El Fuerte Hotel

The location is convenient - a minute from shops and situated practically on the beach.

The hotel is a bit old fashioned but the location makes up for this.

The superb location has already been noted by many reviewers, and we were also very happy with our room, which was a front seaview with a large balcony.

I booked directly with the hotel and i got them to organise a taxi pick-up from the airport (which was quite reasonable).

Taxi from hotel to Puerto Banus was 9 Euro; taxi to the Marbella bus station at the north end of town was between 4 and 5 Euro (it's definitely too far to walk--and all uphill from the hotel to the station).

The bedrooms are very comfortable although admittedly they are limited on family rooms which are junior suites, where the lounge area is converted to take 2 additional beds.

The sofa in the sitting room had been pulled out and made up as a bed and a baby crib was placed in the bedroom.

Only a small side-room room was open as a dining room, and there was no bed- room heating, despite temperatures in the fifties.

Our room was huge with the largest double bed we have ever slept in!

Our room had a standard double bed, whereas these days most 4* hotels give you a king or even queensize bed.

We never ate an evening meal in the hotel as there were so many great restaurants in walking distance, but the breakfast buffet was excellent, served on a lovely terrace in the gardens.

We stayed on a bed and breakfast basis so cannot comment on the evening meals, but the breakfasts, which were served until 10.

The restaurant: food served out of tins (not literally as they poured the contents of tins into bowls) – tinned fruit, tinned meats, processed cheese and unbelievably stale croissants and bread for breakfast.

There are loads of bars and restaurant areas within the hotel and the breackfast was great - a mixture of traditional continental and "English" breakfast - bacons, sausage etc with eggs cooked to order.

The restaurants on the promenade which are also very close looked however like tourist traps to me, with the exception of a local tapas bar, very close to the hotel, just off the promenade which served delicious fresh tapas at reasonable prices.

The majority of the staff had a very unfriendly, unhelpful and disinterested attitude, definitely not service with a smile, and some of the reception and bar staff served us as if they had a bad smell under their nose.

All service was excellent, front desk, concierge, bartenders, waitstaff, everything.

The service is of a high standard and the staff are extremely helpful.

On arrival the reception staff could not have been more friendly.

Hotel facilities are fine - 2 pools, 1 covered,; internet; gym; sun deck; tennis court; car parking etc.

There is an indoor pool, but because of hotel policy to open their gym to outsiders, this is invariably packed with locals, and their offspring.

The gym has a good timetable and the spa is the best.

Our room was of average size but was kept very clean by the maid.

The room we had, seems to have been just newly renovated, was so clean.