

-Most hotels offer a fairly consistent experience regardless of where your room is located. At this hotel, however, the experience can vary dramatically. You might be assigned a sun-drenched room on an upper floor with a sea view, or you might end up in a ground-floor room overlooking a garden frequented by cockroaches. There are better options than this hotel within the SBH group that, somewhat ironically, cost less. For that reason, we will listen to our gut-feeling and we won't be returning and take our chances with this hotel anytime soon.