SBH Club Paraiso Playa

We stayed at SBH Club Paraíso Playa expecting a relaxing family holiday, but unfortunately our experience was extremely upsetting.

During our stay, £600 in cash, my Prada sunglasses and my Chanel perfume were stolen from our room. We immediately reported the incident to reception, but initially we did not feel that the situation was taken seriously. After contacting Love Holidays, we were asked to return to reception, an incident report was completed and we were advised to report the matter to the Guardia Civil.

We obtained an official police report and were moved to another room because we no longer felt safe.

What concerns us most is that the hotel’s electronic access log showed that housekeeping entered our room on the day of the incident, yet when we returned the room had not been cleaned, the beds had not been made and the towels had not been changed. We never received a satisfactory explanation for this.

We were also not informed at check-in that the room safe required separate rental and activation.

This incident had a huge impact on our holiday. Instead of enjoying our vacation, we spent a significant amount of time dealing with the hotel and the police. Our 9-year-old son was very frightened after the incident.

We cannot say who was responsible for the theft, as this remains under police investigation. However, based on our personal experience, we left this hotel feeling disappointed, unsafe and unsupported.

Despite everything that happened, I have to say that the views are absolutely stunning, the beach is beautiful, and the Atlantic Ocean has the most incredible turquoise colour.

Please take a few minutes to read this, as it is an honest and important review based entirely on our genuine experience!

There were seven of us staying at this hotel. We have travelled so many places over the years, and we always try to enjoy our holidays rather than look for faults. We understand that no hotel is perfect, and we usually overlook minor issues instead of complaining. However, during this stay the number of problems became impossible to ignore. By the end of our holiday, I felt it was important to write this honest review so that future guests know what to expect and the hotel management has the opportunity to improve.

I was very disappointed with this hotel, especially considering it advertises itself as a 4-star property and charges premium prices. The rooms are outdated, and some of them are literally falling apart. Our room key cards constantly stopped working. We were told not to keep them next to our phones, but we didn't, and the problem continued throughout our stay. Because the hotel is so large, every time the key card failed we had to walk all the way back to reception to have it reactivated before returning to our room. This happened multiple times and became incredibly frustrating, wasting a lot of our holiday time.

The room safe was another ongoing problem. It repeatedly malfunctioned during our stay, and on our last morning it completely broke, leaving us unable to secure our valuables before leaving the room. Reception told us we could store small items in the reception safe, but larger valuables such as tablets and laptops could not be accommodated. When I asked whether they could guarantee that anything left in our room would be safe, they were unable to do so. We therefore had no choice but to wait around four hours for the maintenance technician to replace the safe, wasting a large part of our final day. When I explained at reception that we had lost valuable holiday time and asked whether there would be any form of compensation, I was told, "Your compensation is that you have a new safe." That response summed up the hotel's attitude towards guest concerns!

The air conditioning was another major issue. We reported it twice, both room, and were told that someone would come to fix it, but nothing improved. It felt like this was simply the standard response rather than a genuine attempt to resolve the issue. The rooms were uncomfortably hot, and opening the windows wasn't an option because of the huge number of mosquitoes. The mosquitoes were an unacceptable problem. My children were bitten so badly that we had to visit a pharmacy to buy creams and medication, resulting in additional unexpected expenses during our holiday. One of our children was covered in bites over most of their body. Instead of taking the issue seriously, a member of the reception staff questioned whether they were even mosquito bites and simply moved part of our group to another room. That did nothing to solve the underlying problem and showed a lack of concern for our child's wellbeing.

The lifts were unreliable throughout our stay. Every day at least one was out of service, and on several occasions all three lifts serving our area were broken, causing long waits and unnecessary inconvenience. The breakfast experience was mixed. One lady working at the breakfast counter was quite rude, although I have to say that the rest of the staff were helpful and polite. Unfortunately, it was obvious that the hotel was understaffed. The housekeeping staff worked incredibly hard and did their best, but there simply weren't enough of them to properly clean the rooms or maintain the surrounding areas. This is clearly a management issue, not the fault of those employees.

We visited in the middle of July, yet only about half of the hotel seemed to be operating. The hotel shop had a very limited selection, the gym is so poorly equipped that calling it a gym is misleading, the billiard table was not fully working, and when we reported it we were told it wasn't the hotel's responsibility.

The tennis court cost an additional €25 per hour, 4 player, which felt excessive considering the price already paid for the holiday.

One of the bar staff, who wasn't wearing a name badge, was particularly unprofessional. He constantly tried to be the centre of attention and funny, by making jokes at the expense of tourists. Rather than making guests feel welcome, his behaviour sometimes came across as mocking and disrespectful. However kids had a good laugh on him sometimes, There is a huge difference between entertaining guests and making them feel uncomfortable. He should remember that tourists are the reason hotels like this exist. Without guests choosing to spend their holidays here, there would be no customers to serve. Sometimes a bit less is more. Treating visitors with courtesy and respect should be the minimum standard in hospitality.

On a positive note, the food was very good with plenty of choice at every meal. The sea is absolutely beautiful, and the pool area is spacious and enjoyable. These were the highlights of our holiday.

Unfortunately, the positives do not outweigh the negatives. This hotel is overpriced and falls well short of the standard expected from a 4-star resort. Poor maintenance, broken facilities, ineffective air conditioning, a serious mosquito problem, unreliable lifts, unhelpful response to guest complaints, understaffing, and a lack of professionalism from some staff members made this a very disappointing holiday.

This is an honest review based entirely on the experience of all seven of us who stayed here. We will not be returning, and we cannot recommend this hotel to anyone. In all our travels, we have never experienced such an unprofessional reception team. We sincerely hope the management takes these comments seriously because this hotel has the potential to be much better, but in its current condition it is nowhere near deserving of its 4-star rating.